26 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.
26 Jesus answered them and said,
The crowd asked a question of chronology about Jesus’ movements, but He replied with a question about their true objective.
“Most assuredly,
Once again, these words are literally “amen, amen,” placing great emphasis on the words of Jesus to follow. The importance of what He was about to say was of utter significance.
I say to you,
Jesus made a solemn statement by preceding His words with “most assuredly.”
you seek Me,
Previously they sought Jesus to meet a human need rather than their ultimate spiritual need (Jn 6:26).
not because you saw the signs,
The Jews saw the sign-miracles, but they disregarded the significance of the miracle for selfish reasons. The people experienced the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 men, but they failed to see to what the miracle pointed. The sign pointed to the revelation of the deity of Christ.
but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
Jesus accused the crowd of seeking material ends rather than eternal. He exposed their crass human viewpoint. They were not interested in eternal things but in the temporal, in the satisfaction of bodily hunger.
PRINCIPLE:
Integrity requires that we search out our true motives.
APPLICATION:
People fail to see the significance of miracles because of their vested interests. A sign miracle points to the gospel, to Jesus. Many people hold motives in religion other than genuine desire to know God personally. This is true today where people seek health and wealth from Jesus rather than what He truly offers.
Those who do not desire eternal things but satisfy themselves with present pleasures do not embrace the gospel.
