John 6:28Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

He set a reward before them in the words, “but for that which endures unto eternal life.” Finally, He anticipated their objection by saying that He was sent by the Father.

What did they do? As though they had heard nothing, they say, “What must we do, to work the works of God?” They said this, as the following circumstances show, not in order to learn and fulfill, but to dispose Him again to give them food and fill them.

Thus the question was the result more of their dullness of mind than of any true inclination toward knowledge. You have something similar in blessed Matthew. A certain young man, surrounded by an abundance of possessions not easily acquired, gave, as it were, a hint that he was finally turning to the service of God.

When he came to Jesus, he diligently asked what he must do in order to become an heir of eternal life. The Lord says to him: “You know the commandments, of course: do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not bear false witness,” and the rest.

But he, as though needing none of this, or even not accepting such instruction, which was far below the experience he possessed, says, “All these I have kept from my youth; what do I still lack?” (Mt 19:16 and following; cf. Lk 18:18-20).

Therefore, just as that man, joining arrogance to ignorance, says, “What do I still lack?” so these men, through great pride and high opinion of themselves, say, “What must we do, to work the work of God?”

Humility of mind, therefore, is good. It belongs to a noble soul to allow teachers to know what is more profitable and to feed others with those teachings that they consider excellent, since as teachers they possess greater knowledge.

Indeed, how could they appear as teachers if they had not acquired more knowledge than the mind of their pupils possesses? Even the greatest progress is scarcely able to bring pupils up to their teachers, according to the Savior’s saying: “A disciple is not above his teacher,” and, “It is enough for the disciple to be as his teacher” (Mt 10:24-25).

They said to Him, therefore, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" Jn 6:28. For He had said to them: "Labor not for the food that perishes, but for the food able to give eternal life," Jn 6:27.

What must we do? they say. What must we observe so that we may be able to fulfill this commandment?

Jesus answered them: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent," Jn 6:29. This means eating the food that is not corruptible, but is able to give eternal life.

You do not need to prepare either teeth or stomach. Believe, and you have already been filled.

Faith is indeed distinct from works, as the Apostle says: "A man is justified by faith apart from works," Rom 3:28. There are works without faith in Christ which seem good, but they are not good.

They have no relation to that end through which works become good. For "the end of the law is Christ, unto righteousness for everyone who believes," Rom 10:4.

Therefore He did not wish to separate faith from work, but said that faith itself is a work. For it is that faith which works through love, cf. Gal 5:6.

He did not say, "This is your work." Rather, He said: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent, so that the one who glories may glory in the Lord," cf. Jn 6:29; 1 Cor 1:31.

Since He was calling them to faith, they were still seeking signs in order to believe through them. See whether it is not the Jews who demand signs, cf. 1 Cor 1:23.

Indeed, they said to Him: "What sign then will You give, that we may see and believe You? What work do You do?" Jn 6:30.

Was it not enough that they had been fed with five loaves? Although they had seen this, they preferred to this food the manna from heaven.

The Lord Jesus spoke of Himself in such a way that He would be set above Moses. For Moses did not dare to say of himself that he gives food which is not corruptible, but which is able to give eternal life, cf. Jn 6:27.

He promised something greater than Moses. Through Moses, of course, a kingdom was promised, a land filled with milk and honey, transitory peace, many children, bodily health, and all other such things.

Although these things were transitory, they nevertheless served as spiritual images. For in the Old Testament they were promised to the old man.

And so they listened to what was promised through Moses, and listened to what was promised by Christ. The former promised a full belly on earth, but filled with food that perishes. The latter promised food that is not corruptible, but is able to give eternal life, cf. Jn 6:27.

They listened to Him who promised more, yet as if they had not yet seen Him do greater works. Therefore they knew what works Moses had done, and they wanted still greater works to be done by Him who promised such great things.

Jesus Christ uses their manner of expression, but develops His own thought. From the many works about which they were thinking, He turns their gaze to the one necessary thing: faith in Him. This is the necessary condition on man’s part for receiving from Him the food that endures unto eternal life.

Yes, before the coming of Christ, God was for men the Unknown God. But Christ came, and from Him we learned that man is immortal. We learned that his brief earthly life is only preparation for eternal life.

We learned that for the deeds done by us here on earth there will be recompense at the final Judgment. We learned that men will then be raised. According to the life they have lived, some will be blessed in the Kingdom of Heaven and others will suffer.

We learned that to attain blessedness in the Kingdom of Heaven it is necessary to do the will of God. God, as boundless Goodness and Love, requires from us love for Himself and for our neighbors.

We must act toward all people in general as we would wish others to act toward us. Loving our neighbors, we must even lay down our soul for them, and so forth.

But to accept all this as unalterable truth, and to believe it, one must be convinced that Jesus Christ could not speak falsehood. Yet even this conviction is not enough.

One must be convinced that in preaching He was not mistaken, but truly knew everything of which He spoke. Since only God could know this, one must believe in Him as God incarnate.

Studying His life, His teaching, and the proofs of His omnipotence manifested in miracles, we must acknowledge that He was not only Man, but also God, that is, the God-Man. His resurrection must finally strengthen this faith in us.

Having reached such faith, and therefore the knowledge of God’s will, we can already consciously do the works of God, that is, fulfill His will.

That is why Jesus says: so that you may do the works of God, you must first of all believe in Him Whom He has sent.

Jesus said this to those whom He had just miraculously fed with five loaves and two fish. But this miracle was not enough for them.

Moses brought down manna from heaven and fed the whole Jewish people with it for forty years. According to the teaching of the rabbis, the Messiah would likewise feed the Jews.

Therefore, in comparison with such constant feeding of all the Jews, what was one miraculous feeding of only several thousand people? So reasoned the ungrateful and hard-hearted Jews, and they said to Jesus: “Our fathers believed, and we believe, that Moses was sent from God, because he presented proof of it by bringing down manna from heaven, which our fathers ate in the wilderness. But what sign will You give us? What do You do, so that we may believe You, that You too are sent from God?”

If He is the true Messiah, then should He not, according to the well-known traditions of this people, endow them with wealth and glory? Should He not give them all earthly blessings which the popular imagination expected from a crudely understood Messiah?

They think that this spiritual food is precisely the rite which, for them, made up the whole essence of the Law. The Lord stops them on this path and compels them to understand that He requires from them not external actions, but the elevation of the soul by its own will from the earthly to the heavenly.

The work of God, ἔργον τοῦ Θεοῦ, is accomplished within man: “For behold, the Kingdom of God is within you” (Lk 17:21).