30 Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
Has anyone ever asked you to ask God for a sign so that they could believe what you have told them about Jesus and salvation? I was astounded when I was asked this question. I was a very young Christian and didn’t really know what to make of it. I wasn’t conversant with the Word so that I could refer to this or other Scripture such as Jesus reply to the same kind of question in Matthew 12:39 (NIV), “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
I can imagine that Jesus was probably just as shocked when this crowd asked him for a sign just after feeding 5,000 of them from five loaves and two fish. Okay, Jesus knew their hearts and probably wasn’t really shocked but their audacity had some underlying history. They were wrongly applying why their ancestors had been given manna to eat while in the desert. They also didn’t understand who had given them the manna.
32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
Jesus has to set them straight. First, they believed Moses gave them the manna. Though they didn’t state it, it was clear to Jesus that they thought Moses gave them the manna. They believed that Moses was almost like God. They saw him as the lawgiver and following all his regulation, they would have life eternal. They couldn’t get beyond Moses to see that it all comes from the God the Father and not the mediator. Jesus has to pry open their small minds to see that the manna was there to sustain them in the desert and was only a foreshadowing of the true bread that would sustain them throughout life and give them eternal life.
We need to be reminded of the same thing. We can easily look at the blessings we receive from the Lord and somehow believe it is a reward for our being good or we have some innate power in ourselves. God warned the people of Israel about this in Deuteronomy 8:11-19. He summed it up in verses 17 and 18, “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ 18 You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day’” (ESV).
34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
They addressed him as lord but some of the translations correctly render it as “sir” because they are not acknowledging that Jesus is Lord. They are only being respectful to one they see as prophet but certainly not God. Their response is the same as the woman at the well when Jesus told her about living water (John 4:15). Their brains are still fixed on meeting physical needs.
35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
It is interesting to see how Jesus moves them forward one little step at a time. In essence he is now speaking the same way as when he told parables. He is making a truthful statement, but it isn’t clear to anyone who has not been granted spiritual discernment. Bread of life could mean the same to them as the living water meant to the woman at the well. To the unspiritual, it is either magical or only pertains to physical. However, Jesus identifies himself with being the bread and anyone who had spiritual eyes to see him would understand that he is talking about spiritual hunger and thirst. After all, how can you come to a person and never be hungry? Anyone who identifies with, “My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:2 ESV) will instinctively understand how Jesus satisfies our thirst and hunger for God.
But they don’t believe which means the Holy Spirit has not yet illuminated them or caused them to be born again. Without that change that comes from above no one can see or understand who Jesus is (John 3:3). In fact, no one will have a hunger or thirst for God though they will have an emptiness in them which only draws them to worship other things out of the deadness of their spirits because they are unable to understand God (Eccl 3:11).
37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
If it hasn’t been obvious in the previous chapters, Jesus clarifies that the only people who will believe in him are the ones that the Father has selected from eternity past. He gives them to Jesus. God is selective. He doesn’t give everyone to Jesus as is evidenced by those who have rejected him in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts as well as people throughout history.
They will come to Jesus. If God has given them there can be no doubt that they will believe in Jesus. It is a foregone conclusion. A decision that can’t be changed by God, by Jesus, or the person who comes to Jesus. Once God has promised something, he can’t change it because it would go against his nature (Num 23:19). He isn’t like us.
Have you come to Jesus or are you reading this as a skeptic? If as a skeptic and conclude that you haven’t been given to Jesus because you are a skeptic, then I ask you just one question. Do you want to come to Jesus? If the answer is yes, then you have been given to Jesus because you wouldn’t have the desire if God hadn’t given it to you. If you say no but are still curious or want to prove some other way of salvation, then at this point in your life, you haven’t been given to Jesus. That doesn’t mean the time won’t come.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
Jesus doesn’t have a separate agenda from the Father. They both want the same thing, and it is Jesus’ job to carry out part of that agenda. God’s will or agenda seems straight forward. The Father chooses some people to give to Jesus. Jesus comes to the earth to receive these people. Why he had to come to the earth to do that is a matter of great importance but is too lengthy for this discussion, but it is summarized in the statement that he will not lose anyone that the Father gives him. Finally, Jesus’ job is to raise them up at the end of history (also a deep subject but summarized by the “last day”).
It should be clear that the ones the Father has chosen to give to Jesus will believe in him and Jesus will then give them eternal life – not just physical life – and when the end comes, they will be resurrected.
Do you get it? Do you look to Jesus for eternal life? If so, then it is only because the Father gave you to Jesus and gave you the ability to understand and be saved. If you get it but haven’t turned to Jesus, then you better yield to the Father’s will to make your salvation and election sure (2 Peter 1:10).
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