Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal." Then they said to him, "What must we do to perform the works of God?" Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." So they said to him, "What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' " Then Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.
At Morning Prayer on Sundays, we get a detour from our regular continuation of the lesson’s from Mark and switch over to John. The phrase “Sir, give us this bread always” stands out to me today. Jesus answers in response, “I am the bread of life.”
In the passage, Jesus is talking to his followers about focusing on the “right stuff” (the right priorities). The followers want to know what they must do, and what Jesus is going to do to prove who he is. It almost seems as if they want Jesus to do something great and special like turn lead into gold or make something disappear as if he were expected to be great magician. Jesus reminds them that the signs aren’t important. Moses didn’t give Israel manna in the wilderness because the great works like that come from God, and only from God.
Jesus tells them that even though they have seen him and know him, they still don’t believe in him and that he is the Son of God. The reward of this belief is eternity with God and participation in the resurrection on the last day.
The call today is to believe. Believe in Jesus (without the dog and pony show), and trust that Jesus is who he says he is and that he will nurture us with bread (which is himself) that will lead us to eternal life with God.
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