Bread: Labour For The Enduring Kind

Bread: Labour for The Enduring Kind
John 6:15-29

Read John 6:15-29

I. Taking the Kingdom by Force:
Last week we read about Jesus’ fourth sign of feeding the 5000. The result of that sign was that the people realizing that Jesus might be the promised King, were emboldened to throw off the Roman occupiers and make Jesus king by force.

The problem was not just that this multitude misunderstood the meaning of the bread, but their misunderstanding of the sign was shaped by their faulty eschatology. What made their eschatology faulty was their confusion over the meaning of the Kingdom of God; their concept of the Kingdom was faulty in two ways: 1) it was Myopic- they thought that Israel alone was the Kingdom of God (there was no room for gentiles in their Kingdom); and 2) it was to be established through violence (they thought that their messiah would come in the form of a warrior-king rather then a suffering servant).

Jesus told many parables about the Kingdom of God. Once, when Jesus’ disciples asked him about the meaning of those parables, he told them:

“To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to 
those who are outside, all things come in parables [sign], so that
 ‘Seeing they may see
and not perceive,
And
hearing they may hear and not understand;
Lest they should
turn,
And their sins
be forgiven them.’” (Mark 4:11-12)

On another occasion, the Pharisees asked Jesus when he thought the Kingdom would arrive; he told them, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; …indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Crowds can be easily coerced to do just about anything- they call it mob mentality. (Our modern media are very apt at creating it in a subtler way.) One day, about a year after the miracle of feeding the 5 000, a similar crowd (perhaps composed of some of the same people as this crowd) cried out, “Crucify Him!” because they so loathed his meekness. When the chief priests and elders questioned his authority, in anticipation of this rejection Jesus quoted this saying,

‘The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone.
This was the Lord’s doing,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’ ?

Then He said, “Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it.” (That is all that I want to say regarding the Kingdom of God this morning- if you want to learn more about (here’s the commercial) we will be studying it today in Adult Sunday School.)

The multitude’s desire to make Jesus king by force is analogous to the wide gate belonging to the religion of man which thinks it can storm heaven in it’s own righteousness and idolatrous religion and enthrone man as God. It began with the serpent in Eden. Grace is a narrow gate, “and difficult is the way which leads to [it], and there are few who find it” (Mat 7:14). Rather, grace must find us!

II. The Escape by Water
When Jesus perceived that this was their plan, he went up alone to the mountain and his disciples left in the boat. I think Jesus did this to protect the disciples from the multitude who would have overpowered them in order to take Jesus by force. And it would have been easier for Jesus to slip away at night alone, for his time had not yet come.

The result of this escape is another sign- the fifth sign- walking on water. Jesus’ walking on water in the midst of the storm to rescue his disciples is a picture of what bible scholars describe in the Old Testament as a theophany; that is an appearance of God. The psalmist, looking back on the Exodus from Egypt through the Red Sea describes God’s coming this way,

16 The waters saw You, O God;
The waters saw You, they were afraid;
The depths also trembled.
17 The clouds poured out water;
The skies sent out a sound;
Your arrows also flashed about.
18 The voice of Your thunder was in the
whirlwind;
The lightnings lit up the world;
The earth trembled and shook.
19 Your way was in the sea,
Your path in the great waters,
And Your footsteps were not known.
20 You led Your people like a flock
By the hand of Moses and Aaron.

This is also a picture of Jesus’ Second coming. For now, he sits atop the mountain of heaven as a priest interceding on our behalf. But a time will come when he will return as a warrior king to intervene and deliver his church from the storm of tribulation.

In verse 20, Jesus says, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Have there ever been more comforting words spoken to those who are tossed about by the storms of life and the perils of death? From his throne in heaven, Jesus says to us, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him” (Rev 3:20). Today, if you hear his voice, I plead with you, let him in to your heart. I beg you to believe the gospel. Believe it like your very life depends upon it- because it does. All around you the storm of sin rages and you are in a boat, being tossed by every wind of doctrine and Jesus says, “it is I, do not be afraid, I have power over the waters and the winds, let me in and be the captain of your ship.”

Willingly they received him into the boat and immediately the boat was on the land. No longer were they required to fight against the soaring waves and row against the wind driven currents. With Christ as the captain of their ship, their labour was done, and their salvation secure. Likewise, when you let him into your ship, your labour will be complete. No more must you strive in your own power to reach heaven’s shore- if he is in your boat, then you have arrived. From now on, your work is a labour of love and devotion, not slavery to the serpent’s religion of works and self-idolatry.

The next day, when the multitude realized that they had made a mistake, they went to find Jesus to find out how he got away. When they found him, they asked, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” (V. 25). Jesus answered,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but
because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27Do not labor for the food
which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the
Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

People often say, “My work is my life.” What Jesus is saying is “Work for your eternal life.” Don’t work for bread that perishes; work for your imperishable soul. Jesus said don’t labour for bread, but he could have been talking about anything: don’t labour for your car; don’t labour for your house; don’t labour for your RRSP; don’t labour for your appliances and high tech toys. Is he saying we should all sit around and be lazy?

Not at all. In fact in Luke 10 he commends work, saying, “the labourer is worthy of his wages” (v. 7). Throughout scripture, it is clear that those who are able are to work at providing for themselves, their family and the church. In Thessalonica, the Christians there began to think that they did not need to work because they thought it unspiritual to labour at material things. Paul wrote to them and said, “A man who does not work, should not eat.” He also told Timothy to labour hard in the Word and in evangelism. So, do not interpret Jesus’ point here that we should not labour, or that eating bread is unspiritual and contrary to faith.

What Jesus is saying is that, the amount for which you labour for the Lord in comparison to haw much you labour for physical things is the truest measure of your submission to the Lord. Consider it now: “how much of the intensity and the force of your labour this week was for things of the Lord in comparison to just labouring for bread?” Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from God.

I’m not saying change your job, or that everyone should join the ministry, or even that you need to work harder. I am saying that the purpose and motivation for which you labour should be the Lord, not material things. 1 Corinthians 7 says, because the time is short, let “those who buy [buy] as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as… [if they had nothing to do with it]. For the form of this world is passing away.”

So, If you drive a bus, drive it as though your only passenger were the Lord. If you are a fisherman, fish as though you were catching food for Jesus. If you are teacher, teach as though it was to give glory to God who created all things for his glory and is the source and object of all knowledge and truth. If you are a builder, build as though you were building the temple of God…. And so on. Remember, this does not mean making him King by force. It’s about willful submission.

In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus exhorts believers saying,

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy
and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in
and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Mat
6:19-21).

“No one can serve two masters; for either [you] will hate the one and love the other, or else [you] will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon…. But seek first the kingdom of God [this is not done by force, but through obedience] and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. (vv. 24-31).

Do not labour for food which perishes. How do we Labour for food which endures to eternal life? Verse 29, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom he sent.” We labour for enduring bread by believing not in our own power, not in the power of bread for sustenance, but in the bread that God sent from heaven to redeem and sustain us; by feasting on Jesus though faith and faithfulness we have life. Eating him means nourishing ourselves on the atoning benefits of Jesus Christ. Do not labour for food which perishes, labour to feast on Jesus. Seek the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.