Verse 22, On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone, however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks, when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.

 

So the crowd assembled the next morning, ready to take Him by force and make Him King but notice, He is nowhere to be found….He has departed, and they find themselves in a place, check this, see this, they find themselves in a place far from Him…why?  We covered this last week, we are to enter into His Kingdom, not the other way around…

 

So they run in (pitch forks and torches and all) to storm the King and find themselves confused…where’d He go?  So they size up the situation, apparently able to figure out that the disciples got into the only boat and departed yet Jesus was gone also and so they decide to get into boats that had arrived during the night from Tiberias and make for Capernaum (where Jesus dwelt for a time > Matt 4:13).

 

Verse 25, And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”  Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”

 

Um Jesus, that’s not what we asked…listen, the question asked of Him is irrelevant, Jesus answers their hearts.  Maybe he heard their stomachs rumbling…but the truth is He says, “you’ve not come because you have discerned the meaning of the miracles…you’ve not sought Me out to be healed…no - you’ve labored to find Me for breakfast.  But oh My children, don’t you know…breakfast will only last until you’re hungry again!”

 

Verse 27, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

 

Guys, friends, Jesus says…you’re chasing, you’re pursuing, you’re laboring for substance that will leave you wanting. In this case it’s food but really it’s anything materialistic > anything of this world.  It’s ultimately smoke and mirrors...an evil trick to leave you searching and weary.

 

That car that you drive, that you worked so hard to get, let the oil supply fail and what is it worth?  Oh I’ll just plug my Leaf in, man…I’m beyond those gas guzzlers.  Ok, well what’s that going to be worth with the power grid fails?

 

That house you live in, that you worked so hard to get, that you worked so hard to find, that you work so hard to perfect, what is it worth when the fire consumes it, or when the robber breaks in and pillages it?

 

Oh but that’s what I do man, that’s me, it satisfies me…does it?  Then why install an aftermarket grill on the car, or upgrade the rims, or replace the carpet with hardwood, or change the walls from beige to blue…what happened?  Weren’t you so happy?  Weren’t you so satisfied? 

 

The truth is, no.  Our hunger, the pangs of our flesh were fed for a time…but then we hunger again.  You see its all cotton candy.  It looks huge, it looks great, it looks satisfying but there’s no substance to it.  It doesn’t have to be goods either…it’s the same for reputation, for worldly accomplishment…it won’t fill you up because the things of this world lack solidity.

 

Well not me homie, you may say.  I’m solid, I’m filled…well look the Bible says in Psalm 19 that creation declares the truth of God…and last I checked, you indeed were a product of creation.  Check this out…96% of your body, is nothing.  Empty space.  It’s true.  Your body is made up of atoms.  And atoms are comprised of protons, neutrons and electrons.  Now the distance, the empty space, between the nucleus (which is made up of protons and neutrons) and the electrons which rotate around the nucleus is proportionally greater than the distance from the sun to the farthest planet, Pluto!

 

In fact, all physical things are comprised of the same infrastructure as your body.  And so all things that we can see, get this, are mostly, are almost completely, almost entirely, nothing!  Cotton candy ya’ll!

 

Our bodies are just empty space yet we pamper them all the while wondering why we’re so continually unsatisfied, restless, angry, unsettled…no wonder right?  We’re laboring for that which is fake!  We’re grasping at emptiness and wondering why we can’t get a hold! 

 

Jesus, in His compassion calls out to us “please, My children, stop!”  What your heart lacks, what keeps you searching and seeking > can only be fulfilled by Me.

 

The enemy of your soul will offer you the world and deliver hell.  Your flesh will continually crave for more of itself…emptiness!  And living after the flesh will lead to just that…emptiness.  The Bible describes this cycle as a thief…you think you have something, you think you’ve grasped something but you discover there’s indeed nothing at all, you’re just in want, you’re just in need of more…the thief has robbed you.

 

Jesus will say later in John 10:10, the thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy.  But I have come that you may have life, and that you may have it abundantly!

