22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.
Even though Jesus had dismissed the crowd, many of them stayed long enough to see the disciples get in the only boat and leave. They realized. This is important to understand. While our reasoning has been flawed by the fall, it doesn’t mean we can’t add two plus two and come up with four. The fall has negatively affected our reasoning when it comes to spiritual matters. Even though Romans 1:19-20 says we should be able to look at creation and understand that God exists and that he is omnipotent, we still don’t come to God or respond to God in a way consistent with moral righteousness. Then there are also times when it is apparent that our reasoning ability aisre terribly lacking as evidenced by people believing lies and conspiracy theories on social media. Even Christians have succumbed to believing the internet instead of the Bible. We have become unable to apply the Bible to our lives and discern when out and out lies are repeated until we believe them.
23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
Continuing with their reasoning, they concluded that Jesus was not around either. They made the correct conclusion that wherever the disciples had gone was where they would sooner or later find Jesus. Although I can imagine the theories they may have floated about Jesus’ disappearance.
We need to remember that in all of this, God is sovereign. The boats from Tiberias didn’t just happen to land there at the correct time for the remnants of the crowd to use to search for Jesus. This was a divine appointment to further God’s plan of bringing the message of salvation to the people.
When we can’t make sense of things, we need to understand that God does. He is the one in control of all the circumstances of life, whether it is the destruction of one nation by another, global pandemics, the unexpected death of a baby, or a diagnosis of cancer. We can speculate and try to apply human reason to everything. But there is only One who really knows the complete truth and we need to trust him.
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
Perhaps they were truly shocked to discover Jesus was already with the disciples. With the reasoning they had and without knowing Jesus had walked on the water, they would have assumed he was somewhere along the shore on the way to meet the disciples. Did they understand that his arrival had been the result of a miracle? Most likely not. However, their question does reveal that they were still trying to make sense of what had happened. This is what our minds do. We try to put what we see, hear, feel, and experience together to make sense of it, to form what we believe is reality. Fortunately, when we know Jesus, we look at things through the lens of the Bible and we can gain a better perspective of reality that includes God and his plan for us.
26 Jesus answered, "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. 27 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."
Here comes the revelation of reality from the lips of Jesus, “I tell you the truth.” Jesus never lies and he knows exactly what motivates people. The miracles were all given to the people and to us to let us know that Jesus is the Messiah. He is God incarnate. But the sad truth is that they saw the miracles as only a way to relive their immediate needs, whether that was feeding, healing, or freedom from Rome. They didn’t come to be spiritually fed but physical fed. If they recognized God working through Jesus, it was only to satisfy their temporal desires. James explained that we often ask God only to get something to spend on our own pleasures (James 4:3). Jesus sets them straight.
The miracles are God’s seal of approval on Jesus. They aren’t there just to satisfy desires, even Jesus’. If you are going to ask God for something, make it eternal. I’ve heard people say we need to pray kingdom prayers, and this is what Jesus is telling them to do. Work or pray for things that will make an eternal difference, first of all for your own salvation, then the salvation of others. What we do in our daily lives must have an overarching goal to bring the message of the cross and salvation through Jesus Christ. Then we will be storing up treasures in heaven and not on the earth (Matt 6:19-21). This doesn’t mean that we don’t have and use things for our own, but heavenly goals should consume a significant portion of our time and resources (Col 3:1-3).
28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
Wow! It sounds like they got it. Their attention has been turned from trying to make sense of the circumstances around them to what they need to do to what God wants. But they have been ingrained with the ideas that having eternal life depends on what they do. Jesus has to pry this away from them so that they will have faith in him alone for salvation.
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
Here it is. They need to believe in the one (singular) whom God sent. The word believe is pisteuo(pist-yoo'-o) meaning to have faith in Jesus or to entrust your spiritual well-being to Jesus.[1] This kind of belief is more than just having facts. It requires acceptance that the facts are true. Then it also requires trusting the facts. In this case, it is trusting your eternal destiny to Jesus to save you. This has nothing to do with works that bring merit that must be rewarded. This kind of belief can only come if God gives it to your first (Eph 2:8-9).
[1]NT:4100, Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006, 2010 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.
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