Who Wants Life On Mars Without Life On Earth?

William Whewell was the natural philosopher at Trinity College, Cambridge back in the middle of the 19th century who proposed the term scientist to describe the study of the world of nature. He also suggested that the planet Mars had seas, land and even some kind of life. In the beginning of the 20th century Percival Lowell in his book Mars and Its Canals, proposed that Mars' canals were the work of a long-gone civilization. Speculation about life on Mars was rampant in those years. Science fiction writer H.G. Wells wrote his famous War of the Worlds in 1897 and the idea spread. 

On Sunday, Oct. 30, 1938 Orson Wells shocked the world with a fake Halloween radio broadcast, adapting H.G. Wells' book, to announce that the Martians had indeed arrived. People hearing the broadcast panicked as they learned of the ferocious, unstoppable attack of the Martians upon our planet. Many fled their homes in terror. 

The search for life on Mars continues in our day as NASA guides the rover Curiosity to search for signs of life on the surface of the red planet. And if our scientists find that life of some sort is possible there, what then? 

Many fed by Jesus on the shores of the Sea of Galilee pursued life as well. Following Jesus across the sea they still wanted him to be their king. His reply was,  

"Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." - Jhn 6:26-27 ESV

Food that endures to eternal life?

Jesus distinguished between two types of life with his remark. The people who pursued him were concerned primarily about their bodily or biological life, life sustained by the loaves and fishes he had supplied. However, such bread grows old and stale. Dried fish, commonly used for food in those days, ultimately becomes inedible. This was food that perishes. Instead of such food, Jesus offered them the food that endures to eternal life.

Note that Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. The phrase would normally cause one to think about Jesus as a human, which indeed he was. So King David wrote,

What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? - Psa 8:4 ESV

But there was another strange use of the term in the the prophecy of Daniel.

"I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. - Dan 7:13-14 ESV

Daniel saw a human being to whom God, the Ancient of Days, gave an everlasting kingdom. All people on earth would serve this son of man forever. How could this be? Only God is eternal. No man dare claim an eternal kingdom. And yet, writes Daniel, this is what I saw God give this son of man.

"King? Dominion? Eternal life? Yes, but you people don't get it," said Jesus. "Instead, all you can think about is this bread you ate yesterday, this food that perishes. All you want is another hand-out. Look at the sign I gave you! What I did was a sign from my Father, a sign that He sent me to give you life, eternal life."

But they paid no attention. They wouldn't believe him. Instead they continued to believe they had to do something.

"What must we do, to be doing the works of God?" 

Jesus answered them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." 

So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 

Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." - Jhn 6:28-33 ESV

No, you don't have to fly to Mars. You don't have to spend billions to discover if there is life on the red planet or somewhere else in the universe. Life is right here on earth. The Son of Man has come down from heaven to give it to everyone. He is the bread of God who gives life, eternal life, life without end.

"Aha! Now you're talking, Son of Man," they said. "You really are a bread-king. Sir, give us this bread always." - Jhn 6:34 ESV

But they still didn't get it. Do you? We'll pick up the conversation next time. We need to take a look at Manna, this strange bread for the journey that the Lord gave his people in the wilderness.