Word to the Wise
Monday, May 6, 2019 - 3rd Week of Easter - Mon
[Acts 6:8-15 and John 6:22-29]"Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the god that endures for eternal life which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal." So they said to him, "What can we do to accomplish the words of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent." {John]
Jesus has just multiplied the loaves and fishes and the crowds are looking for second helpings! They cannot see beyond the physical sign to the theological reality of Jesus. The last line of the quotation, in my opinion, is a summary of the entire Gospel According to John. Jesus is the one whom God has sent. Our response to him must be to believe in him.
Of course, Christian life does not stop there. Belief in Jesus brings responsibility. The scene at the Last Supper in the Gospel According to John when Jesus washes the feet of the disciples instructs us that in performing that act of menial service he is giving us an example to follow. If the one whom God has sent can do such things, which are not as dramatic as those signs he performed to evoke faith, surely we can do them, too. In many ways, such humble service can have a more dramatic impact! Such acts of humble service can proclaim loudly to the recipient that Jesus is the one whom God has sent. AMEN