It’s the real thing

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

John 6:25-27, NIV

This is part of a strange sort of passage, which begins with the crowd asking a very indirect question (“when did you get here”, by which they mean how did you get here?) Jesus then answers the question they aren’t asking, but should be. If you follow the conversation to its end, the crowd go steadily backwards until one is left wondering if they even remember the ‘miracle’ they experienced on the previous day.

(And for the avoidance of doubt, I put apostrophes around ‘miracle’ because this is just the normal operation of Kingdom law.)

The first thing we should notice here is that Jesus isn’t correcting them like a Victorian schoolmarm. Maybe it is just me, but I can’t hear the English translations except in that tone of voice. And I think Jesus is saying something a lot more positive. He is helping them make sense of their experience.

“You haven’t crossed the lake to find me because you saw a sign – even though if someone asks you, that is probably what you are going to say.” (As we will see, they are obsessed with ‘signs’)

“Think about it: you are actually here because you ate the bread, and were satisfied like grass-fed cattle” (That is a literal rendering of ἐχορτάσθητε). I think the implication is “and that felt pretty good, didn’t it!”

Not for the first time, Jesus is taking the role of a coach, which means starting with what the person has actually experienced, helping them to make sense of that; and then taking them beyond that to a growth opportunity. (see the post, “Peter gets it!” for another clear example of Jesus as Coach.)

To understand what that growth opportunity looks like, it will help if we get more accurate in our translation. “Do not work for food that spoils…” is way too far off piste. ἐργάζεσθε (ἐργάζομαι, and here used transitively, ie with “the food, the one that perishes” as a direct object) is most commonly used in contexts relating to the growing or gathering of food (also of gathering stone, of quarrymen). “Work for” is not possible in this context.

A direct literal rendering is not easy, but certainly something like “put your energy into gathering, not the food which perishes, but the food which remains into eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”

So together, that is “you are here because you had a great feed yesterday, and that was pretty good, no? But don’t stop there, the same person who fed you yesterday can give you something even better, food that will carry you into eternal life. So put your effort into making sure you gather that!”

And there is even a food market piece of humour to underline this reading; seal it, I should say.

I am prepared to guarantee that most of us read “For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” and just think, well of course. It is a religious statement and should therefore not be questioned or looked into too deeply.

Which is a pretty funny way to think. Jesus is not religious, and He never makes empty religious statements. I wish I could say as much of us.

Seals are not generally part of our working life in the 21st Century. Actually, they are, but now we call them “digital signatures”. Like digital signatures, seals were mostly used in making legal declarations, most often in the context of trade and business. Putting your seal on something expressed your willingness to be held responsible for the quality of the product or information so sealed.

Growers of grain for example, would set their seal on the closure of each sack. Liddell & Scott (my go to Greek Lexicon) cites an example of σφραγίζω (the verb used here) being used of some setting their seal upon a sample of grain. In others words, they are sealing the sample in order to say “if you purchase my shipment, it will exactly match the quality of this sample.”

So now, ask yourself, what does it mean for God The Father to have “set His seal upon this one”, this one meaning the Son of Man “who will give you food that lasts to eternal life?”

Surely it is His guarantee that – at the very least! – the food that remains to eternal life will be of the same quality as the wonderful food and filling that they have already experienced.

Which is a very relevant promise for all of us who have begun to experience the goodness of God, and not in the least an empty religious statement.

And most importantly: happy and satisfied? Hold on to that thought; your experience of the Kingdom will be exactly like that.