John Chapter 6
Retirement with the Apostles;
Feeding the 5,000
1 After that, Jesus went to the other side of Lake Galilee (Lake Tiberias). 2 A big crowd followed him because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. 3 He went up on a hillside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jews’ Passover Festival was coming up. 5 Jesus looked up and saw a huge crowd arriving, and said to Philip, “Where are we going to buy enough bread for these people to eat?” ( 6 He said that to test him because Jesus already knew what he was going to do.)
7 Philip answered, “Bread worth 200 denarii won’t be enough for each person to get even a little bit.”
8 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saidp, 9 “There’s a boy here that has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good is that for this big crowd?”
10 Jesus said, “Have them sit down.” There was lots of grass there, so they sat down—about 5,000 men. 11 Jesus took the loaves, blessed them, and gave them to the ones that were sitting there—the fish too, as much as people wanted.
12 When they were full, he told his disciples, “Pick up the leftover pieces so nothing’s wasted.” 13 So they filled twelve baskets with scraps from the five barley loaves that Jesus had multiplied.
14 The people that saw the sign said, “This really is the prophet that’s supposed to come.” 15 Jesus knew they intended to take him by force to make him king, so he withdrew up the hill alone.
Jn 6:1-15
Jesus Walking on the Water
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 got in a boat, and headed over to Capernaum. It was dark now, and Jesus hadn’t come. 18 The lake was getting rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they’d rowed three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the lake, getting close to the boat, and it scared them. 20 But he saidp, “It’s me; don’t be afraid.” 21 So they came to take him into the boat, and presently the boat landed where they were headed. Jn 6:16-21
Jesus’ Refusal to Be a Political Messiah
22 The next day the crowd that was standing back on the other side of the lake, saw that no other small boat had been there except the one Jesus hadn’t got into with his disciples; they’d left by themselves. 23 Other small boats came from Tiberias to where the people ate the bread the Lord had blessed. 24 When the crowd saw that he and his disciples weren’t around, they got in those small boats and went to Capernaum, looking for him.
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “You’re looking for me, not so much because you saw signs, but because you ate bread till you were full. 27 Don’t work for bread that molds, but for bread that stays freesh forever. That’s the kind of bread the Son of Man will give you, because he’s the One the Father has marked with a seal.”
28 They asked him, “What’ll we do to be working God’s works?”
29 Jesus answered, “This is God’s ‘work’: believe in the One he sent.”
30 They said, “What sign are you doing so we can see it and believe? What ‘work’ do you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the desert like scripture says, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” [Ps 78:24].
32 Jesus said, “Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father is giving you the real ‘bread from heaven.’ 33 God’s ‘bread’ is the One that has come down from heaven to give life to the world.” Jn 6:22-33
34 They said, “Sir, give us that bread all the time!”
35 Jesus said,
“I’m the life-giving bread. Whoever comes to me will never get hungry; whoever trusts in me will never get thirsty. 36 But, you’ve seen me and not believed. 37 Everything the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I won’t reject; 38 because I haven’t come down from heaven to do my will, but the will of the One that sent me. 39 This is his will: that I not lose anything he’s given me, 40 that everybody who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I raise him up in the end.”
41 The Jews started grumbling because he said, “I’m the bread that’s come down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus, Joseph’s son? We know his parents. How can he be saying now that he has come down from heaven?” Jn 6:34-42
43 Jesus answered,
“Don’t grumble around with one another. 44 Nobody can come to me unless the Father that sent me is drawing him. 45 The prophets wrote, ‘God will teach them all’ [Is 54:13]. Everybody that listens to the Father and learns, comes to me— 46 not that anybody has seen him except the One that’s come from him; he’s seen him. 47 Whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I’m the life-giving ‘bread.’ 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the desert and died. 50 Nobody that eats this ‘bread’ from heaven will die. 51 I’m the life-giving ‘bread’ that comes from heaven. Everybody that eats this ‘bread’ will live forever. Yes, and the ‘bread’ I’ll give for the life of the world is my own flesh.” Jn 6:43-51
52 The Jews started quarreling with one another, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”
53 Jesus said,
“Unless you ‘eat’ the flesh of the Son of Man and ‘drink’ his blood, you don’t have any life in you. 54 People that ‘eat’ my flesh and ‘drink’ my blood have eternal life, and I’ll raise them up in the end. 55 My flesh is real ‘food,’ and my blood is real ‘drink.’ 56 People that ‘eat’ my flesh and ‘drink’ my blood remain in me and I in them. 57 As the living Father has sent me and I live because of him, whoever ‘eats’ me will live because of me. 58 This is the ‘bread’ from heaven; it’s not like what the ancestors ate and died. Whoever ‘eats’ this bread will live forever.”
59 He said that as he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 When they heard it, many disciples said, “That’s hard to understand. Who can make sense of it?” Jn 6:52-60
61 Jesus knew his disciples were grumbling about it,
“Does that shock you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 The spirit of what I’ve said is the point, not the literal words. What I’ve said I mean figuratively. 64 But some of you don’t believe. (Jesus knew from the start who wouldn’t believe and who’d betray him.) 65 That’s why I told you that people can’t come to me unless the Father lets them.”
66 At that point, many disciples quit traveling with him. 67 Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go too, do you?”
68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, who would we go to? You have the life-giving message. 69 We believe and have come to know that you’re God’s Holy One.”
70 Jesus answered, “Didn’t I choose you twelve, and one of you is a devil?” ( 71 He was referring to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son, the one that would betray him.)
Jn 6:61-71