22 The next day the people who had stayed on the other side of the lake knew that Jesus had not gone in the boat with his followers but that they had left without him. And they knew that only one boat had been there. 23 But then some boats came from Tiberias and landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the people saw that Jesus and his followers were not there now, they got into boats and went to Capernaum to find Jesus.
25 When the people found Jesus on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Teacher, when did you come here?”
26 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you aren’t looking for me because you saw me do miracles. You are looking for me because you ate the bread and were satisfied. 27 Don’t work for the food that spoils. Work for the food that stays good always and gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because on him God the Father has put his power.”
28 The people asked Jesus, “What are the things God wants us to do?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent.”
30 So the people asked, “What miracle will you do? If we see a miracle, we will believe you. What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the desert. This is written in the Scriptures: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven; it is my Father who is giving you the true bread from heaven. 33 God’s bread is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 The people said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Then Jesus said, “I am the bread that gives life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you before, you have seen me and still don’t believe. 37 The Father gives me the people who are mine. Every one of them will come to me, and I will always accept them. 38 I came down from heaven to do what God wants me to do, not what I want to do. 39 Here is what the One who sent me wants me to do: I must not lose even one whom God gave me, but I must raise them all on the last day. 40 Those who see the Son and believe in him have eternal life, and I will raise them on the last day. This is what my Father wants.”
41 Some people began to complain about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that comes down from heaven.” 42 They said, “This is Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 But Jesus answered, “Stop complaining to each other. 44 The Father is the One who sent me. No one can come to me unless the Father draws him to me, and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread that gives life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but still they died. 50 Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give up so that the world may have life.”
52 Then the evil people began to argue among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, you must eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. Otherwise, you won’t have real life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. 55 My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. 57 The living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father. So whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 I am not like the bread your ancestors ate. They ate that bread and still died. I am the bread that came down from heaven, and whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said all these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Read John 6:22-59 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
During one of Jesus’ conversations with a crowd of people, they ask Him a simple, profound question that has amazing relevance for our lives today. This group of people cuts through all the noise of that culture by asking Jesus the simple question, “What are the things God wants us to do?” (v. 28)
While this is a simple question, it is also a powerful one for us to pay attention to, because it is within Jesus’ answer that we have the basis for what God wants each of us to do if we are intentionally choosing to side with Him. In this question, the crowd subtly opens the door for multiple answers by including a plural in their question. This crowd wants Jesus’ version of God’s “to-do list”, because they were all too familiar with the lists of the Pharisees and other religious leaders.
However, while the crowd wanted a list, Jesus gives a single item for His response. Jesus responded by telling the people, “The work God wants you to do is this: Believe the One he sent.” (v. 29)
Believing in this context is an active belief that the One God had sent would be worthy and deserving of our trust, our devotion, our acceptance, and our obedience. The answer is simple, but it is also incredibly challenging.
Sensing that Jesus was hinting at Himself in this response, the crowd responds by saying, “What miracle will you do? If we see a miracle, we will believe you. What will you do?” (v. 30)
While Jesus criticizes others for asking for a miracle, what is amazing to me is that this group of people even has the audacity to ask it in the first place. The event opens by saying that these are people who were present when Jesus fed the large crowd of over 5,000. While not everyone in this “day after” crowd was present for the previous day’s miracle, I’m confident there would have been many present who had witnesses the bread multiplication miracle.
Reading this response draws my attention to a challenging principle this crowd demonstrates through their request. This principle says that often, it is difficult to believe without having seen something clearly – and unfortunately, we are too quick to rationalize our past than to look for the ways God was moving our lives. Too often, the miracles of yesterday are overshadowed by the problems of today, and doubt tries to minimize the ways God has worked miracles in our pasts.
The way we challenge this is by intentionally looking for ways God is moving in our lives, and if we ever see something that we could classify as a coincidence, it may be better for us to understand it as providence – which is another way of saying that it was God working behind the scenes.
While we are quick to demand signs on the front end, often times, God seems to be more than willing to draw our attention onto our pasts, and let the ways He has helped our lives in the past be the evidence for our faith in Him today.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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