John 6:27

John 6:27 . ἐργάζεσθε … ὑμῖν δώσει . “Work not for the meat which perisheth.” ἐργάζομαι means “I earn by working,” “I acquire,” see passages cited by Thayer in voc . The food which He had given them the evening before He called βρῶσιν ἀπολλυμένην : they were already hungry again, and had toiled after Him for miles to get another meal. Rather must they seek τὴν βρῶσιν … αἰώνιον , the food which abides εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον , that is, which is not consumed in the eating but rather grows as it is enjoyed. Cf. John 4:14 . This food ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑμῖν δώσει . He does not call Himself “the Prophet,” as they had called Him yesterday, because this would have excited false expectations; but in calling Himself the Son of Man He suggests His sympathy with all human wants and at the same time indicates to the initiated that He claims the Messiahship. The guarantee is given in the words τοῦτον γὰρ … ὁ θεός , “For Him hath the Father, God, sealed”. By giving the Son the miracle of the previous day and other signs to do, the Father has sealed or authenticated Him as the Giver of that which nourishes life everlasting. [For the idea, approved by Delitzsch, that the seal refers to the stamping of loaves with the name of the maker, see O. T. Student , Sept[58], 1883, and Expositor , 1885.

Elsner with more reason cites passages showing that a person ordering a banquet gave his seal to the slave or steward commissioned to provide it: and thus that Christ here declares “se a Patre constitutum esse ad suppeditandum Ecclesiae salutarem cibum”. The various meanings of the word are given by Suicer.] Some at least of the crowd are impressed; and conscious that their toil was, as Jesus said, commonly misdirected, they ask Him ( John 6:28 ) τί ποιοῦμεν [better, ποιῶμεν ] ἵνα ἐργαζώμεθα τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ ; that is, how can we so labour as to satisfy God? What precisely is it that God waits for us to do, and will be satisfied with our doing? To which Jesus, always ready to meet the sincere inquirer, gives the explicit answer ( John 6:29 ) τοῦτό ἐστι … ἐκεῖνος . If God has sent a messenger it is because there is need of such interposition, and the first duty must be to listen believingly to this messenger. To this demand that they should accept Him as God’s ambassador they reply ( John 6:30 ) τί οὖν ποιεῖς … “Judaeis proprium erat signa quaerere,” 1 Corinthians 1:22 , Lampe. Grotius and Lücke think this asking for a sign could not have proceeded from those who saw the miracle of the previous day. But Lampe rightly argues that they were the same people, and that they did not consider either the miracle of the previous day or the ordinary cures wrought by Jesus to be sufficient evidence of His present claim. [58] Septuagint.

Meat (βρῶσιν) See on John 4:32. In Matthew 6:19, Matthew 6:20, and there only, it is used in the sense of rust, that which eats or corrodes. Similarly, corrode is from rodo, to gnaw. Him hath God the Father sealed The Rev. makes the sentence culminate properly in God: "for Him the Father, even God, hath sealed." According to the strict Greek order it is: for Him the Father sealed, even God. On sealed (ἐσφράγισεν) see on John 3:33. Wyc., betokened Him.

{d} Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father {e} sealed. (d) Bestow your labour and pain. (e) That is, whom God the Father had distinguished from all other men by planting his own power in him, as though he had sealed him with his seal, so that he might be a vivid example and representation of him: and furthermore he installed him to this office, to reconcile us men to God, and bring us to everlasting life, which office belongs only to Christ.

27. which the Son of man—taking that title of Himself which denoted His incarnate life. shall give unto you—in the sense of Joh 6:51. him hath God the Father sealed—marked out and authenticated for that transcendent office, to impart to the world the bread of an everlasting life, and this in the character of "the Son of man."

By the bread which perisheth, is not strictly to be understood bread, but whatsoever is necessary or accommodating to us in this life; all things of this nature are perishing, and perish with the using: nor is all labour as to them forbidden us; for we are to the contrary commanded, In the sweat of our face to eat our bread; and the apostle commandeth, that those that will not labour should not eat; and, Proverbs 31:27 , the good woman is commended for not eating the bread of idleness: but excessive labour for these things is forbidden. So also is a first and greater labour for and seeking after them, than after that meat which endureth to everlasting life; under which notion also unquestionably cometh whatsoever is necessary by God’s revealed will, that we may have in us the hopes of glory here, and may enter into the actual possession of that glory hereafter. Such as are, first, the knowledge of the gospel; then the believing of it, and the acceptance of that Saviour, and way of salvation, which God hath revealed in it for lost sinners; and that holiness of life which God hath made necessary to it. All which (saith he) I, who am the Son of man, (a name he ordinarily giveth to himself), will give unto you freely. Not that you are to do nothing; no, labour for it; though it be a gift, yet it is a gift upon labour, for all your labour will not procure it; there will be a great deal of free grace seen when you have given all diligence.

And Christ must give it; for the Father, in whose hand this life is, hath (as men by their seals use to confirm the commissions they give out to any persons to do any thing for them, and in their name) confirmed Christ as his commissioner, to give out this eternal life to whomsoever he pleaseth.

