John 6:22-36

John 6:22-36 LSB

[22] On the next day, the crowd which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. [23] Other small boats came from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. [24] So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. [25] And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?” [26] Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. [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, set His seal.” [28] Therefore they said to Him, “What should we do, so that we may work the works of God?” [29] Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” [30] So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? [31] Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” [32] Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. [33] For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” [34] Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” [35] Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. [36] But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.

Note:

What we know so far – We know the crowd has seen Jesus heal people, they also saw Jesus do a miracle with feeding of 5000 from a few loaves and a couple of fish. Then in John 6:16-21 Jesus walks on water and potentially miraculously transported the boat to the shore. (also from Matt 14 – Peter momentarily walked on water and the sea was immediately calmed)

While the crowd did not see these last two miracles it is unlikely they didn’t hear about the water bit and the boat being immediately at the shore. 

So a quick review – 1) the crowd saw the healing, 2) the crowd saw the feeding of the 5000, 3) It is likely they also knew of the walking on water and the boat being immediately at the shore.

In John 6:22-36

1)They sought Him because their bellies were now empty and they wanted more food – vs 26

Q – Are we following Jesus for the signs and the food or for who He is?

2)They wanted a sign, but Jesus said He is the bread of life and those who come to Him will never hunger and never thirst. But even though they saw the signs and ate the bread they still did not believe – vs 36

Q. What went wrong?
1) They were looking for physical food and water – looking for their own selfish motives and not the purposes of God.

2) No one is saved by coming to Him for what material things he can do for you. Instead salvation is always based on our belief and surrender.

This we will see in vs 37-45 and 65

• We are saved because we are the Father’s gift to the Son
• All who are gifted come to Him
• When we come to Jesus, we are granted eternal life