John 6
6
Jesus Feeds More Than 5000
(Mt. 14:13–21; Mk. 6:30–44; Lk. 9:10–17)
1Later, Jesus went across Lake Galilee (also known as Lake Tiberias). 2A great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he did in healing the sick. 3Jesus went up on the side of the hill and sat there with his followers. 4It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover festival.
5Jesus looked up and saw a crowd of people coming toward him. He said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?” 6He asked Philip this question to test him. Jesus already knew what he planned to do.
7Philip answered, “We would all have to work a month to buy enough bread for each person here to have only a little piece!”
8Another follower there was Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter. Andrew said, 9“Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish. But that is not enough for so many people.”
10Jesus said, “Tell everyone to sit down.” This was a place with a lot of grass, and about 5000 men sat down there. 11Jesus took the loaves of bread and gave thanks for them. Then he gave them to the people who were waiting to eat. He did the same with the fish. He gave them as much as they wanted.
12They all had plenty to eat. When they finished, Jesus said to his followers, “Gather the pieces of fish and bread that were not eaten. Don’t waste anything.” 13So they gathered up the pieces that were left. The people had started eating with only five loaves of barley bread. But the followers filled twelve large baskets with the pieces of food that were left.
14The people saw this miraculous sign that Jesus did and said, “He must be the Prophet#6:14 Prophet They probably meant the prophet that God told Moses he would send. See Deut. 18:15-19. who is coming into the world.”
15Jesus knew that the people planned to come get him and make him their king. So he left and went into the hills alone.
Jesus Walks on Water
(Mt. 14:22–27; Mk. 6:45–52)
16That evening Jesus’ followers went down to the lake. 17It was dark now, and Jesus had not yet come back to them. They got into a boat and started going across the lake to Capernaum. 18The wind was blowing very hard. The waves on the lake were becoming bigger. 19They rowed the boat about three or four miles.#6:19 three or four miles Literally, “25 or 30 stadia,” about 5 or 6 km. Then they saw Jesus. He was walking on the water, coming to the boat. They were afraid. 20But he said to them, “Don’t be afraid. It’s me.” 21When he said this, they were glad to take him into the boat. And then the boat reached the shore at the place they wanted to go.
The People Look for Jesus
22The next day came. Some people had stayed on the other side of the lake. They knew that Jesus did not go with his followers in the boat. They knew that the followers had left in the boat alone. And they knew it was the only boat that was there. 23But then some boats from Tiberias came and landed near the place where the people had eaten the day before. This was where they had eaten the bread after the Lord gave thanks. 24The people saw that Jesus and his followers were not there now. So they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to find Jesus.
Jesus, the Bread of Life
25The people found Jesus on the other side of the lake. They asked him, “Teacher, when did you come here?”
26He answered, “Why are you looking for me? Is it because you saw miraculous signs? The truth is, you are looking for me because you ate the bread and were satisfied. 27But earthly food spoils and ruins. So don’t work to get that kind of food. But work to get the food that stays good and gives you eternal life. The Son of Man will give you that food. He is the only one qualified by God the Father to give it to you.”
28The people asked Jesus, “What does God want us to do?”
29Jesus answered, “The work God wants you to do is this: to believe in the one he sent.”
30So the people asked, “What miraculous sign will you do for us? If we can see you do a miracle, then we will believe you. What will you do? 31Our ancestors were given manna to eat in the desert. As the Scriptures say, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’#Quote from Ps. 78:24.”
32Jesus said, “I can assure you that Moses was not the one who gave your people bread from heaven. But my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33God’s bread is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34The people said, “Sir, from now on give us bread like that.”
35Then Jesus said, “I am the bread that gives life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who believes in me will ever be thirsty. 36I told you before that you have seen me, and still you don’t believe. 37The Father gives me my people. Every one of them will come to me. I will always accept them. 38I came down from heaven to do what God wants, not what I want. 39I must not lose anyone God has given me. But I must raise them up on the last day. This is what the one who sent me wants me to do. 40Everyone who sees the Son and believes in him has eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day. This is what my Father wants.”
41Some Jews began to complain about Jesus because he said, “I am the bread that comes down from heaven.” 42They said, “This is Jesus. We know his father and mother. He is only Joseph’s son. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43But Jesus said, “Stop complaining to each other. 44The Father is the one who sent me, and he is the one who brings people to me. I will raise them up on the last day. Anyone the Father does not bring to me cannot come to me. 45It is written in the prophets: ‘God will teach them all.’#Quote from Isa. 54:13. People listen to the Father and learn from him. They are the ones who come to me. 46I don’t mean that there is anyone who has seen the Father. The only one who has ever seen the Father is the one who came from God. He has seen the Father.
47“I can assure you that anyone who believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread that gives life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna God gave them in the desert, but it didn’t keep them from dying. 50Here is the bread that comes down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will never die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my body. I will give my body so that the people in the world can have life.”
52Then the Jews began to argue among themselves. They said, “How can this man give us his body to eat?”
53Jesus said, “Believe me when I say that you must eat the body of the Son of Man, and you must drink his blood. If you don’t do this, you have no real life. 54Those who eat my body and drink my blood have eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day. 55My body is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Those who eat my body and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them.
57“The Father sent me. He lives, and I live because of him. So everyone who eats me will live because of me. 58I am not like the bread that your ancestors ate. They ate that bread, but they still died. I am the bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
59Jesus said all this while he was teaching in the synagogue in the city of Capernaum.
Many Followers Leave Jesus
60When Jesus’ followers heard this, many of them said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?”
