Source: https://friarmusings.com/2018/08/02/that-you-believe-challenge/
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 00:15:26+00:00

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Throughout vv. 27–31, Jesus and the crowd use the same words but with very different meanings, another instance of the Johannine literary technique of misunderstanding. The crowd’s questions in v. 30 repeat key words from vv. 26–29: “sign” (sēmeion, v. 26), “do” (poieō, v. 28), “see” (eidete, v. 26, idōmen, v. 30), “believe” (pisteuō, v. 29), “work” (ergazomai, vv. 27–28). They shift the burden of who is to work from themselves (vv. 27–29) to Jesus (v. 30). The crowd’s questions imply a contingency: They will do God’s work only if Jesus does God’s work first and performs a sign.
This section of the discourse is to be understood against the background of a Jewish expectation that, when the Messiah came, he would renew the miracle of the manna from the Exodus experience (see Note on v.31). What better sign could there be than a permanent supply of bread? Nonetheless, the crowd’s request for a sign from Jesus is jarring. How can they make such a request immediately after the feeding miracle in which they shared (6:14, 26)? Jesus’ words in v.26 are confirmed: The crowd does not recognize the sign that has already been enacted before them. The crowd fleshes out its demands in v.31 by appealing to their ancestors’ experience in the wilderness. Their appeal is couched in the language of Scripture, although it is not an exact citation of any one text (cf. Ps 78:24; Exod 16:4, 15). The fact that the crowd, like their ancestors, has already been fed with miraculous bread underscores the irony of their demand.
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