"Jesus answered them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill (chortadzo) of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.'" John 6:26-7
I was meditating on John's passage yesterday and it struck me that the same Greek term in used in Mat 5:6. As I was thinking about the connections these came to mind:
1. The makaroi or blessed ones are they who hunger for righteousness/justice. They are given the promise of satisfaction though its time is not revealed. It is placed in future. This could be tomorrow or as distant as the next life. The emphasis is not on its time but of its certainty. Therefore, one should not assume that hunger necessitates immediate satisfaction. What is it that will bring us satisfaction?
2. The people in John's story come to Jesus because they were satisfied. But that satisfaction was fleeting for it was in the physical loaves. They lived for the contentment that came with a full belly ... in other words, they made their bellies or appetites their god. But this form of satisfaction is fleeting. Jesus instead offers them "real" food that will satisfy their desires forever.
3. "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" This was the question of the people. Yet Jesus told them plainly ... work for it. So he expounds, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent" (John 6:29). "Work of God" ... does this mean this is the work that God is doing or this is the work that God requires us to do? I think it is a combination of both: God works in us both to will and to work for his good pleasure (Phil 2:13). First, we are to "work for the food that endures to eternal life" knowing that it is ultimately God doing this work in us. Second, this "working for" is not a meritorious work, that is, we are not earning eternal life. It is a work that demonstrates that we are children of God. Thus Jesus does not "pay" us with this food, he "gives" us this food.
4. Only Jesus can give this food. The people at least had one thing right, they came to Jesus ... the problem was that they were asking the wrong questions - they came with faulty motives. The people were looking for bread, and Jesus was willing to give it to them for a time, but now he was offering them the Bread which was "true food" (John 6:55). In sum, Jesus was offering himself, but they did not receive it. One can give only what one has ... Jesus is the only one who can give himself and he is the "true bread from heaven" (John 6:32).
5. On what do I satisfy my desires? Righteousness? Justice? Jesus??? or do a satisfy myself with the constant nibbling of the crumbs from the world's table? Which is my "food?" Which is my satisfaction?
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