When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into boats and headed for Capernaum to look for Jesus. ·Finding him…, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ ·Jesus answered them, ‘YOU are not looking for me because YOU observed the signs, but because YOU enjoyed a full meal from the loaves. ·Do not work for perishable food but for food that lasts into eternal life, that which the Son of Man will give YOU. For the Father, God himself, places his seal on [Gr. esphragisen] this one.’ ·So they said to him, 'What should we do that we might work at the works of God?’ ·Jesus said to them, ‘This is the work of God: that YOU believe in the one he has sent.’ ·They said to him, ‘What sign then are you doing that we can see, so we should believe in you? What work are you performing? ·Our fathers ate the manna in the desert, according to what is written: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat” [Ps.78:24].’ (Jn.6:24-31 GH[i])

Jesus said, ‘Moses did not give YOU the “bread from heaven”, but my Father gives YOU the “bread from heaven”—the true bread. ·For the “Bread of God” is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ·‘Sir’, they said, ‘give us that bread always.’ ·Jesus said..., ‘I am the “Bread of Life”. The one who comes to me will not go hungry and the one who believes in me will never thirst. ·Yet, as I have told YOU: while YOU have indeed seen me, YOU still do not believe. ·Everyone that the Father gives me will be with me, and the one who comes towards me I will never thrust away. ·For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but rather the will of the One who sent me. ·And this is the will of the One who sent me: that from all that he has given me I should not lose one, but that I should raise him up on the Last Day. ... ·No one is able to come towards me unless the Father…should draw him. ·It is written in the Prophets: “And they will all be taught by God” [Is.54:13]. Whoever hears and learns from alongside the Father comes towards me. (Jn.6:32-39,44-45)

‘I am the "Bread of Life". ·YOUR fathers ate the manna in the desert, but they died. ·This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat from it and not die: ·I am the "Living Bread", which... is also my flesh—which I will give for the sake of the life of the world… ·The living Father has sent me… so the one who dines on me will live through me… ·This is the bread that comes down from heaven; not like what the fathers ate. They are dead, but anyone who dines on this bread will live into eternity… ·The Spirit is what gives life… ·…No one is able to come towards me unless it is given to him by the Father.’  (Jn.6:48-51,57-58,63a,65)

Anyone who truly comes to Jesus is also in a relationship with the Father. From the Father's side of this relationship, he is the one who draws the believer to Jesus. We have an active, ‘living Father’. He is working with Jesus: to restore to his family all who have faith, and to teach them. And just as he ‘placed his seal on’ [Gr. esphragisen] Jesus to empower him in his humanity with the Holy Spirit, so he has ‘sealed’ [Gr. esphragistheete] all human beings who believe in Jesus with the Holy Spirit (Med.#8)—making us also his heirs (Med.#4 & Med.#5). However, the above text also shows that it is possible to ‘find’ Jesus but not really come to him in a way that leads to an eternal, living relationship with the Father.

To enter into this relationship we must come to Jesus in faith. Faith requires the ‘work’ of relationship-building from our side too. Learning from the Father requires us to become active, to obey what we hear (Med.#16). In this text we see a group of Galileans exerting considerable physical effort to find Jesus. But when Jesus looks into their hearts, he does not see obedient faith. Instead he sees three religious views of God which are keeping them from entering into a relationship with him as their Father through faith in Jesus.

First, these Galileans view God as a power source—the supernatural provider of their human needs. They come looking for Jesus, not out of faith in God, but out of a desire to see miracles and have their stomachs filled. And after seeing one miracle they want to see more. Many religious people, including many Christians, are consumers of religion. They choose the sect or denomination with the best potential for practical and miraculous results. If one leader doesn't meet their needs and desires, or if they don't see enough miracles in one group, they simply change leaders or groups.

When people come to Jesus looking for miracles, they have a difficult time recognizing that what the Father wants is a relationship with him. Maybe they never had a relationship with their earthly fathers, or they only knew him as an absentee provider of their needs. Whatever the reason, they miss out on the greatest miracle of all: an eternal relationship with God as their ‘living Father’ through Jesus. Miracles do not draw people to Jesus, the Father does. And those who truly come to Jesus in faith are primarily focused on finishing well—on demonstrating their faith in Jesus by learning from the Father and by obeying Jesus right up to the day they die. For these people, the one miracle that truly counts is the resurrection on the ‘last day’.

Secondly, these Galileans' view of God is governed by the past. What God ‘gave’ to their fore-‘fathers’ has become a restrictive standard, making them hesitant to receive anything new that the Father wants to ‘give’ them in the present. Further, people who serve the God of the Past are often not focused on God at all, but on the historical figure through whom God performed past miracles or on the miracles themselves. These Galileans have become focused on Moses as the one who gave the manna, and on ones who experienced the miracle—their ancestors. What keeps many people today from a present relationship with the ‘living Father’ is their focus on the theology and spiritual experiences of the human ‘fathers’ of their denomination or nation. Like with these Galileans, even their use of Scripture becomes an obstacle; for they use it as a set of rules rather than as the self-revelation of a ‘living Father’ who desires a relationship with people (Med.#60, Med.#C), and who desires to do even greater works through them than he did through Jesus himself (Med.#59). This does not mean that God's mighty deeds in the past are no longer important, only that too strong a focus on the past limits our receptivity to the new things the Father is doing. The manna in the desert enabled the people of Israel to survive, but it could not provide them with eternal life. The relationship that the living Father offers to us with himself—through Jesus and by the Spirit—is eternal. And no one who comes to Jesus in faith need fear being abandoned or rejected by his or her heavenly Father.

Thirdly, a focus on the past gives these Galileans a limited, patriarchal view of God—a tribal view of him as the God of ‘our fathers’. In response, Jesus emphasizes that this new relationship with the living Father is being offered to the whole world. For the Father wants all nations to become his heirs (Med.#6 & Med.#89). Further, the Father does not want to relate to us only in the context of an ethnic or denominational group. People with a patriarchal view of God tend to focus on their leaders as the main ones who relate to God, especially the male leaders; and so they often fail to build a personal relationship with him. Yet the Father wants to give eternal life by his Spirit to ‘anyone’, to ‘whoever’ lives by faith in Jesus; for the Father wants to personally teach ‘all’ of them—— intimately as their Papa, women as well as men (Med.#30)!

Coming to Jesus must include faith in the Person of the living Father (Med.#60), the One who revealed himself in the Scriptures and in Jesus, and who continues to reveal himself through the Holy Spirit (Med.#57). Is Jesus your Savior only because of what he did on the cross in the past? Or is he your ongoing link to the ‘living Father’ in a present relationship with Him, who by the Holy Spirit empowers you to recognize and hear your Father's voice? True faith in the Person of the ‘Son of Man’ also involves ‘dining’ daily on him as our ‘living Bread’ so that we can grow in our living relationship with our Papa. How we ‘dine’ on Jesus, and what prevents us from doing this, will be the subjects of the next meditation.

Father, give me the Spirit of revelation so that I may know you better, so that I may hear you and learn from you today as I come to you in Jesus’ name. (Eph.1:17; Jn.6:45)

Father, together with my Lord Jesus Christ, you love me; and by your grace you have given me eternal encouragement and good hope. Encourage my heart again today; and strengthen me in every good deed and word. (2 Thes.2:16-17).

[i] The Scripture passage is taken from J.K. Mellis, The Good News of the Messiah by the Four Witnesses: pp.105-108.