You will have to read onwards, for the answer was given:
John 6:28
Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the
work of God,
that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
Faith is a work...of God. It is the fruit of your regeneration, the
instrument, not the cause, of your justification.
See also:
http://www.theologyonline.com/forums/showthread.php?p=2142156#post2142156
People often ask the same question when it has been answered quite often by the target of their question. If I had a nickel...etc.
AMR
Consider the following...
John 6:
25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?
26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
27 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.
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
He has just related to them that they showed up only for the feast He was able to provide. That they had not shown up to believe in Him; which was what His being able to feed an astounding number of people out of a few pieces of bread had been meant to lead them to.
In other words, these miraculous works the Father was performing through Him were those signs prophesied the Son would be able to do as evidence He was the Son and by said signs, draw men to the Son.
They ask Him what would be required of them that they too might be able to do the works of God that He - Jesus - was able to perform.
Isn't that just like the natural man, lost as he is - focused on "never mind all that, you've got yourself a gen you wine lottery ticket there; how can we get in on that!"
He replies that this - these sign works of His - are the work of the Father; that they believe on Him given the irrefutable evidence said signs are that He IS The Christ!
30 They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
Nothing changes - instead of taking Him at His Word given those signs He has been performing up to this point; all they can focus on is how they might get Him to continue to be their free meal ticket...
Fortunately for us all, grace is not grace unless it is willing to risk being abused.
