What does John 6:36 mean?
Jesus is clarifying the purpose of His ministry. Spectacular miracles and free food are not the point of His mission on earth. Nor are they meant to be the focus of a Christian's life. Instead, we ought to be focused on eternal things. First, this means coming to saving belief in Christ (John 6:27–29). Jesus has contradicted the idea of salvation based on good works, teaching that salvation is found only by those who believe in the One sent from God (John 3:16–18, 36; Acts 4:12).Earlier, Jesus explained that Nicodemus ought to recognize the means of salvation, since he was an expert in the Law (John 3:9–10). Christ refused to let the Samaritan woman sidestep His message with appeals to controversies (John 4:19–21). Jesus criticized the Pharisees for having access to God's written words yet failing to recognize Him as Messiah (John 5:46–47). Here, Jesus points out that the crowd has seen more than enough—in the form of miracles—to realize the truth He is explaining. Yet the people stubbornly refuse to believe. Instead, they ask for even more miracles, as if that would finally convince them (John 6:30).
John 6:22–40 describes the initial aftermath of Jesus' feeding of thousands the previous day. The crowd's actual desire is for another supernatural spectacle and more free food. In this passage, Christ begins to explain the true meaning behind His miracle and His ministry. This includes the first of seven ''I am'' statements in the gospel of John—moments where Jesus declares His own divinity. Jesus clarifies that physical things such as bread are symbols of a spiritual truth. In the following segment, the crowd will stop seeking and start complaining.
In chapter 6, Jesus feeds thousands of people who had been following Him. He does this by miraculously dividing the contents of a small meal, leaving more left over than He had to begin with. At first, the crowd is amazed and they enthusiastically praise Jesus. After sending the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and rescuing them from a storm by walking on the water, Jesus once again addresses the crowd. This time, He emphasizes the spiritual lesson behind His prior miracle. In response, most of those who had been praising Jesus turn away in disappointment.
