Jesus answered them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, even God, has set His seal. They said therefore to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent." John 6:26-29
Some humans spend all their time, focus and energy on temporal things, and little if any on eternal things. This is what Jesus is always trying to teach us. He did that right after He fed over 5,000 with a few bread loaves and fish. This caused many to follow Him across the Sea of Galilee, not to learn more of eternal, spiritual truth but to have their bellies filled with a fine miracle meal again. So, Jesus confronts them on this, and urges them and us to focus more on what endures to eternal life than to our temporal needs.
And when He says "work for the food that endures to eternal life" He is not insinuating that we humans have to do something to earn either partially or completely eternity, but He clearly teaches that this is "given to us by the Son of Man." This He sums up by the miracle of faith which is given to us by His Word and Sacraments that we believe in Him who God does all the work necessary to save us: Jesus' perfect life, death and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins."
Superficial hearing of His Word occasionally or even habitually will not achieve the eternal life we all desire, only believing in this Son of Man crucified and raised for our righteousness will grant this miraculous gift. And this believing is of a continuous nature!
Truly the physical food we eat is also a miraculous gift as one of our Creator God's blessings, but it does not endure to eternal life. For that, only spiritual food will do! The soul food which God gives in His Word and Sacraments (Baptism and the Lord's Supper) are unto life eternal, producing spiritual life now and to eternity in Jesus Christ.
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