M-G: 7.15.11 // True Bread Winners, John 6:38

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Jesus had fed the five thousand at Bethsaida Julias on the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee or Tiberias. They witnessed His disciples getting into the boat to head toward Capernaum, but Jesus only saw them off at the shoreline (Jn 6:22). When the crowd realized that Jesus and His disciples were not at the loaves and fish conference ground the next day, they went to the region of Capernaum on the western side to seek Him out (Jn 6:23-24). When they finally found Jesus, they asked Him,

 “Rabbi, when did you come here” (Jn 6:25).

Jesus didn’t give them the when or the how; He ignored the question. This information was between Him and His disciples. Jesus doesn’t respond to questions that really serve no purpose. Do you think they would have believed Jesus if He had told them that He had walked halfway across the Sea of Tiberias in the early morning hours and got in the boat with His disciples? Or that He had transported them, along with the boat, to the other side? More than likely they would have laughed and ridiculed Him. Jesus was more interested in addressing the spiritual issues of their heart rather than going down some rabbit trail leading to nowhere. Nonetheless, Jesus did answer, but it was not the answer they had expected,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs” (Jn 6:26a).

Ouch! Jesus was exposing their true motive for seeking after Him as if it was some kind of spiritual pilgrimage. The ready would-be-rebels of Rome who wanted to force Jesus to be Israel’s political Messiah on the other side of the Sea of Galilee (Jn 6:14-15) sought Jesus for sensual reasons rather than spiritual. They didn’t even pursue Him for political reasons now; they were primarily after another free meal,

“You seek Me … because you ate of the loaves and were filled (Jn 6:26b). 

Ouch! Ooch! The miraculous nature of the loaves was lost in the free meal-oriented nature of the crowd; the miracle was swallowed up in the meal due to unbelief (Jn 6:36). The only thing this miracle signified to the “would-be-followers” was a full belly. Jesus attempted to redirect the physical hunger of the crowd toward hungering for things spiritual by instructing them to expend their energy on those things that last forever, not on the perishable things (Jn 6:27; cf. Mt 4:4). What they will soon discover in the lengthy bread discourse was that Jesus was referring to Himself as the eternal sustenance (Jn 6:48, 53; cf. Jn 4:14).

Here comes a better question for Jesus,

“Then they said to Him, ‘What shall we do, that we may work the works of God’” (Jn 6:28)?

Jesus replied,

“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent” (emphasis mine, Jn 6:29).

You would think a crowd looking for freebies would have readily embraced what has been described as “easy believism” (salvation by grace through faith) – believe. Believe!? The Jews were saturated by a work-oriented culture: keep, keep, keep, do, do, do the traditions of the elders or else, else, else! In the religious system of that day, believing was like trying to put a square peg in a round hole. The hole was a world of do’s and don'ts. Throw in some doughnuts, and it describes a lot of religious activities today. The expectation of believing was not part of the overall work program of the spiritual leaders of Israel. 

Abraham believing God and his faith being accounted for righteousness (Gn 15:6; Rom 4:2-3) was lost by all the man-made laws that was in theory rooted in the law of Moses but actually transcended the commandments of God in importance and authority (Mt 15:6; Mk 7:9). The world would rather work their way into the afterlife through some kind of merit system. It’s the genetic code of the sin nature to achieve rather than believe. Isn’t this why we are called believers and not achievers! We, as believers in Christ, subscribe to the belief that salvation is by grace, God’s unmerited favor, through faith, not of works which results in boasting of human endeavor, “Look what I’ve done to merit heaven!”

Believing, however, is not a primrose path; it requires a choice that definitely contains consequences that are both positive and negative. It changes your life forever. On one end of the spectrum we are embraced by heaven and on the opposite end we are strangled by the world! Positional sanctification, which is described as the point of salvation, is simple and straightforward (Rom 10:13; Jn 5:24; 1 Jn 5:12). Salvation exonerates us from the awfulness of the penalty of sin, eternal death, and we become unimaginably joint-heirs with Christ!

The rub is in the progressive sanctification or living for God in the here and now and growing up in the faith which is neither simple nor easy with an honest appraisal of Scripture, but it is very straightforward, as well (2 Tim 3:12)! The Christian cross walk is a constant, never-ending struggle with the world system, the sin nature, and demonic forces this side of eternity. Paul referred to this conflict with an athletic metaphor "fight" or contend (1 Tim 6:12) and a military metaphor "warfare" (1 Tim 1:18). We are in the throes of a great and ancient spiritual warfare that yields eternal consequences (Eph 6:10-18). 

Though we possess joy unspeakable and peace that passes all understanding, we are totally surrounded by sadness and conflict, the course and curse of sin. Salvation is free, but sanctification is fraught with contesting and combating between good and evil, light versus darkness. The work is found not in the salvation (Eph 2:8-9), for that is exclusively of Christ, His work alone, but in the sanctification of bearing fruit for the glory of God (Eph 2:10) in the power of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22-23) right here right now, the fruit of our faith.

By the time Jesus finishes with His bread discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum (Jn 6:59), many that followed Jesus are going to be offended by His teaching and deciding not to follow after Him anymore (Jn 6:66). Only a water walker like Simon Peter could have hit the nail on the head and launched out with a rapid response when Jesus asked His immediate disciples if they would leave Him, too,

"But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Jn 6:68-69; cf. Jn 14:6). 

The truth that Jesus was the son of God was impressed upon their hearts back on the boat after the feeding of the five thousand in the early morning hours on the tossed about Sea of Tiberias (Mt 14:33), particularly in the case of Peter when he jumped out of the boat to come to Jesus (Mt 14:31). Had not Jesus just the other day fed the five thousand, not to mention all the healings that took place there? And incredibly the clueless crowd asked Jesus,

“What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do” (Jn 6:30)? 

The world still doesn’t get who Jesus really is because of willful blindness (2 Cor 4:3-4; 1 Cor 2:14). They keep looking for signs in order to believe. It takes believing to see not seeing to believe for we have the testament of Scripture. How do you see Jesus today? I mean how do you really see Jesus? 

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you’” (Jn 6:53). 

Have you earnestly sought Him who is eternal or are you still seeking the perishable things? <><

Those in Christ are the true bread winners!