Give Us This Bread Always

John 6:22–34 – That You May Believe
Second Sunday of Advent  – December 8, 2024 (am)    

One of the most challenging aspects of sharing the gospel with someone is lifting their eyes above this present world to help them consider things they can’t see, to appreciate solutions to problems they don’t discernibly feel. I’ve heard that D. L. Moody said something like: If I can get a man to think of his soul for five minutes, he’s likely to become a Christian. I don’t know if Moody really did say that, but it rings true from my own experience.

Turning our eyes from outward, visible, finite facts to inner, invisible, eternal realities, truths, is captivating business. That exercise not only captures our attention, it keeps it. There are just so many indicators in the way we think, the way we process and evaluate ideas, thoughts, possibilities, opportunities, the way we engage life and work and relationships—there are so many reminders in the way we rest and refresh, in the way we desire and dream—that we are so much more than merely finite beings with finite needs.

That’s just what Jesus is trying to get this crowd to do. He’s seeking to lift their eyes above their immediate and concrete circumstances to see bigger realities that are so much grander than they’re realizing. And that’s the true irony here, isn’t it? We as human being so often hold ourselves in so much higher regard than we ought, celebrating our self-perceived greatness in the most grandiose of terms, yet all the while the truest greatness that’s available to us not only eludes our notice, but we actually fight against acknowledging it with virtual prejudice, often offended by the very thought of it!

Let’s track with Jesus’ interaction with this crowd through two stages of action and dialogue and notice how they perceive themselves to be seeking the grandest conceivable experience with God when all the while Jesus is trying to help them see that He has actually come to offer them something that’s literally infinitely beyond their request or even their conception.

The Crowd Searches for Jesus After They Ate – 22-26

22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea, the side where Jesus had just fed them (1-13), saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. So, they thought He was still in the area somewhere (Carson 1991 282). 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. We don’t know why John reports this. Perhaps people were coming to fetch [family or] friends. Perhaps these boats had just been blown in by the storm (Carson 1991 282; Mounce 441). 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. They just didn’t want Him to get too far away.

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” How’d He get there without having come with His disciples when there were no other boats? Of course, we know the answer to their question (19). But Jesus moved right past it. 26 [He] answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. I filled your stomachs, and you’re impressed by that. But that’s not the most important thing.

Jesus Engages the Crowd about Food and Life – 27-34

John reports later that this conversation took place in the synagogue at Capernaum (59), and it seems best to understand that part of the dialogue as starting here in v.27 (Carson 1991 283). Jesus said to them: 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, don’t waste your life and energy chasing things that don’t last and, therefore, can’t truly satisfy you, no matter how impressive they may be—not even food, a perishable thing yet you actually need to live in this world! But especially don’t think that’s the best the kingdom of God has to offer! So, if you’re going to jump into a boat and chase something across the sea, make sure it’s something truly worth having. 27 [Don’t] work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. Remember, the Son of Man is Jesus’ favorite name for Himself, a title that was filled with a wide array of meaning from the OT, ranging from clearly divine (Dan.7:13) to clearly human (roughly seventy-seven times in Eze.), and Jesus chose it seemingly so that He could fill it with proper content as He progressed through His earthly ministry (Carson 1991 164). Now, it’s not clear here whether it’s the food or eternal life that the Son of Man will give. But what is clear is that, either way, it’s the Son of Man, Jesus, Who gives it. And this is by divine assignment: For on [the Son of Man, Jesus,] God the Father has set his seal.” God has authenticated Jesus alone as His Agent to dispense the food that endures to eternal life. Food that perishes feeds life that perishes. The food that Jesus gives—the food that Jesus is (35)—sustains eternal life.

But as we might suspect, the crowd misunderstood Him. Displaying pride and foolishness all at the same time, 28 … they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” He’d mentioned work (27) and apparently they locked in on that word. But He wasn’t urging them toward some new expression or aim in their work; He was just telling them not to spend themselves in pursuit of things that perish in the end. So, He corrected their misperception: 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” And what a huge statement this is! Again, His intent is not to say that belief is some kind of work, but that belief—an expression of trust that runs so deep it changes the way we live—is what God wants from them. And the object of their trust must be him whom [God] has sent, Jesus. But here’s where they can’t get their eyes off what they want in order to grasp what He’s telling them. Rather, this is the opening they’ve been waiting for in order to request once again that which just astounded them, the filling of their stomachs. 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? But they didn’t stop there. They thought He might benefit from a hint! 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written right there in Scripture (Neh.9:15; cf. Exo.16:15), ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, clearly suggesting Moses may get too much credit in their minds for their wilderness provision, but my Father gives [is giving] you the true bread from heaven. And here is where it seems like Jesus shifted the focus by changing His verb tense to present. It wasn’t Moses who provided for you back then; but the same God Who did is my Father Who is right now giving you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Jesus is saying: the bread of God (33) that endures to eternal life (27) is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (33), namely, the Son of Man (27), Jesus Himself. Interestingly, the bread of God in the OT sometimes referred to the twelve loves that sat on the Table of Showbread (Carson 1991 287) along the north wall of the Holy Place in the Tabernacle/Temple, opposite the Lampstand. It was a symbol that God is our Provider; our life is sustained only by Him (Freeman). Now Jesus is the true and better bread of God just as He’s the true and better Moses.

34 They said to him, as they should, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Did they understand what they were requesting? Clearly, no. The remainder of this conversation (35-58) will prove that beyond doubt. But they were requesting precisely what they should’ve been requesting, just what they needed—in fact, just what they actually wanted. Yet in their own minds, they wanted another, perhaps an ongoing, loaves and fishes-type filling, just like their forefathers had experienced for forty years in the wilderness. What they needed, however, and really wanted, was the filling only Jesus could give, a filling with the provision of God that endures to eternal life (27)—Jesus Himself.

Conclusion

So, what is our takeaway today? It’s really just the same. Still today it’s way too easy both to believe and therefore to live as though the visible and tangible provision of this world—money and standing and access to respected resources: doctors or lawyers or investment advisors or the like—are the surest sources of our truest security and satisfaction and stability, even for those of us who know the Lord and therefore know the truth.

It’s almost hard for us to believe we can actually miss it as badly as we do, as consistently. But we really can miss it that badly and that consistently! We desperately need to remember how weak and deceived we are (just like them). Our problem is so bad that it required the eternal Son of God to take on flesh, enter this world in human form, and die in our place! He’s our sacrifice. He’s our true bread from heaven that endures to eternal life.

Let’s now remember His death with thanksgiving.

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Resources

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NEXT SUNDAY: John 1:1–5, Nick Conner