John 6:29Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

It is said, “to cultivate it and keep it” (Gen 2:15). From whom was he to keep it? There was no robber, no passerby, no evildoer. From whom was he to keep it?

He was to keep it for himself, not to lose it by transgressing the commandment. He was to keep paradise for himself by observing the commandment.

And that He calls faith a work is evident from this: when they said to Him, “What must we do, to work the works of God?” He answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.”

But why can no one do this work at that time? Because there will no longer be faith. Whether willingly or unwillingly, all will be subject.

Therefore, lest anyone say that He does this out of vainglory, He shows that He does everything for the benefit of men. Only here do they have the possibility of believing. There they can no longer do anything profitable for themselves.

But it was necessary to show them that they were still very far from service pleasing to God. Those who give themselves over to the letter of the Law know not even one of the true goods. Their mind is filled only with simple images and outward indications.

For this reason He says with a certain special expressiveness, setting the fruit of faith over against service according to the Law: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.”

This is not, He says, what you suppose, looking only at images. Learn, even if you do not wish to learn, that the Lawgiver once did not esteem your sacrifices of bulls. Nor is it fitting for you to slaughter sheep, as though God required and desired this from you.

What is incense, even if it spreads fragrant vapors through the air? What benefit, He says, will a goat bring, or the offering of rare cinnamon (Jer 6:20)?

God does not eat the flesh of bulls, nor drink the blood of goats. He knows “all the birds of heaven,” and “the beauty of the field” is with Him (Ps 49:13, 11).

He has hated and rejected your feasts and does not smell the sacrifices at your assemblies, as He Himself says in one place (Amos 5:21). Nor did He speak “to your fathers concerning burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Jer 7:22).

Therefore this is not “the work of God.” Rather, it is “that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.” Indeed, salvation through faith is truly higher than worship under the Law and its figures. Justifying grace is higher than the condemning commandment.

Therefore the work for a God-loving soul is faith precisely in Christ. To strive to be made wise by His words is far more important than to give oneself to figures and shadows.

Besides this, marvel also at the following. He was accustomed to pay no attention to those who questioned Him in order to tempt Him. Yet in the present case He gives this answer with a providential purpose.

Again He knew that they would not profit from it, but He answered for their condemnation. As He says elsewhere: “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin” (Jn 15:22).

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?

This reconciliation the Lord proclaims, saying: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him Whom He has sent.” The Lord persuades the Jews to take the first step toward faith, and through it toward God.

In ancient times the glory of God brought terror upon Israel. “When they heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, and the mountain burned with fire,” they said to Moses, “Draw near and hear all that the Lord our God will say” (Deut 5:23-27). “But let not God speak with us, lest we die” (Ex 20:19).

Israel, of course, believed and trembled at that moment of terror. Yet it remained morally stiff-necked and so provoked God that, among those who saw the glory of God on Sinai, no one except Joshua and Caleb was found worthy to see the promised land (Num 14:22-24, 30).

The faith of fear bore no fruit in Israel. The Lord does not desire that. He desires the elevation of the human soul by faith unto love, and love excludes fear. “There is no fear in love,” says the Lord’s beloved disciple (1 Jn 4:18).

Therefore the highest “work of God” that the Jews questioning the Lord could do was to believe Him Who was sent from God. Though they could not understand His whole significance, even to their narrow minds He was clearly sent by God. For He spoke the words of God and did the works of God.

Yet in this lies a great and mysterious feature of human existence: it pleased God to give man a will, and this will is responsible before God. The Lord gives the Jews everything so that they may “understand the time of their visitation” (Lk 19:44), but “they were not willing” (Mt 23:37).

They were not unable; they were unwilling. The Lord points to this evil will in all His rebukes. Here, in the verse before us, the Lord calls the good human will into activity: “This is the work of God, that you believe.” It depends on you to draw near to God.

That precisely this good will was absent in His hearers is proved by the following verses of hard and dry argumentation. As always with people trying to prove something to themselves, it only entangles their own thoughts and prevents faith from falling into their hearts and bearing fruit.