NOTES for Joh 6:27-33
27 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. |
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? |
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. |
30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? |
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. |
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. |
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. |
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Jesus' listeners do not always understand Him rightly: into familiar words, long grown customary, He often puts an entirely new meaning. And often the new meaning He puts into them is entirely unexpected, changing what today we would call the paradigm of thought.
For example, they ask Him about the works of God, meaning approximately what today we would call religious obligations. They ask Him about the works of God in the sense in which teachers of the Torah and learned rabbis often spoke about them: in order to keep the Torah fully, one must fulfill the commandments and, in addition, do this and that. But Jesus speaks about trust, about relationship with Himself, as the main work of God. And no wonder: many of Israel's teachers also saw all religious obligations as a means to establish and strengthen relationship with God, considering precisely this to be the main and only work of God.
And now into the world has come the One on relationship with whom depends the possibility not simply of establishing relationship with God, which was possible before, but of sharing in the life of the Kingdom in all its fullness. Yet they ask Him what additional religious obligations one must take on so that, when the Messiah comes, one will be sure to be among the remnant that meets Him.
The same is true of the bread Jesus speaks about. He speaks to them of that breath of life with which the Kingdom is permeated, and they reply: well, once there were times when God gave our fathers manna in the wilderness; what will You give us? Can You show us something that would become convincing proof of Your words for us?
As one can see, the main problem here is that those asking the questions cannot see the main thing for which Jesus came into the world: the Kingdom. Therefore they ask Him about many things that have no direct relation to the Kingdom. He again and again tries to bring them back to the main thing, for the meaning of His mission is precisely to bring as many people as possible into the life of the Kingdom, so that the history of the Kingdom in the world would not end together with His earthly ministry.
Readings for 28 April 2026
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