The Meat for Which We Must Labor

What does the Lord Jesus mean by these words? Does He intend to say that we must not work? Why then is it said that the Lord will bless the hand of the diligent, whereas the slothful shall be clothed with rags? No, nowhere in Scripture is labor condemned. The Lord knows very well that we cannot live without the meat which perishes. For that reason He laid the plea in the Lord's Prayer upon our lips, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And this petition even precedes the petition for the forgiveness of our debts!

Prayerfully looking up unto the Lord, we are therefore to labor for the meat which perishes, seeing we cannot live without it. Christ here condemns not labor, but activity in material things as if there were nothing greater! For many, bread does not seem to be a means to live, but the purpose to live. Their motto is, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” They are those who esteem the bounties of the world their blessedness, who expect no other portion than in this life, and whose belly is their God.

In what a materialistic world we live today! Everything centers on money, and besides wealth there is nothing. The meat which perishes is everything. What a sad life this is, and how contagious it is! For even God's children can be so earthly minded, and they also can become so engrossed in the meat which perishes. The result is that spiritual life languishes. How necessary that their prayer be, “Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken Thou me in Thy way.”

How appropriate are the words of Christ when He says, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth,” as if there were nothing else. “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” Should we not be willing to do without everything in order to be a partaker of that meat which endures unto everlasting life? What that meat is the Lord declares more fully in verse 35, for there He says, “I am the Bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” And in verse 51, we read: “I am the living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Thus, the true spiritual meat is in Christ, indeed, it is found in Him alone. If it shall be well with us, we shall need to be a partaker of Him. How it behooves us to strive for this! The multitudes sought Him for material bread, and they put forth much effort for it. Yet the Lord says in this text, “You must not seek Me merely for the material bread which perishes, for something more is to be found with Me. Seek Me for the meat which endures unto everlasting life.” Indeed, that is what we must work for! To this the commentators exhort, “Work diligently to possess this.“ And how scriptural this is, for do not the violent take the kingdom of heaven by force (Matthew 11:12)?

The Lord actually says in the words of our text, “You toil and slave from early morning to late in the evening for the meat which perishes, but exert yourselves now for the spiritual meat which endures unto eternity!” What a blessing it would be if while at work we would be busy with the church, rather than being busy in church with our work.

However, can we then earn this meat by our work? No, we can never merit this meat, but we must certainly work for it. That work is the pleading of a beggar. In the kingdom of God nothing can be merited, even if we were to become as old as Methuselah, had the faith of Abraham, and the zeal of Paul. In the kingdom of God, food is only eaten by grace. The food is certainly merited, not by the eater, but by the Giver, by Jesus Christ!

It is that bread “which the Son of man shall give unto you.” Christ has merited it. He has groaned, “I thirst,” and sighed, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” The bread cost Him bloody sweat and soul tears. However, in this way it became His food, and it is at His disposal. When He gives, He gives liberally and bountifully. He stands on the market of free grace and calls out, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, and he that hath no money, come ye to the waters! Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.”

Have you ever been in need of that meat? Do you perish from hunger, even when there is sufficient material bread? Oh, everything you need is to be found with Him. He has the words of eternal life. How good it is to be at His feet! There the favor of God is tasted, and that strengthens more than the most excellent foods. God the Father has sent Him so that God's favor might be tasted. That is the significance of the words, “For Him hath God the Father sealed.” God the Father has sent Him, so that in His hand the good pleasure of the Lord should prosper. His works declare that He is truly the Sent of the Father. See verse 36 of the preceding chapter, where He said, “For the works which the Father hath given Me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of Me, that the Father hath sent Me.”

Indeed, God the Father pointed Him out and sealed Him both when He was baptized by John and on the Mount of Transfiguration, when He said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him.” He was sealed at His resurrection. He was shown to be the Son of God not only at His resurrection, but also at His ascension, for then He received gifts for men. Likewise, He was also sealed at Pentecost. Peter then said, “Being by the right hand of God exalted, He hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.”

He has truly become the cause of eternal salvation for His Church. May we learn to take refuge in Him, to find life and salvation in Him. And if we, losing everything of ourselves, may find life in Him, then we will also set to our seal that God is true, namely, in His testimony that it is He who has and gives that meat which endures unto everlasting life.

— Rev. J. van Haaren

(1933–1983)

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