The Gospel of John #28

By Robert Guenther

We are continuing our review of the Gospel of John and after the Lord had fed the 5,000 we read that this Jesus is taking yet another opportunity to teach them that He is indeed God Himself.

Vs. Joh 6:26 “Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” The Lord would have them consider the real reason that they are seeking Him. The Jews did require “Sign Gifts” 1Cor 1:22 “For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:” to prove the authenticity of the Prophet. We could ask ourselves the question of why we are seeking after the Lord. Or what do we expect Him to give us rather than what can we be found doing for Him.

Vs. Joh 6:27 “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.” What labor are we doing for the Lord’s service and are we working for the wrong reasons or with the wrong goals in view. We certainly do not want to waste the short time we have left by laboring for the bread that perishes. 1Tim 5:17 “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.” Paul states in Php 3:14 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Vs. Joh 6:28 “Then said they unto him, ‘What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?’” There are some different expectations put upon us in this dispensation because of being members of His body, but believing Christ as our Head and having our “Heavenly Calling” in view will help us determine the work that we can do that will please Him. Eph 1:18 “The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,”. Eph 3:9 “And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:”.

Vs. Joh 6:29 “Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” We do not often think that believing the Truth is work, however it does require that we search diligently to “Rightly Divide” His Word as in 2Ti 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” So we can conclude that it is not only important to believe what God has said but we need to find out what is “Truth for Today”. cont…