Seeing Only The Physical

Wanting to Work, But Needing to Believe.

They asked Jesus, "What must we do?" It’s a straight forward question. And Jesus answers in like manner with a simple straight forward answer, "Believe on me."
Their question shows their misunderstanding, a serious deep, eternally damning misunderstanding. They believe they can work and do something that will earn God’s favor. This is what they had been taught by the Pharisees. Keeping the law was the way you could earn your way to the resurrection. Doing what they said the law required of them. Now they are asking Jesus, “What do we need to do for God?”

Jesus tells them, “Just believe, believe in me the One whom the Father has sent. Believe in Christ. Believe in the Messiah. Believe in the Son of Man. Believe in the Son of God.

Seems pretty plain but notice how they respond to this plain declaration of the need for faith.

Wanting a Sign, But Needing a Savior

Vs. 30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? They are asking saying, “Okay, ten what sign will you do, that we may see and believe in you? What work are you willing perform?” And they have a plan for exactly what they want Jesus to do for them, at their insistence at their near command, they tell him “You know what, our fathers, our ancestors they ate the manna in the wilderness. Why don’t you do the same?
Jesus sets them straight and tries to get them to see the much bigger picture. He tells 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. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.”

Did you notice the tenses? Moses gave, past tense, but God now gives, present tense. He clearly tells them God has given me, the true bread of life, the fulfillment of the symbol of the manna that fell during the Exodus. God through Moses gave but now God is giving you eternal life through me.”

Wanting a Meal, But Needing a Master

And look at their understanding. I should say their total misunderstanding. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. In other words, “Lord give us a meal that will never end!” In a sense they are looking past eternal life in Jesus Christ and willing to exchange if for a lifetime supply of Chic-fil-a chicken or never ending coupons for pulled pork sandwiches at Dickeys. Now I really like both those meals but they are a poor substitute for eternal life.

You can almost feel the frustration, the sense of shock as Jesus hears this and then tries to removes any vagueness or ambiguity as to what he is saying, vs. 35 "I am the Bread of Life.  He that comes to me shall never hunger, he that believes on me shall never thirst.

Seeing The Eternal

If we are to avoid the mistake of these people in John 6, if we are to see the truth of eternity and not be blinded by the wants of today, then we must first really hear Jesus. We must listen to the word that he speaks directly to our heart.

To often we hear a Christian philosophy, or we hear a good entertaining sermon, we may even hear a wise teacher, but what we must hear, what we need to hear is God the Son.  Jesus Christ who has come down to earth to reveal God to us.

Hebrews 1:1-3 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Secondly, we must hear Him not on our terms, our wants or in our understanding but strictly what He is saying and he never speaks without making it clear and plain. Don’t listen to him like these people did.

You can’t filter His word though your Wants. Wanting to Earn Salvation. Wanting a Sign. Wanting a Meal.
Instead, we simply need to do what Jesus plainly says to do. We need to believe

The people that day, struggled with this. Just believe? What does it mean to believe?

Well, we can define it.

I like the way the Amplified Bible states it, vs. 29 “that you believe [adhere to, trust in, rely on, and have faith] in Him whom He has sent."

And we can illustrate it.

I once helped in an outdoor evangelistic service in Cooper, Texas and at the invitation two or three young men came forward to ask questions. The preacher that day was Jim McBroom who was in college with me and had experience preaching while in the army in German working as a chaplain’s assistance. He talked to one of those young men, trying to get him to understand what it meant to believe in Jesus. So he used an illustration.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small pen knife that he carried and he told the young man, “If I offer you this pocket knife, you don’t have to do anything except reach out and let me put in in your hand. But you have to believe that I will give it to you.”

He then held out the knife and the young man reached out and took it. Jim said, “That what salvation is like, you must accept the gift of Jesus Christ, given to you by God the Father. Just reach out and it’s yours.” The man began to weep and they bowed their heads and praying, thanked God for His wonderful gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Jim told me all this afterward and he smiled and said, “You know I’ve lost a few good knives with that explanation, but it’s worth it.”

We need to believe in Jesus not try and work for salvation, we need a Savior not a sign, and we need a master not a meal ticket.

We must come to Jesus on his terms not ours. We cannot bargain with Him.  We don't ask what's in it for me. He offers eternal life. He offers forgiveness of sin. He offers the Holy Spirit to dwell within us. What do we have to bargain with? His gifts are too great to be treated as tokens for exchange. Just believe. Just accept the gift. Just answer His call.

Jesus said, "Come unto me all ye that are weak and heavy laden and I will give rest to your souls."

I must come realizing I am weak and cannot save myself.  I have no hope of heaven or forgiveness without Jesus. I cannot work for it. I cannot earn it. I have nothing of value to offer in exchange for eternal life.

I must realize I am a sinner.  Born, bred and living as a sinner. My sin separates me from God and makes my life a misery from which there is no escape of the pain and suffering sin causes.

I must come to Christ. There is no other means. There is no other person. There is no other hope. it is Jesus and it is Jesus alone. He alone promises, "I will give you rest.