I. Seeking Jesus Vs. 22-27
A. For The Wrong Reasons Vs. 22-26
1. The multitudes had been miraculously fed by Jesus. That was a good thing
a. They had a very real temporal need, and Jesus met that need.
b. They had initially come to Jesus because of His ability to heal, which was another legitimate need. (John 6:2)
2. V. 24– They discovered that Jesus was not there, and they went looking for Him.
3. V. 25– When they found Jesus, they asked Him, “When did you come here?”
4. V. 26– Jesus didn’t answer their question, but essentially asked them a question.
a. Why did you come here? Why are you seeking me?
b. Jesus then revealed to them that their quest for Him was due to their most basic needs and gratification. They wanted more bread.
c. They missed the greatest purpose of the miracle, and focused on the lesser.
d. The miracles blessed people with temporal things, but their greater design was to turn people to eternal things, and on who the person of Jesus was to them.
5. The people were moved by material hunger, not by spiritual and hunger.
B. Modern Day Application
1. “Church people”, “Christians”- What kinds of things do we wrongly or only seek?
a. Friendships, relationships, marriage, a sense of family, community.
b. Material needs, health, spiritual service, and sense of emotional well-being without having to change the way we live.
c. Some Christians seek Jesus only for what He can give them outwardly or soulishly. People change churches, marriages, friends, careers, seeking soul health from that which cannot satisfy the soul.
d. They never seek Him as the source of life, only the comforter of life.
e. In the Old Testament, we see Esau trading his birthright away for a bowl of soup.
2. General population- we all feel the same needs in humanity.
a. Water, food, shelter.
b. The need for love, making sense of life, a reason to live, healthy view of self.
c. Many people try to satisfy themselves with the things of the world.
d. They give up so much (their souls),and get back so little (temporary satisfaction)
e. If they do have a “Jesus moment” it will all be about Jesus coming through for them regarding a sick relative, their own health, or a job, etc.
f. They claim to have faith, but if Jesus doesn’t come through in the expected manner, they are done with Him.
C. For The Right Reasons V. 27
1. Don’t labor for food that perishes- see Isaiah 55:1-3
2. But for the food that endures to eternal life- Jesus speaks of Himself allegorically
3. Which the Son of Man will give you- It can’t be earned, only received by faith.
4. Because God the Father has set His seal on Him-a seal was a mark of ownership
a. When a rich man sent his workers abroad to make purchases, the items would be put into crates for shipping, and then the worker would melt wax and make an impression into the wax with his owner’s seal. When the items arrived, they would be verified as belonging to the owner.
b. Jesus claimed to be approved of and sent by the Father. Authentic Bread of Life.
II. Finding Eternal Life Vs. 28-40
A. Jesus Reveals The Path To Eternal Life Vs. 28, 29
1. V. 28– This reveals man’s tendency towards self-focused religion and “self-help”.
a. 400k+ self-help books on Amazon.com. 52k self-help psychology books.
b. 16k self-help spirituality books. 26k non-Christian religious books.
c. Within “orthodox” Christianity, we can lean towards a works oriented salvation and sanctification.
d. Titus 3:5 5not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit
2. V. 29– This explains what is at the heart of following Jesus.
a. This is the single most important thing that a person can do.
b. Man can waste his life trying to fulfill legitimate/illegitimate needs on his own.
c. Man can focus on the temporal things of life, and completely ignore the eternal.
d. If man does think of spirituality, it is often focused on a path they must follow, as opposed to a Person (Jesus) they can know.
3. Jesus is the crux of the Christian faith. It all rises or falls upon Him.
4. The people seem offended that they were told to believe, and to believe in Him.
B. People’s Hard Hearts Vs. 30-36
1. V. 30– This is almost unbelievable. Jesus had just miraculously fed approx. 10k people.
a. Jesus elevated Himself in their hearing. He went from being the provider of bread to the one in whom they should believe.
b. If they thought Jesus was another version of Moses (just a man), then they would have thought that Jesus was going too far with His self-evaluation.
2. V. 31– This is a so called spiritual statement which exalted Moses and seems to be minimizing and comparing Jesus to Moses. They exalted God for giving them manna in the wilderness wanderings, and implicitly giving great honor to Moses.
a. They may have been trying to use religious manipulation to make Jesus given them more bread. They sought to use a spiritual argument to satisfy a temporal desire.
b. In other words, prove who you are by doing what Moses did for the people.
3. V. 32– Jesus unveiled their insinuation and corrected their erroneous thinking.
a. Moses wasn’t the source of the manna. God the Father sent the manna.
4. V. 33– Jesus now points to the fact that as God sent actual bread, he had now sent Jesus, the Bread of Life. Then true bread of God wasn’t a “what”, but a “who”.
5. V. 34– They are still thinking on a natural level, or only half spiritual like the woman at the well (Sir, give me this water). They asked for a thing, instead of asking for Jesus.
6. V. 35– If we choose to come to Jesus, we will find a satisfaction that will cause us to never look anywhere else for the satisfaction of the soul. Coming to Jesus proves to be the most satisfying thing that we can do for our souls, and nothing else compares.
7. V. 36- This speaks to the fact that man cannot be convinced to believe in Jesus against his will. There may be overwhelming evidence to follow Jesus, but one can resist the compelling evidence by simply choosing to say “no”. Following Jesus is ultimately a matter of one’s will.
C. Why Jesus Came Vs. 37-40
1. V. 37- Jesus receives all who come to Him in faith.
2. V. 38- Jesus came to do the will of His Father. He didn’t have His own agenda.
3. V. 39– Jesus keeps safe those who come to Him in faith.
4. V. 40– The destiny of those who come to Him is eternal life.