February 07, 2023 – Tuesday
John 6:28-29 NIV
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
John 6: 28-29 NET
28 So then they said to him, “What must we do to accomplish the deeds God requires?”
29 Jesus replied, “This is the deed God requires—to believe in the one whom he sent.”
Comments
Jesus had recently fed 5,000 men and uncounted women and children (v10). It was not long before the people He had fed wanted to make Him king, so He withdrew to a mountain (v15). His disciples that night went to sail across the lake to Capernaum without Jesus. Three or four miles into the lake Jesus walked up to them on the water and upon entering the boat it was at its destination, Capernaum (v16-21). The crowd He had fed realized neither Jesus nor the disciples were around so they took boats to Capernaum in search of Jesus (v24).
When they found Him they wanted to know how He got there. He did not answer their question and instead said, 26 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. 27 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.
And this brings us to the verses for today, 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” Notice here that Jesus said, work not works. There is “one work” and only “one work” which God would have man do. Jesus states without question that there is something to do – there is a labor of sorts, an act of the will is needed and must be done to do what God requires; and this is evident when Jesus describes what it is; The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. We might ask, “What does it mean to believe as it is the one thing God wants from us?”
The answer is not as difficult or as easy as we might think. Instead, the Pulpit Commentary tells us, that to believe in the one he (the Father) sent, marks the simple fact and continuous act of believing with the effort tending to such result. To “believe on him,” is to habitually entrust one’s self to the power and grace of Christ, to make a full moral surrender of the soul to the Lord, includes in itself all other work, and is in itself the great work of God. To believe in Jesus fully is to make a full moral surrender of the soul to the Lord. As a believer, that certainly rings true to me and resonates internally as a basic truth. Many times we want to do anything but make a full moral surrender to Jesus, but that is what His Father wants from us.
One more statement from the Pulpit Commentary, that boils the above down to its essence, Faith is the highest kind of work, for by it man gives himself to God, and a free being can do nothing greater than give himself.
Bottom Line: Looking for a bottom line, I have to go with the final comment I took from the Pulpit Commentary, Faith is the highest kind of work, for by it man gives himself to God, and a free being can do nothing greater than give himself. This is a thought well worth thinking about deeply.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, Help us in our belief. Please strengthen our belief in Your Son, our Lord and Savior. Help us to continually give ourselves to that belief, that faith that You have granted us. – In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
RileyD, nwJ
Riley D. Driver – Pastor
Calvary Chapel of Dayton
in Beavercreek