John 6

The Fourth Sign: Feeding 5,000

6After ^ythis, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee ^z(or Tiberias ^a). ²And a huge crowd was following Him because they saw the signs that He was performing by healing the sick. ³So Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with His disciples.

⁴Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. ⁵Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, ^bHe asked Philip, ^c“Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” ⁶He asked this to test him, ^dfor He Himself knew what He was going to do.

⁷Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii ^eworth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

⁸One of His disciples, Andrew, ^fSimon ^gPeter’s ^hbrother, said to Him, ⁹“There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”

¹⁰Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000. ⁱ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted. ^j

¹²When they were full, He told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” ^k13So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴When the people saw the sign ^lHe had done, they said, “This really is the Prophet ^mwho was to come ⁿinto the world!” ^o15Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, ^pHe withdrew again ^qto the mountain by Himself.

The Fifth Sign: Walking on Water

¹⁶When ^revening came, His disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. ^sDarkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. ¹⁸Then a high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. ¹⁹After they had rowed about three or four miles, ^tthey saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.

²⁰But He said to them, “It is I. ^uvDon’t be afraid!” ²¹Then they were willing to take Him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

The Bread of Life

²²The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea knew there had been only one boat. ^wxThey also knew that Jesus had not boarded the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone off alone. ²³Some boats from Tiberias ^ycame near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord gave thanks. ²⁴When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

²⁵When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, ^zwhen did You get here?”

²⁶Jesus answered, “^•I assure you: You are looking for Me, not because you saw ^athe signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. ²⁷Don’t work for the food that perishes ^bbut for the food that lasts for eternal life, ^cwhich the ^•Son of Man ^dwill give you, because God the Father ^ehas set His seal of approval on Him.”

²⁸“What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

²⁹Jesus replied, “This is the work ^fof God—that you believe in the One He has sent.” ^g

³⁰“What sign then are You going to do so we may see and believe You?” they asked. “What are You going to perform? ³¹Our fathers ate the manna ^hin the wilderness, ⁱjust as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ^jkl

³²Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Moses ^mdidn’t give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the real bread from heaven. ³³For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always!”

³⁵“I am ⁿthe bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me ^owill ever be hungry, ^pand no one who believes in Me ^qwill ever be thirsty ^ragain. ³⁶But as I told you, you’ve seen Me, ^sand yet you do not believe. ³⁷Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. ^t38For I have come down from heaven, ^unot to do My will, but the will of Him ^vwho sent Me. ³⁹This is the will of Him who sent Me: that I should lose none of those He has given Me but should raise ^wthem up on the last day. ⁴⁰For this is the will of My Father: ^xthat everyone who sees the Son ^yand believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise ^zhim up on the last day.”

⁴¹Therefore the Jews started complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴²They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, ^awhose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

⁴³Jesus answered them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. ⁴⁴No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws ^bhim, and I will raise him up on the last day. ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: ^cAnd they will all be taught by God. ^deEveryone who has listened to and learned from the Father ^fcomes to Me— ⁴⁶not that anyone has seen the Father ^gexcept the One who is from God. ^hHe has seen the Father. ⁱ

⁴⁷“I assure you: Anyone who believes ^jhas eternal life. ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna ^kin the wilderness, ^land they died. ⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. ^m51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live ⁿforever. ^oThe bread that I will give for the life ^pof the world is My flesh.” ^q

⁵²At that, the Jews argued ^ramong themselves, ^s“How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

⁵³So Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man ^tand drink His blood, ^uyou do not have life in yourselves. ⁵⁴Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^vhas eternal life, and I will raise ^whim up on the last day, ⁵⁵because My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. ⁵⁶The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me, and I in him. ^x57Just as the living ^yFather sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live ^zbecause of Me. ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna ^ayour fathers ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.” ^b

⁵⁹He said these things while teaching in the synagogue ^cin Capernaum. ^d

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

⁶⁰Therefore, when many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard! Who can accept ^eit?”

⁶¹Jesus, knowing in Himself ^fthat His disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this ^•offend you? ⁶²Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man ^gascending ^hto where He was before? ⁶³The Spirit ⁱis the One who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. ⁶⁴But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning ^jthose who would not ^kbelieve and the one who would betray ^lHim.) ⁶⁵He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me ^munless it is granted to him by the Father.”

⁶⁶From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. ⁶⁷Therefore Jesus said to the Twelve, ⁿ“You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

⁶⁸Simon Peter ^oanswered, “Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God!” ^pq

⁷⁰Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? ^rYet one of you is the Devil!” ^s71He was referring to Judas, ^tSimon Iscariot’s son, ^uvone of the Twelve, because he was going to betray ^wHim.