John 6:22-27: a reflection

22On the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that Jesus hadn’t entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone away alone. 23However, boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”

The day after Jesus fed the multitude, the crowds track him down again, and Jesus sees straight through their eagerness. You seek me, he tells them, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. They were following him, but for the wrong reason, not because they had grasped who he was, but because he had given them free bread. And Jesus redirects them: Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.

Notice the diagnosis Jesus makes. The crowd wanted Jesus for what he could give them, the perishable benefit, the free meal, not for himself or for the eternal life he offered. They sought the gift, not the giver; the bread, not the Bread of Life. And Jesus gently exposes it, and calls them higher: to labor not for the perishable but for the food that endures to eternal life, to seek him for what truly lasts.

That searches our own reasons for seeking God. It is possible to come to God, to follow Jesus, mainly for the perishable benefits, the help we want, the comfort, the blessings, the things he might give us, rather than for himself and the eternal life he offers. Jesus calls us past that: seek not the perishable but what endures, not merely the gifts but the giver, not the bread but the Bread of Life. Examine why you seek Jesus. If it is mainly for perishable benefits, hear his call to labor for what endures, and to seek him for himself, who alone gives the food that lasts to eternal life.

Lord Jesus, you saw that the crowd sought you not because they grasped who you were but because you had fed them, and you called them to labor not for perishable food but for what endures to eternal life. Examine why I seek you. Where I come to you mainly for the perishable benefits, the help, the comfort, the blessings I want, rather than for yourself, correct me. Help me seek not merely your gifts but you, the giver; not the bread, but the Bread of Life. Draw me to labor for what endures, and to seek you for yourself.