Spiritual and Physical Motives
As night fell, after Jesus had fed a crowd of five thousand followers and hangers on, He and His disciples made their way across the sea of Galilee. They were in a boat, He was on foot, at least at the beginning. But that interesting story must wait for another time. The point is that Jesus was concerned with His growing popularity. He knew that after His miraculous display of power regarding the five loaves and two fish the people were intending to take Him by force and crown Him king.
Because this would force a confrontation with the Roman authorities and short-circuit God’s plan of spiritual deliverance, Jesus withdrew, first to the mountainside and then, after dark, across the sea of Galilee. The next day, the crowd, with its misguided intentions, went looking for Jesus. They saw that only one boat was missing, the one they had seen the disciples set out in the previous evening. So they started to search. When it became clear that Jesus was not to be found on the west side of the Sea, they rushed to the shore and as many as would fit commandeered the fishing boats and crossed over to the other side where they found and greeted Him.
Instead of welcoming them warmly, Jesus rebuffed them with these words: “‘I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’ Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’” (John 6:26-29)
Jesus deflated them, and their grand plans to make Him king, by seeing through their motives. He knew that they were not seeking Him because the miracle they had participated in showed Him to be the Messiah. They remembered how tasty the wonderful food was and imagined that living under the rule of a king who could do such things would guarantee them perpetually full bellies. And... He just might be able to get rid of the Romans, as well.
Jesus went on to challenge them to place higher priority on spiritual food - truth - which would bring them eternal life than on physical food which could only nourish them for a day. Ironically, even though they had just witnessed the miracle of the loaves and fish, they immediately asked Him to do a miraculous sign which would convince them of His spiritual authority. This proves Jesus’ assessment that they had missed the spiritual significance of His feeding them and had merely enjoyed a hearty abundant meal.
In this declaration of truth, Jesus reaches into the deepest part of us with a challenge to our own motives. (This is especially true for those of us who live in affluent parts of the world which have known the blessings of being under the influence of Jesus’ teaching for generations.) What’s really more important to us, the comfort and pleasure that material wealth can procure for us, or the spiritual insight which calls us to lay down our lives to follow Jesus’ example with the expectation of Heaven? As we look around us, the trend is unmistakable. People constantly challenge Jesus to authenticate His authority. But personally, how do you respond?
