John 6
6
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
1Some time after this, Jesus crossed over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. (It’s also known as the Sea of Tiberias.) 2A large crowd of people followed him because they’d seen the signs he’d done when he healed the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4It was almost time for the Jewish Passover Feast.
5When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for all these people to eat?” 6He asked this only to challenge Philip. He already knew what he was going to do.
7Philip answered, “We’d have to spend more than half a year’s pay to buy enough bread for each person to have just a bite!”
8Another of his disciples spoke up. It was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He said, 9“There’s a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and a couple of small fish. But how far will that go to feed such a large crowd?”
10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass for everyone to sit on. Only counting the men, there were about 5,000 in the crowd. 11Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks, and then they were distributed to the people where they sat. He did the same with the fish. They gave out as much as each person wanted.
12When everyone had enough to eat, Jesus told his disciples, “Collect the leftover pieces. Let’s not waste anything.” 13So they picked up the leftovers and filled 12 baskets with the extra pieces. That’s how much was still left from the five barley loaves after everyone had eaten.
14When the people saw the sign that Jesus had done, they began to say, “This must be the Prophet who was supposed to come into the world!” 15Jesus saw that they were about to come and make him be their king whether he wanted to or not. So he went away again to a mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on the Water
16When evening came, Jesus’ disciples went down to the Sea of Galilee. 17There they got into a boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. By then it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing, and the waves became rough. 19After the disciples had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus coming toward the boat, walking on the water. They were frightened, 20but he said to them, “Don’t be afraid. It’s me.” 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat. Right away it reached the shore where they were heading.
22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the lake started to wonder where Jesus was. They knew that only one boat had been there and that Jesus hadn’t gotten into it with his disciples. 23Then some boats arrived from Tiberias, near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord gave thanks, 24and the crowd realized that Jesus and his disciples weren’t there. So they got into boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus.
Jesus Is the Bread of Life
25They found him on the other side of the lake and asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
26Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you’re not looking for me because you saw the signs I did. You’re looking for me because you ate as much bread as you wanted. 27Don’t work for food that spoils, but for food that lasts forever. Work for the food that the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”
28Then they asked him, “What works does God want us to do?”
29Jesus answered, “God’s work is to believe in the one he has sent.”
30So they asked him, “Then what sign will you give us so we can see it and believe you? 31Long ago our people ate the manna in the desert. It is written in Scripture, ‘The Lord gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
32Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, it isn’t Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, it’s my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33The bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34“Sir,” they said, “give us this bread all the time.”
35Then Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But it’s just as I told you—you’ve seen me, but you still don’t believe. 37Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and I’ll never turn any of them away. 38I haven’t come down from heaven to do my own will; I’ve come to do the will of the one who sent me. 39And the one who sent me doesn’t want me to lose any of those he has given me. He wants me to raise them up on the last day. 40My Father wants everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him to have eternal life. And I will raise them up on the last day.”
41Then the Jews there began to complain about Jesus because he’d said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They asked, “Isn’t this Jesus—Joseph’s son? We know who his father and mother are. So how can he now claim, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43“Stop grumbling,” Jesus told them. 44“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me attracts them. Then I will raise them up on the last day. 45It’s written in the Prophets, ‘God will teach all of them.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who has come from God. Only he has seen the Father. 47Truly I tell you, everyone who believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Long ago your people ate the manna in the desert, and they still died. 50But the bread that comes down from heaven is here. Anyone can eat it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, asking, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
53Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the Son of Man’s flesh and drink his blood, you don’t have any life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, 55because my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I remain in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of him, so those who feed on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Long ago your people ate manna and died, but whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 59He said this while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Leave Jesus
60Many of Jesus’ disciples said when they heard this, “This is an unpleasant message. Who can accept it?”
61Jesus knew that his disciples were complaining about this message. So he said to them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what if you see the Son of Man go back up to where he was before? 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh isn’t worth anything. The words I’ve spoken to you are full of the Spirit and they give life. 64But there are some of you who don’t believe.” Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who was going to hand him over to his enemies. 65He went on to say, “That’s why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father grants that.”
66From this time on, many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67Jesus asked the 12 disciples, “You don’t want to leave too, do you?”
68Simon Peter answered, “Lord, where would we go to? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70Then Jesus replied, “Haven’t I chosen you 12 disciples? But one of you is a devil!” 71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, one of the 12 disciples, who was later going to hand Jesus over to his enemies.)
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John 6: RAD
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