Motivation

What makes us believe?

When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going. The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there. They also saw that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” - John 6:15-27

The people are looking for Jesus to make him king.

They want to do that because of the signs that he showed them.  

He fed them after they spent three days listening to him teach them about God.

You would think that Jesus would be happy that they wanted to stay with him so long, but Jesus focuses on their motivation, not their actions.

What do they want from him?  Is it the food he provides when they are hungry?  Is it his ability to heal the sick and cure the lame?

He tells them that what he has to offer them is not of this world, but from God.  That is what they should be striving for.  They should be motivated by love of God and one another, not by things and miraculous signs.

But how could they not be excited by what they have seen him do?

We are the same way, aren't we?  Don't we want to see amazing signs?

So, I wonder.  Would we be as strong and firm in our belief without the signs?

Maybe we should question our own motivations before thinking about others.

More to come...