After the feeding of the 5000, the people searched and found Jesus. They wanted Him to do works of God, but Jesus told them, “Your work is to believe.” John 6: 28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” [1]
Their question gives us insight into their spiritual thinking. While the Mosaic law gives many commandments to follow, it also includes the sacrificial system. They sacrificed an innocent sheep or goat to pay the blood price for human sin. Various Psalms thanked God for His grace and forgiveness. They should have realized that good works can’t save anyone.
Jesus came to be our sacrificial lamb. Ephesians 2: 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)… 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.[2]
Believing and Ingesting
As Jesus continued to teach the people, He gave them an image to help them understand.
John 6: 47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die.[3]
The people were struggling to understand what Jesus was saying, so He used an everyday object to teach a spiritual truth. When we eat bread, it becomes part of our physical body and gives us energy to live. As we “ingest” Jesus, He gives us spiritual life. Jesus used the metaphor of “eating” to describe the process of understanding and receiving Him. Still today, we do the same thing when we say: “I can’t swallow that” or “that’s food for thought.”
Jesus is Better Than Manna
Jewish people knew their ancestors had received manna in the wilderness during the Exodus. Now, Jesus built on that fact to explain what kind of spiritual food He was bringing. The manna met a physical need but only temporarily. Jesus meets our spiritual needs eternally. The manna only delayed a physical death while Jesus conquered death on the cross.
Jesus had fed the 5000, and as a result, people followed Him to get more temporary bread. Jesus wanted them to pursue the eternal. Even Isaiah had commented on this seven hundred years earlier. Isaiah 55: 2 Why spend your money on food that does not give you strength? Why pay for food that does you no good? Listen to me, and you will eat what is good. You will enjoy the finest food. [4]
What kind of bread are you pursuing? We still can’t work our way to heaven but must rely on the Bread of Life. Your work is to believe and trust in Jesus for salvation. To learn more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/jesus-said-i-am-the-bread-of-life
[1-4] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation. Tyndale House Publishers.