The Wednesday after the First Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 14, 2026 by under
Scripture: St. John 6:28-40 (NKJV)
6:28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never athirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Devotion
We have all heard the saying, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” “So what must we do, Jesus, to get this other kind of bread that You say is so good?” This is the wrong question. The food that endures to eternity is not a food you work for, but a food that is given to you. Listen carefully to Jesus’ answer: “The work of God is this: that you believe in the One He has sent.” Not “works”, but a singular “work”. And it is not our work, but the work of God. It is the lone work of God creating faith in our hearts.
It is the work of God that causes belief and trust in Jesus whom He has sent. It is not our good life that saves, but Jesus’ perfect life and sacrificial death. It is His work freely given to us as a gift. Only Jesus provides the work and the bread that gives life to the world. He is the maker and ‘baker’ of a new and better manna, for the bread He gives is Himself. “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.’”
Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully to receive the prayers of Thy people who call upon Thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
