The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat, but only his disciples had left. 23 Other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread when the Lord gave thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25 And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” 28 So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”
After Jesus fed the crowd of more than five thousand near the Sea of Galilee, John turns to what happened when people went looking for Him again. They know the disciples had left by boat, and they know Jesus had not gone with them. So when boats arrive from Tiberias, they go to Capernaum looking for Him (vv. 22-24). John is moving the scene from the miracle of the loaves into the long teaching that follows. The crowd is still searching for Jesus, but Jesus will now show that they have not yet understood what the sign meant.
When they find Him, they ask, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” (v. 25). “Rabbi” is a respectful title for a Jewish teacher. But Jesus does not answer their question directly. He goes to the deeper issue. He says they are looking for Him not because they truly understood the signs they saw, but because they ate the loaves and were filled (v. 26). That is an important difference. A sign is not only a mighty deed. It is a work that points beyond itself and reveals something about who Jesus is. The crowd received the food, but they did not yet grasp that the feeding pointed beyond itself to Jesus, the one sent by the Father to give the food that endures for eternal life.
Jesus then says, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life” (v. 27). He is not saying that ordinary food is unimportant. Human beings need food to live. But earthly food can only sustain this present life for a time. It cannot conquer death. It cannot give the life that comes from God. Jesus is calling the crowd to desire something greater, the life that He alone can give. This recalls His words to the Samaritan woman about water that becomes “a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). In both passages, Jesus moves from material need to the deeper gift of eternal life that comes from above and is given through Him.
He says that this enduring food is what “the Son of Man will give” (v. 27). The title ‘Son of Man’ points to the one who comes before God and receives dominion from Him (Dan. 7:13-14). Jesus is not presenting Himself as one teacher among others. He is the one sent by the Father to give life. That is why He adds, “For on him the Father, God, has set his seal” (v. 27). In the ancient world, a seal was used to mark something as genuine, to show ownership, or to confirm that a person acted with the authority of the one who sent him. Jesus has been approved by the Father and publicly identified as the one who truly speaks and acts for God. The crowd must therefore look to Him, not merely to the signs He is performing.
The people then ask, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” (v. 28). They are still thinking mainly in terms of what they must do. Jesus answers with striking simplicity: “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent” (v. 29). He takes their many “works” and brings them to one necessary response. God’s will for them is that they believe in His Son. Faith here is not a vague religious feeling. It means receiving Jesus as the one sent by the Father, believing that His words are true, and entrusting oneself to Him.
The crowd is focused on food they can eat and on actions they can perform. Jesus directs them to Himself. The center is not human effort but the one whom the Father has sent. This does not make obedience unimportant. True faith always leads to obedience and a changed life (James 2:17; Gal. 5:6).
This passage also prepares us for what follows in John 6. Jesus first calls the crowd to faith in His person. Then He will speak more fully about the bread from heaven and the gift that brings eternal life. Already the direction is clear. The miracle of the loaves was never meant to stop at full stomachs. It was meant to lead people to the Son of God. The same is true for us. We can seek Jesus only for help with earthly needs, or we can come to Him as the one who gives eternal life. He calls us to believe in the one God sent.
Lord Jesus, lift our minds above what perishes and teach us to seek the life that endures. Strengthen our faith so that we may believe in You, receive Your word, and follow You with steadfast hearts. Amen.
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Sources and References
- The New American Bible, Revised Edition. Washington, DC: Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, 2011. John 6:22–29 and notes.
- Hahn, Scott, and Curtis Mitch. Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2010, 173.
- The Navarre Bible: St. John. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2005, 386–87.
- Brown, Raymond E., Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy, eds. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1990, 961, pars. 90–91.
- Aguilar Chiu, José Enrique, et al., eds. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. New York: Paulist Press, 2018, 1138.
- Collins, John J., Gina Hens-Piazza, Barbara Reid OP, and Donald Senior CP, eds. The Jerome Biblical Commentary for the Twenty-First Century, 3rd fully revised ed. London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2022, 1404–5.
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