Exposing materialism

 John 6v25-31

Exposing materialism     v25-31  The omniscient Lord, who knew their hearts, and who knows our hearts, saw through the clamour to see Him.

 

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled.  Labour not for the meat that perishes, but for that meat which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give  unto you, for Him hath God the Father sealed.”

 

In ancient times a legal document was always authenticated by an imprint or a seal to give it force.  The seal represented the power and authority of the sender, much like today where important documents may carry the seal of approval of the Queen, or the State.  This is to give authoritative power to the item sent.  Companies selling products today prosper when the Royal seal is on it.  This was a practise seen very much in the Middle Eastern world, especially as recorded in the Book of Esther, when at the command of the king, letters were sent to all 127 provinces under his control.  No one ignored the seal of the king for it was enforced by all the might of his armies.  God has put His Divine approval on Christ, by visible and verbal approval at his baptism; by prophesies fulfilled in His life; and by miracles that were done in the sight of all.  The Father’s seal signifies the authority of Christ’s words and works, that they are the words and works of the Father.  The Father sent Christ, He anointed Him at His baptism, spoke of Him from heaven, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”  By Him, Christ went about healing and raising the dead.  All of the prophets before Christ, including John the Baptist, and all that followed after, especially the apostles, were sent of God and spoke of Christ. God raised Him from the dead. The Spirit of God set His approval on Him.  These things are evidence that God the Father sealed the Son of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son, with His own Spirit so that He spoke and did all that God required of Him by the Spirit of His Father.
The Lord Jesus Christ must be heard because of the seal that He bears – it is the seal of Almighty God, the Father’s seal, and is the highest testimony to the authority of Christ as the Son of Man.  The Son of God bears the signet ring of Heaven’s throne   Therefore, we should hear Him.

 

The multitude had travelled across the lake to find Him, and because of the miracles they should have worshipped Him.  But Jesus knew their hearts; it was for material benefit they sought Him, not for spiritual reality.  His mission was not to feed the body but to sanctify the soul, and they had missed the whole point of His mission.  Material things, like food, are only for this life; the emphasis should be on the spiritual, which last for ever.  They shew their ignorance by asking Him what they must do to work the works of God.  His answer is the very heart of the gospel He came to bring-“This is the work of God, that you believe on Him whom God has sent.”  Not works of yours, but works of mine which God will accept.  All you have to do is believe in me.  What follows amounts to incredible insensitivity, “They said therefore unto Him, what signs showest thou that we might see and believe on thee?  What dost thou work?  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

 

They have just witnessed an astonishing miracle- the feeding of 5000 men beside women and children from meagre resources. And now they ask Jesus what sign do you show us that we might believe?!  Sadly, their minds were so fixed on the material, they lost all rationality. This gives rise to the great discourse on the bread of God, who came down from heaven to supply the only life that we need.