 

Jesus pleas with His children to lay down the cotton candy narcotic of living after the flesh and simply seek Him, and guess what, He makes Himself so easy to find.  He said to His disciples in Matthew 7:7, just ask, and it will be given to you; just seek, and you will find; just knock, and it will be opened.  For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened!

 

God is faithful, God will fill you.  This world will lead you by a carrot on a stick, use you like a mule and forget you in a moment.  I ran across an interesting and profound article this week that talked about how Apple, when the company started producing Macs back in the 80’s touted “made in America” as one of their discriminators.  But my how things have changed. 

 

The article stated, “Companies once felt an obligation to support American workers, even when it wasn’t the best financial choice,” said Betsey Stevenson, the chief economist at the Labor Department, “but now, that’s disappeared. Profits and efficiency have trumped generosity.”

 

The Article went on to describe the workforce environment overseas.  I found one section of the article most interesting. 

 

“There is a complex in China, known informally as Foxconn City, where the iPhone is assembled. To Apple executives, Foxconn City was evidence that China could deliver workers — and diligence — that outpaced their American counterparts.  That’s because nothing like Foxconn City exists in the United States.

 

The facility has 230,000 employees, many working six days a week, often spending up to 12 hours a day at the plant. Over a quarter of Foxconn’s work force lives in company barracks and many workers earn less than $17 a day (that’s about $5,000 a year). When one Apple executive arrived during a shift change, his car was stuck in a river of employees streaming past. “The scale is unimaginable,” he said.

 

Foxconn employs nearly 300 guards to direct foot traffic so workers are not crushed in doorway bottlenecks. The facility’s central kitchen cooks an average of three tons of pork and 13 tons of rice a day. While factories are spotless, the air inside nearby teahouses is hazy with the smoke and stench of cigarettes.

 

Foxconn Technology has dozens of facilities in Asia and Eastern Europe, and in Mexico and Brazil, and it assembles an estimated 40 percent of the world’s consumer electronics for customers like Amazon, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola, Nintendo, Nokia, Samsung and Sony.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To the world, you’re just a battery being sucked dry…But to God, you are His beloved!  To God, you are His poema, His masterpiece.  You are His child!  God would say to us today, don’t give your time, your energy, your first-fruits to a thief who will leave you addicted and singing the Hymn of the Rolling Stones…”I can’t get no, satisfaction, but I try and I try and I try and I try, I can’t get no…hey, hey hey.” 

 

No, He would say just what He’s already said, because Hebrews 13:8 tells us the He is the same yesterday, today, and forever…He calls out, you hurt?  I know.  You need?  I know.  You’re tired?  I know…come to Me and I will fill you with the love and hope and peace and joy of God!

 

And as Jesus looked out at this crowd He knew them.  He knew that their hearts were left empty by this world yet they were driven by their empty bellies.  His heart broke for them…like sheep without a shepherd and He said to them, “man cannot live on bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  Get after that which will fill you My children.”

 

And just look what He says to them at the end of verse 27, He says work hard and you might get it!  No.  He says, work diligently, consistently, be the first one in and the last one out and I will fill you!  No!

 

Look what He says, “the Son of Man will give you the food which endures to everlasting life.”  Will simply give it to us…we can’t earn it, we can’t present ourselves worthy to receive it, we simply turn it all over to the Lord and accept His mercy, grace and love.  And quit the nonsense…quit the striving, quit the searching, quit the laying up of treasures here where the thief continually just steals them, quit the pride man, it’s not worth it!

 

Open your eyes!  Aren’t you tired?  Aren’t you just weary with strife and hardness and pride and me, me, me mentality?  What about me?  Why not me?

 

Please, turn your very life over to Jesus before it’s too late!  And that is no cliché.  You could lose your wife tomorrow, you could lose your husband tomorrow, you could lose your mom tomorrow, you could lose your child tomorrow, and then, will it all have been worth it? 

 

Do not labor for emptiness!  That’s foolishness, that’s regret…oh such loss!  Labor for that which endures forever and ever!