So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do?They said therefore to him, “What then do you do for a sign, that we may see and believe you? What work do you do?They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?They said therefore unto him, What then doest thou for a sign, that we may see, and believe thee? what workest thou?
4 sermons cite this verse
… As a matter of fact, will you notice the question they asked? Rabbi, when did you get here? Verse 25 concludes. It's interesting to me that Jesus occasionally completely ignores a question. Here's one, here's a case in point. He never answers them. It's a shallow part of the conversation and he's delving too deep in his thoughts to deal with where did you come from and when did you get here. Isn't it interesting how conversations can run in levels? Some conversations you can handle while you watch your favorite television program. Never miss a trick. Other conversations demand you turn everything else out of your mind that you might concentrate upon that. That's my favorite kind of conversation, by the way. Jesus Christ was in deep thought. And they said, when did you get here? Where'd you come from? And he went right to the heart. He went to the motivation that led them in their search. That's the next verse. The motivation is called into question. Verse 26, he answered them and said, truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. …
… what must we do to do the works God requires? And Jesus said, the work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent. So they ask him, what sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you. What will you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. And Jesus said to them, very truly, I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my father who gives you the bread from heaven. The miracle isn't the manna and it wasn't Moses. The miracle is my father who gives you the bread, the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Sir, they said, always give us this bread. And then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. …
… And so they ask him in verse 30, Well, what sign are you going to give us that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Boy, if they only knew. Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, as it's written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. So listen, think about this. They stand in front of him with miracle bread in their stomachs, and they ask him, well, what sign are you going to give us? They got food left over from yesterday. They're still digesting. And they go, whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you going to do? They go back to the famous story of Exodus 16 from 1,200-plus years earlier. They say, well, God rained down bread from heaven to feed his people, manna, each morning when they woke up, that there was dew, and the dew when it was gone would turn into like thin flakes appearing on the desert floor, like a wafer with honey. I like to think of like frosted flakes. …
Jesus answered and said, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent. And therefore they said to Him, What sign will you perform then that we may see it and believe you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert. As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. And Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. And then they said to him, Lord, give us that bread always. And He said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. We're going to stop at that point, finish the text, God willing, next week. But we'll stop there, and so you may be seated for now. …