BELIEVE ON CRHIST WHOM GOD HAD SENT (JOHN 6:27-29)

Dear Members in Christ,                                                                                                                   

Believe on Christ Whom God had sent

John 6:27-29 “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. Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.”

The Lord Jesus had fed the 5,000 crowd, causing the people to recognize Him as a prophet, like Moses. The physically satisfied crowd wanted to make Him King.

So, the big group of people gathers around Jesus the next day, Jesus wants to redirect their attention from physical food to the Gospel message. It is not that physical food is unnecessary or useless, but we are not to be obsessed with physical needs but fail to see the salvation of God. The Lord has taught us to pray for daily bread but He does not want us to make bread our ultimate concern. God made us to worship Him, glorify Him.

Jesus had performed signs. The signs that He performed are testifying that He is the Son of God, sent by God the Father to save us from sins. The Jews had seen the signs, knowing that He is sent by God. However, they failed to see the spiritual message conveyed by those signs. They are so bogged down by the worries of this life. It is so sad to see this among the crowds today. All their labour is for the needs of this life only.

The Son of God understands the selfish attitude of the crowd. They are going to Jesus for their physical needs only. They are not interested to know Who Jesus is and why He is living among them. They ate the bread He gave and think of having more, probably having it permanently. There is no question that the bread given by Jesus can feed a lot of poor people. Poverty among the rank and file is a feature in Roman Empire. Not many can have a steady supply of daily food. Many people suffer from hunger regularly.

Yet Jesus our Lord wants the people to come to Him to have their greater needs met. The signs He performed show the crowds that Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament promise. God will accomplish His purposes through Jesus. Instead of reading the signs properly, the crowd sees this as the way to satisfy their physical need only. They do not want to know the mind of God in those signs and wonders. They did not think of eternal things. All they want is the physical food. They are so short-sighted.

Listen to what Jesus said in verse 27, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth...” The work here refers to their searching of Jesus. They have come all the way from the other side of the lake, making great effort to see Jesus. Their effort is commendable but their motive is not God-honouring. Their aim is to have bread and fish, the common food in those days. They did not think of asking Jesus to give them food that will cause them to live forever. The words of Jesus seemed not helpful to those who are going through hard life. Does Jesus care for their constant hunger? Certainly, Jesus cares for our daily physical needs. However, we need to look beyond the physical needs in this life. We need to see more important things like how to get right with God, flee from the wrath to come, and enjoy His fellowship. God sent Jesus to offer much better things than material things.

Jesus is not encouraging us not to work to earn a living. He is not asking the crowd to be lazy and be a burden to the society. He acknowledged that food is important. Food is a must in order to survive and it should be worked for under normal circumstances.

The message Jesus sent is that food should not be our aim in life, rather we should look for eternal things, things that last forever. He says, “but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: …”

Food is not only essential for survival; it is also a source of pleasure. To most of the people, food represents survival and pleasure. The crowd spent most of their time at work, investing, living and pleasure-seeking. Those who are outside Christ’s kingdom have misplaced value. They know the price of temporal things but not the value of eternal things.

What is our purpose of labouring from sunrise to sunset? Are we only making a comfortable earthly living? Is our aim on the perishable food or things, not on the food that lasts forever? If so, we will not be having a fulfilling life. We may have lots of pleasures. Yet, we are unfulfilled. Like a man who drank in lots of aerated drinks and yet still feeling very thirsty. They are not satisfied by all the temporal pleasures. They are wearied by the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of this life.

If the person who lives in sin turns to Jesus, then they will find the Bread of Life that satisfies the human soul forever. He will learn to glorify God and truly enjoy life. The reason is that he has a clear view of life. He realizes that all the visible things are subject to change and decay. Wealth and assets can disappear in a sudden!

Jesus our Lord is not just a prophet sent by God. He is the Messiah or Christ, the Son of God. He is sent by God the Father. He is sent not to lead a political revolution against the corrupt foreign power. He is not sent to help people to have a steady supply of material things. He is not sent to help people to get more sensual pleasure.

Sinners outside Christ need Jesus Christ desperately, if only they are enlightened by God. If they turn to Christ by faith, they will receive God’s Spirit. The Spirit of God will stay in them, guide them to know the things of God and follow God’s Will.

Those who are outside Christ are mistaken about God’s Will in their lives. They asked something like, “What can I do to please God?” or “What can I do to gain God’s favour?”

The non-Christians do not know the nature of the true God. They depend on their limited human wisdom and power. Oftentimes they try to understand God in the ideas of man! Their understanding of God is not right and against what the Bible teaches. They often think that they can enter into God’s kingdom with their own righteousness. Once they have gathered enough merit points, then they are entitled to enter the Kingdom of God, they thought.

Our Lord Jesus gave His answer for their question: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” John 6:29. This is something that a sinner can do: Believe on Christ whom God hath sent.

Jesus had been sent by God the Father. He lived among us, He suffered, and died for our sin at the cross. Then He was buried and rose again physically on the third day!

Believe in Christ, He is alive. He is not a Saviour that is dead and stayed in the grave. Christians, believe in Christ, listen to what God’s Word say carefully. Believe God’s revelation in His Word fully. Trust Him for his daily guidance and lean not on our limited understanding. Amen.

In His Service,
Rev. Lee Kim Shong