John 6:25-29

John 6 opens with a crowd following Jesus into a remote area because they want to hear more of his teaching, and because they are attracted to his power over sicknesses.  Jesus compassionately provides food for this multi-thousands congregation.  The crowd reaches the conclusion that Jesus must be the second Moses, the promised Messiah, so they try to force him to become king on their terms.  Jesus breaks that up in a hurry.

At the end of this miraculous day, the crowd has seen Jesus’ disciples, without Jesus, row away.  Then, news arrives: Jesus is back in Capernaum, on the other side of the lake!  Off they go. 

This week’s passage, John 6:25-29, begins with a question from this crowd: “Rabbi, when did you get here?”  I think implicit in this question is another: “How did you get here?”  Perhaps deeper still, another question: “Who are you?”  Then maybe one more: “What are we to do, how should we respond?”

Perhaps another way to put: What does God want from us—from me?  What is God really after?

Jesus responds to their “when did you get here” question with some connect-the-dots responses.  Why are you looking for me?  Because I fed you.  How do you usually get your daily bread?  You have to work for it.  Do you want to work and work only for food that spoils, for food that only sustains you until the next meal – or do you want the kind of nourishment that gives you eternal life?

They miss the point.  You can see it in their next question: “What must we do to do the works God requires?”  Jesus has just told them not to labor for food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”  In other words, what “works” did they perform that got them miraculously fed?  None—they simply followed Jesus, paid attention to him, did what he told them.  Remember?  All they really had to do at the miraculous feeding was sit down.  In other words, stop ‘working,’ sit down, and receive what God lavishly gives.  But it can’t be that simple, right?

Yes, just that simple, Jesus replies: “The work of God is to believe in the one he has sent.”

Every human being is a believer.  We may be believers in science, or in ourselves, or in hard work, or in angels, astrology or anarchy.  We may believe that evolution answers all questions, or that God helps those who help themselves, that Buddha is the way, or that I gotta be me.  We entrust ourselves, our lives, to what we believe; our beliefs are the currents that carry us through life, the rails that we run on.

What is God after?  You: seated before Jesus, attending to what he says and does, receiving all that he graciously and generously gives, and then learning to live in alignment with him.  As we receive from him—as we receive Jesus himself, by believing, trusting, entrusting, surrendering, yielding, relaxing, giving ourselves to him who gives us himself, we find ourselves strangely nourished, replenished, energized, made new.

Then, and only then, we can get to work.  We’re no longer working for anything, we’re working with Someone.

Quick Bible study: take a few minutes to read Isaiah 55:1-3.  Compare what you read there with what we’ve read about Jesus’ miraculous feeding (John 6:1-15) and this week’s passage (6:25-29).  What do you notice?