In this chapter John relates the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and shows the great contrast between what Jesus offered people and what people expected of him. Jesus, we have seen, came to give life. But the life he gives is not for the moment but "life to the full" (Jn.10:10). The people, however, were not interested in eternity but immediate and temporal gratification. Jesus knew this and declared, "You are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill" (Jn.6:26). They wanted a king who would feed them today (Jn.6:14-15) but Jesus showed signs that authenticated his greater claims. When they did not recognise the signs he said to them:

"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" (Jn.6:27)

They immediately compared Jesus with Moses asking:

"What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe in you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat'" (Jn.6:30-31)

Isn't that interesting; Interesting and so very familiar? These people knew their Scripture and could quote it well enough but it seems that, just as they had tried to force Jesus to be their king and serve them, they bent Scripture to their own agenda and made it serve them: "Moses gave us this; what will you give us?" Today we can use Jesus for our own end, looking to him to make us rich, healthy, successful, comfortable, even gods but never considering what it means to have him for our king.

In his famous Bread of Life sermon Jesus makes wonderful promises of sustained life:

"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me..."

"Will never go hungry" - God's supply in Jesus is a constant supply that sustains new life

"Will never be thirsty" - It will satisfy our most intense needs

"Whoever comes to me I will never drive away" - God's supply is constant, a daily experience of eternal life. Never a day when we come to him to find ourselves turned away or even waiting in line.

"Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life" - It is a supply that will never run out but keep us for eternity

"I am the Bread that came down from heaven"

Just as God had provided the manna in the desert so now, in Jesus, he would supply their every need, a daily supply that reflected their daily and complete dependence on him. They could not make Jesus their king - he was their king and he was not to obey them but they were to obey him. They asked Jesus, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

"Jesus answered them, 'the work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent'" (Jn.6:28-29)

We saw last week the reluctance of people to come to him because of an unwillingness to confess their need and an unwillingness to recognise and honour him as Lord and King. So here we see people walk away from him because this was a hard teaching (J.6:60) But this is what we need to do to gain eternal life, i.e. believe in the one God has sent and trust him alone to sustain us in life. Any system of religion that has people rely on their own efforts and understanding, their own agenda and ambitions and does not look completely to the Son is a false religion and robs us of the truth that is found in Jesus alone. It may sustain for a time but will always let us down. Eternal sustenance comes from an eternal king.

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