Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed. (John 6:27)
The labor that Jesus rebukes here is not that which is necessary in order to gain a livelihood. His rebuke is directed rather toward those who carry such labor to the extent of neglecting the nourishment of the soul. What Jesus here reproves is the common habit of laboring only for the things of time, and ignoring the things of eternity.
Meat.
Gr. brōsis, referring to something that is eaten, hence food in general.
In ancient times the seal was employed much as a signature is used today; it was a sign of personal attestation or of ownership. In ch. 3:33 this word is used in the first of these senses, and in the present instance it appears to be used similarly, indicating that the Father has testified that Jesus is His Son. All of Jesus’ miracles, worked by the power of the Father, were such testimonies; however, inasmuch as sealing is connected by Paul particularly with the reception of the Holy Spirit, which usually accompanied baptism (see Eph. 1:13; 4:30), it does not seem unreasonable to understand that Jesus’ specific reference here is to His own reception of the Spirit accompanied by His Father’s endorsement at the time of His baptism (see Matthew 3:16, 17).