Food to Work For

Lesson #101

The crowd that follows Jesus around are drawn to him because of his gifts that he has demonstrated through the signs he has been performing. These gifts all relate to the physical and are all temporary. While helpful, these gifts are not sufficient to meet the real needs of the people. They need to see that Jesus is the treasure they need to seek and at this time that treasure is the living bread from heaven that provides eternal life. As the people ate the loaves and the fishes their hunger was satisfied for a while. Jesus wants the people to see that he is the bread that will satisfy them with life for an eternity. With this in mind we will move ahead in our study and work on just one verse; John 6:27: “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal” (NASB). This verse is packed with so much information; we will consider it phrase by phrase.

“Do not work for the food which perishes.” Taken out of the context it is in you think it is telling us to not work for our physical food. If we don’t work for the food that perishes, we would soon die, so that is not the meaning. We must work to provide for the food we need for living, but we are not to be anxious about obtaining that food; we are not to make obtaining this food the focus of our desire. We need to understand that this food that provides for our physical need, supplies strength for a short time and another meal is needed. It is a process that must be continued if a person is to live.

“. . . but for the food which endures to eternal life.” The food that perishes provides for our body, but the food which endures provides for our soul by nourishing and strengthening it. This food endures to eternal life. Once eaten it provides life that never diminishes and as we continue to eat more our soul is further nourished. This is a need that must be met for anyone desiring eternal life.

“. . . which the Son of Man will give to you.” The only source of this food which endures to eternal life is Jesus the Son of Man. Anyone who comes and surrenders to him will receive this food. As we continue through chapter 6 we will learn much more about Jesus being this food.

“. . . for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” This seal from the Father is his authorization that his Son, as the Son of Man, can give eternal life to whom he will. We will see in future lessons that the Father will select and give to his Son those who he will give eternal life.

Jesus said they were to work for the food which endures to eternal life. The people responded with a question of how they were to do that work. We will cover that in our next lesson.

Prayer

Lord, how thankful I am for the food that provides eternal nourishment; food that is so abundantly available and so nourishing, but I so often don’t stop to take time to enjoy a good meal with you. Forgive me for my neglect and encourage me to take better care of my soul and my relationship with you.