John 6:27

ἐργάζεσθε … ὑμῖν δώσει. “Work not for the meat which perisheth.” ἐργάζομαι means “I earn by working,” “I acquire,” see passages cited by Thayer in voc. The food which He had given them the evening before He called βρῶσιν ἀπολλυμένην : they were already hungry again, and had toiled after Him for miles to get another meal. Rather must they seek τὴν βρῶσιν … αἰώνιον, the food which abides εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, that is, which is not consumed in the eating but rather grows as it is enjoyed. Cf. John 4:14. This food ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑμῖν δώσει. He does not call Himself “the Prophet,” as they had called Him yesterday, because this would have excited false expectations; but in calling Himself the Son of Man He suggests His sympathy with all human wants and at the same time indicates to the initiated that He claims the Messiahship. The guarantee is given in the words τοῦτον γὰρ … ὁ θεός, “For Him hath the Father, God, sealed”. By giving the Son the miracle of the previous day and other signs to do, the Father has sealed or authenticated Him as the Giver of that which nourishes life everlasting. [For the idea, approved by Delitzsch, that the seal refers to the stamping of loaves with the name of the maker, see O. T. Student, Sept [58], 1883, and Expositor, 1885. Elsner with more reason cites passages showing that a person ordering a banquet gave his seal to the slave or steward commissioned to provide it: and thus that Christ here declares “se a Patre constitutum esse ad suppeditandum Ecclesiae salutarem cibum”. The various meanings of the word are given by Suicer.] Some at least of the crowd are impressed; and conscious that their toil was, as Jesus said, commonly misdirected, they ask Him (John 6:28) τί ποιοῦμεν [better, ποιῶμεν] ἵνα ἐργαζώμεθα τὰ ἔργα τοῦ θεοῦ; that is, how can we so labour as to satisfy God? What precisely is it that God waits for us to do, and will be satisfied with our doing? To which Jesus, always ready to meet the sincere inquirer, gives the explicit answer (John 6:29) τοῦτό ἐστι … ἐκεῖνος. If God has sent a messenger it is because there is need of such interposition, and the first duty must be to listen believingly to this messenger. To this demand that they should accept Him as God's ambassador they reply (John 6:30) τί οὖν ποιεῖς … “Judaeis proprium erat signa quaerere,” 1 Corinthians 1:22, Lampe. Grotius and Lücke think this asking for a sign could not have proceeded from those who saw the miracle of the previous day. But Lampe rightly argues that they were the same people, and that they did not consider either the miracle of the previous day or the ordinary cures wrought by Jesus to be sufficient evidence of His present claim.

[58] Septuagint.