People’s motives are important. We may think that someone’s seemingly good deed was nice and noble, but their motive ended up being selfish. We find out that the big businessman who bailed out the failing company, didn’t do it for kind and charitable reasons, as his ultimate motive was to take over the company, fire the workers and replace them with his friends. That woman who gave large donations to various charities only did it to look good to her friends. Other people may not have bad motives for what they do. However their motives may be misguided, such as the work they do for the church, thinking that they can earn their way into heaven. In our Scripture for today from the Gospel of John we see Jesus questioning the motives for why some of the people were following him. Let’s take a look.
Earlier in the chapter Jesus had fed the multitudes with just a few small loaves of bread and a couple of fish. That evening He sent the disciples in a boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee while He stepped away to pray alone. That night Jesus came to the disciples, walking upon the water, and they arrived on the other side of the lake, to the village of Capernaum. The crowds who had been miraculously fed the day before followed Him there, questioning how He had got there (vs. 24-25).
Jesus, who knows what is in everyone’s heart (John 2:24-25), questioned them as to what their real motives in seeking Him out were. He knew that though there may have been a few in the crowds who genuinely wanted to hear His message, most sought Him out because of the multiplying of the loaves and fish (vs. 26). Most in the crowd that followed Jesus were motivated by superficial desires of food, rather than true spiritual desires.
Some people use religion for their own personal, physical, or financial benefit. There are some preachers who teach that giving to their ministry will bring financial wealth or other blessings, and some will give solely to obtain those supposed blessings. Some attend church with the hopes that they can get something from that ministry, such as handouts of food, clothing, or something else. A true Christian will follow Jesus because they know He is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Jesus implored the people here, and us today, to seek after spiritual food which will bring eternal life, not for food or other things which quickly perish (vs. 27). This shoots down the Word of Faith movement which draws people who want God only if He makes them rich. We should make an effort to gain eternal riches and life, not for things that are temporary.
The crowds then asked what kind of works they needed to do in order to gain eternal life (vs. 28-29). Jesus responded by letting everyone know that there are no works that we can do to gain salvation. One must believe and put their faith and trust in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. The only work that God requires is faith in His beloved Son, whom He has sent. Otherwise works, however pious they may be, are dead works.
As we continue further, the people wanted to see a sign from Jesus, like their hero, Moses, had done. Since Jesus had fed them bread, they wanted something similar to the manna he had given them (vs. 30-31). They wanted to see a sign if He was really the Messiah. The feeding of the multitude wasn’t enough. They wanted Jesus to outdo Moses if they were to believe in Him. The manna that Moses gave was temporary, and perished. Jesus is the true bread, and when one accepts Him, they have eternal life (vs. 32-33). The people asked Jesus for this bread, but they were thinking of physical bread, not what Jesus, who was that living bread, would give them (vs. 34). We satisfy spiritual hunger and sustain spiritual life only by a right relationship with Jesus Christ (vs. 35). He must be invited into our life in order to have that eternal, spiritual life, just as one must eat the bread to have physical life. Those who come to Jesus in faith will never again spiritually hunger or thirst. Jesus satisfies all spiritual desires.
There is a line between selfishly trying to use the Lord to get what we want, and humbly coming to Him with our needs and struggles. Do we have a demanding spirit? Is our time of prayer devoted mostly to our needs, or do we desire to spend time knowing Jesus better? As our Scripture today taught, let’s check what our motives are when coming to the Lord, and make sure they are honorable.
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