THIS IS THE WORK OF GOD, THAT YOU BELIEVE IN HIM WHOM HE HAS SENT
Fr. Steven Scherrer, MM, Th.D.
Homily of Monday, Third Week of Easter, April 16, 2018
Acts 6:8-15, Psalm 118, John 6:22-29

Scripture quotations are from the Revised Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

"Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal'" (John 6:26-27).

Jesus and his disciples are now back on the western side of the Sea of Galilee in Capernaum. Jesus had crossed the sea from the east side, where he multiplied the loaves, by walking on the water, and the crowds knew that his disciples had departed from that place in one boat and that Jesus was not with them and that there was only one boat there (John 6:22). Then when other boats arrived there from Tiberius on the west side of the lake, the people got into them to go back to the west side to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the west side of the lake in Capernaum, they were surprised and couldn't figure out how he got there. They didn't know that he had walked across the lake on the water. So they ask him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" (John 6:25), probably meaning, how did you get here, since there was only one boat where we ate the bread, and you weren't in it?

Jesus does not bother answering their question, surely because if he gave them the true answer - that he walked on the water - they would never have believed him and would have dismissed him as a crazy person. Instead, he goes right to the heart of his mission to the world, to give us eternal life.

To start off, he criticizes them for their enthusiasm about being filled miraculously by the multiplication of the loaves, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you; for on him has God the Father set his seal" (John 6:26-27). They should be seeking not ordinary bread, but rather "the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of man will give to you" (John 6:27).

This is why Jesus came into the world, to give us eternal life. So if they should not be working for food that perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life, they want to know what that work is that they should be doing that will give them eternal life. So they ask, "What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" (John 6:28). The works of God means here the work that God wants us to do to get this food that endures to eternal life.

Jesus then gives them a profound answer that explains his mission to the world: "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent" (John 6:29).

Of course, the people listening to this statement could not grasp the depth of its meaning, which only became clear even to his apostles after his death and Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Nonetheless, these words were spoken and written down for the instruction of the ages. The whole gospel message is, in a sense, summarized in this verse: "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent" (John 6:29).

With St. Paul, we are used to contrasting faith with works in the great Pauline doctrine of justification by faith, not by works (Romans 3:20, 28; Galatians 2:16). But here Jesus calls faith a work, in the sense that believing in him is what God wants us to do to receive eternal life and to get the food that endures to eternal life. If we believe in Jesus, we will receive eternal life.

Justification comes to us not by working for it, not by earning it with our good deeds, but simply by believing in Jesus as the Son of God and our Lord and Savior. By this simple act of faith, our sins, which block us from receiving eternal life, are forgiven, and we ungodly sinners are pronounced by the divine Judge to be righteous. So we are declared righteous not by our own merits or good works or good deeds, but simply by making an act of faith in Jesus Christ.

This act of faith changes our status from condemned sinner destined for hell to a righteous and holy person destined for eternal life with God in heaven. Our status changes with our act of faith in Jesus Christ, and we begin now to be righteous with the very righteousness of God himself reckoned to us by our faith in Jesus.

Our faith is reckoned to us as righteousness, just as Abraham's faith was reckoned to him as righteousness, as St. Paul tells us, "For what does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness'" (Romans 4:3). Then St. Paul tells us that this will happen to us too: "But the words, ‘it was reckoned to him,' were written not for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be reckoned to us who believe in him that raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification" (Romans 4:23-25).

Why will our faith in Jesus be reckoned to us by God as righteousness? St. Paul tells us that it is because Christ "was put to death for our trespasses and raised for our justification" (Romans 4:25). Christ took care of the problem of our sins, which blocked us from eternal life, by being put to death in punishment for them. He died vicariously, that is, instead of us for our sins. So God forgives the sins of all who accept Christ with faith as their Savior.

Then, because of Christ's Resurrection, God declares righteous all who accept Christ as their Savior. In his Resurrection the fruits of his atoning death for our sins are communicated to us who accept him with faith as our Savior. So our faith is reckoned to us as righteousness, or we are reckoned righteous by God through our faith, because of the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ to atone for our sins and to justify us.

What work does this for us? Our faith in Jesus. Why? Because Jesus' death atoned for our sins by suffering our just punishment for them. Therefore all who believe in him are justified, that is, declared and made righteous by God and receive the gift of eternal life now in the midst of this life, and forever in heaven if we remain faithful to him and live according to his will, which is revealed to us in his moral law.

Our present justification enables us to faithfully keep God's moral law, and by keeping it, we grow in sanctification.

This is the good news of Jesus Christ, the gospel message the Church is to preach to all nations and peoples. It is joyful good news.

Those who deny the ability of justified Christians to keep God's moral law and who deny the necessity of keeping it to obtain eternal life have fallen into error and are leading God's people astray.