Thursdays Child John 6:22-35 The Original "Show Me" People

Well, we're back on track after getting sidetracked with a little geography.

As I was reading this passage, I started thinking about 1) How people can be so deceitful and fickle, and 2) It's funny to watch Jesus tell them what they are really thinking, and that they can't deceive Him.  

John doesn't say after Jesus had fed them (the five thousand) and listened to Him teach, whether they went home to sleep, or if they had to sleep on the hill. He just says, they started gathering on the shore the next morning. They knew the disciples had gone across the lake without Him, but what they didn't know was that Jesus had decided to take a walk ACROSS the lake to catch up to the disciples. For some reason they decided to go across the lake and check anyway. I can just imagine the looks on their faces when they found Him there. When they asked Him how He got there, Jesus didn't answer the question, He just said "The truth is you just want to be with me because I fed you, not because you witnessed a miracle." It was like, that crowd was the groupies of their day. As long as the popular prophet was providing them with what they needed, or wanted, they would hang around. When their free ride starts to cost them something (as we'll see later) Jesus' crowd starts to dwindle. But for now, He goes on to tell them not to be so concerned about perishable things like food. They need to focus their energy on seeking the eternal life that Jesus can give them. He specifically told them "I, the Son of Man, have been sent by God the Father to give you eternal life." They did respond by asking what God wants them to do. Jesus told them "Believe in the one He has sent." They had the nerve to say "Then you need to show us a miraculous sign. What will you do for us?" It makes you wonder why Jesus didn't say "I just fed over five thousand of you with five loaves of bread and two fish, what more do you want?" Evidently they wanted Jesus to feed them as long as they followed Him, because they said "Moses fed the people manna while they journeyed through the wilderness." Jesus told them it wasn't Moses that provided the manna, it was His Father, and now God is offering them the true bread of heaven, the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said "Sir give us that bread every day of our lives." At this point I picture Jesus pointing to His chest saying loudly in frustration "I Am The Bread Of Life." The people are probably still thinking about getting some breakfast, and having some bread that is edible, and Jesus is talking eternity, and they just aren't getting it.
We'll see how they finally understand later but, I want to stop here for today. I don't want to go too far past Jesus' "Son of Man" statement. I want to take a closer look at that, and what He could have meant by that, next time. Until then,
Thanks for searching with me, as we attempt to understand Jesus' relationship with His followers.
Paul