27 . Labour not for , &c.] Better, Work not for , &c. The translation in the margin is preferable, to keep up the connexion with John 6:28-30 . The people keep harping on the word ‘work.’ the meat which perisheth ] Better (to avoid all ambiguity), the food that perisheth: ‘meat’ in the sense of ‘flesh-meat’ is not intended. Comp. ( John 4:13 ) ‘whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again.’ The discourse with the Samaritan woman should be compared throughout: ‘the food which abides’ here corresponds with ‘the living water’ there; ‘the food that perisheth’ with the water of the well. ‘Perisheth’ not merely in its sustaining power, but in itself: it is digested and dispersed ( Matthew 15:17 ; 1 Corinthians 6:13 ). endureth unto everlasting life ] Better, abideth unto eternal life: see on John 1:33 and John 3:16 . for him hath God the Father sealed ] Better (preserving the emphasis of the Greek order), for Him the Father sealed, even God . ‘Sealed,’ i.e. authenticated ( John 3:33 ), as the true giver of this food (1) by direct testimony in the Scriptures, (2) by the same in the voice from Heaven at His Baptism, (3) by indirect testimony in His miracles and Messianic work.

John 6:27 . Ἐργάζεσθε , [tractate] trade in ) So τὴν θάλασσαν ἐργάζεσθαι , Revelation 18:17 . Devote your exertions [ labour for , Engl. Vers.], saith He, to the everlasting food: just as you are now seeking Me with great earnestness for the sake of bread . Jesus gives no reply to the When? of the Jews [ John 6:25 , When earnest Thou hither?]: and so often in His discourses He has regard rather to those things which the series of circumstances and the state of souls require, than to the unseasonable interruptions of the speakers.— μή , not ) Very similar things are opposed to one another: ch. John 4:10 , [Jesus to the woman of Samaria] “If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give Me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of Him, and He would have given thee living water.”— τὴν ἀπολλυμένην , that perisheth ) John 6:12 , “Gather up the fragments—that nothing be lost ; ἀπόληται :” 1 Corinthians 6:13 , “Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats; but God shall destroy both it and them .” The food of the body perisheth; therefore it confers not immortality.— ἥν ) βρῶσιν . Ye ought not, saith He, ask from Me nutriment for the body, but for the soul.

First it is set before us as food [meat], John 6:27 ; next as bread , John 6:32 , “The true bread from heaven;” then in express terms, the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ , John 6:51 ; John 6:53 , “The bread that [will give, is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world:—Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you.”— δώσει , will give ) John 6:51 .— γάρ , for ) This Ætiology [enunciating not merely the proposition, but also, at the same time, the reason and cause of it] appertains to the μένουσαν , which endureth .— ὁ Πατὴρ ὁ Θεός , God the Father ) Therefore Jesus Christ is the Son of God.— ἐσφράλισεν , hath sealed ) Hath pointed out and distinguished Him by this very miracle, John 6:14 [as the anointed Prophet: “Those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world”]; as also by His whole testimony, which in its turn needed to be sealed by the faith of the hearers: John 6:29 , “This is the work of God, that ye believe on Him whom He hath sent;” ch. John 3:33 , “He that hath received His testimony hath set to His seal that God is true.” By a seal , that which is genuine is stamped with commendation, and all that is not genuine is excluded.

(27) Labour not for the meat which perisheth. —This is one of the instances in which the reader of the English Bible has in the margin a much better rendering than in the text. Work not shows the verbal connection with John 6:28-30 , which is wholly lost in “labour not.” It will be instructive to compare the other passages in this Gospel where the word occurs: John 3:21 ( wrought in God); John 5:17 ; John 9:4 . Work not is better than “work not for,” by which the words have been sometimes rendered The sense is, “Work not out—let it not be the result of your constant working—to have food (comp. John 4:32 ) which perisheth; but let your work be one worthy of your endeavour, food which endureth unto eternal life, which food the Son of Man will give to you.” For him hath God the Father sealed.—The emphasis of the original is seen better by preserving the order of the words, for Him hath the Father sealed, even God. (Comp. Note on John 3:33.)

Labour not - This does not mean that we are to make no effort for the supply of our wants (compare 1 Timothy 5:1 ; 2 Thessalonians 3:10 ), but that we are not to manifest anxiety, we are not to make this the main or supreme object of our desire. See the notes at Matthew 6:25 . The meat that perisheth - The food for the supply of your natural needs. It perishes. The strength you derive from it is soon exhausted, and your wasted powers need to be reinvigorated. That meat which endureth - The supply of your spiritual wants; that which supports, and nourishes, and strengthens the soul; the doctrines of the gospel, that are to a weak and guilty soul what needful food is to the weary and decaying body. To everlasting life - The strength derived from the doctrines of the gospel is not exhausted. It endures without wasting away. It nourishes the soul to everlasting life. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint," Isaiah 40:31. Him hath God the Father sealed - To seal is to confirm or approve as ours. This is done when we set our seal to a compact, or deed, or testament, by which we ratify it as our act. So God the Father, by the miracles which had been performed by Jesus, had shown that he had sent him, that he approved his doctrines, and ratified his works. The miracles were to his doctrine what a seal is to a written instrument. See the notes at John 3:33.