61Jesus already knew that his followers were complaining about this. So he said, “Is this teaching a problem for you? 62Then what will you think when you see the Son of Man going up to where he came from? 63It is the Spirit that gives life. The body is of no value for that. But the things I have told you are from the Spirit, so they give life. 64But some of you don’t believe.” (Jesus knew the people who did not believe. He knew this from the beginning. And he knew the one who would hand him over to his enemies.) 65Jesus said, “That is why I said, ‘Anyone the Father does not help to come to me cannot come.’”
66After Jesus said these things, many of his followers left and stopped following him.
67Jesus asked the twelve apostles, “Do you want to leave too?”
68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, where would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69We believe in you. We know that you are the Holy One from God.”
70Then Jesus answered, “I chose all twelve of you. But one of you is a devil.” 71He was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Judas was one of the twelve apostles, but later he would hand Jesus over to his enemies.
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John 6: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
John 6
6
The Feeding of Five Thousand
1 After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee (that is, Tiberias). 2And a large crowd was following him because they were observing the signs that he was doing on those who were sick. 3So Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4(Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.) 5Then Jesus, when he looked up#Literally “then Jesus lifting up the eyes” #*Here “when” in the translation is supplied as a component of the participle “lifting up” which is understood as temporal and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people can eat?” 6(Now he said this to test him, because he knew what he was going to do.) 7Philip replied to him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for them, in order that each one could receive a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9“Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” 10Jesus said, “Make the people recline.” (Now there was a lot of grass in the place.) So the men reclined, approximately five thousand in number. 11Then Jesus took the bread, and after he#*Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had given thanks”) which is understood as temporal had given thanks, he distributed it#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation to those who were reclining—likewise also of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they were satisfied, he said to his disciples, “Gather the remaining fragments so that nothing is lost.” 13So they gathered them,#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
14Now when#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“saw”) which is understood as temporal the people saw the sign that he performed, they began to say,#*The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to say”) “This one is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15Then Jesus, because he#*Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“knew”) which is understood as causal knew that they were about to come and seize him in order to make him#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation king, withdrew again up the mountain by himself alone.
Jesus Walks on the Water
16Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea. 17And getting into a boat, they began to go#*The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to go”) to the other side of the sea, to Capernaum. And it had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18And the sea began to be stirred up#*The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to be stirred up”) because#*Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“was blowing”) which is understood as causal a strong wind was blowing. 19Then when they#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“had rowed”) which is understood as temporal had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia,#A “stade” or “stadium” (plur. “stadia”) is about 607 ft (187 m), so this was around 3 miles (5 km) they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were afraid. 20But he said to them, “It is I! Do not be afraid!” 21So they were wanting to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land to which they were going.
Discourse About the Bread of Life
22On the next day, the crowd that was on the other side of the sea saw that other boats were not there (except one), and that Jesus had not entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had departed alone. 23Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after#*Here “after” is supplied as a component of the temporal genitive absolute participle (“had given thanks”) the Lord had given thanks. 24So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus.
25And when they#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“found”) which is understood as temporal found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26Jesus replied to them and said, “Truly, truly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were satisfied! 27Do not work for the food that perishes, but the food that remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has set his seal on this one.”
28So they said to him, “What shall we do that we can accomplish the works of God?” 29Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one whom that one sent.” 30So they said to him, “Then what sign will you perform, so that we can see it#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation and believe you? What will you do? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’#A quotation from Ps 78:24 which refers to the events of Exod 16:4–36
32Then Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, Moses did not give you bread from heaven, but my Father is giving you the true bread from heaven! 33For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34So they said to him, “Sir, always give us this bread!”
35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty again. 36But I said to you that you have seen me and do not believe. 37Everyone whom the Father gives to me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never throw out, 38because I have come down from heaven not that I should do my will, but the will of the one who sent me. 39Now this is the will of the one who sent me: that everyone whom he has given me, I would not lose any of them,#This pronoun is neuter singular in Greek, but is collective but raise them#This pronoun is neuter singular in Greek, but is collective up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks at the Son and believes in him would have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
41Now the Jews began to grumble#*The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to grumble”) about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” 42and they were saying, “Is this one not Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves!#Literally “with one another” 44No one is able to come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’#A quotation from Isa 54:13 Everyone who hears from the Father and learns comes to me. 46(Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God—this one has seen the Father.)#The switch from first person in vv. 44–45 to third person here and back to first person in vv. 47–51 suggests that this verse is a parenthetical comment by the author rather than the words of Jesus 47Truly, truly I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that someone may eat from it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever.#Literally “for the age” And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
52So the Jews began to quarrel#*The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began to quarrel”) among themselves,#Literally “with one another” saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53Then Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves! 54The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56The one who eats#*This term is somewhat graphic and typically used for animals feeding, but the distinction from other Greek verbs for eating is difficult to convey in English my flesh and drinks my blood resides in me and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so also the one who eats#*This term is somewhat graphic and typically used for animals feeding, but the distinction from other Greek verbs for eating is difficult to convey in English me—that one will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died. The one who eats#*This term is somewhat graphic and typically used for animals feeding, but the distinction from other Greek verbs for eating is difficult to convey in English this bread will live forever.”#Literally “for the age”
Many of Jesus’ Disciples Offended by His Teaching
59He said these things while#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“teaching”) which is understood as temporal teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60Thus many of his disciples, when they#*Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“heard”) which is understood as temporal heard it,#*Here the direct object is supplied from context in the English translation said, “This saying is hard! Who can understand it?” 61But Jesus, because he#*Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“knew”) which is understood as causal knew within himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Does this cause you to be offended? 62Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending where he was before? 63The Spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, “Because of this I said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.”
Peter’s Confession
66For this reason many of his disciples drew back#Literally “went away to the things behind” and were not walking with him any longer. 67So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?”#*The negative construction in Greek anticipates a negative answer here, indicated in the translation by the phrase “do you” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69And we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” 70Jesus replied to them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is the devil?” 71(Now he was speaking about Judas son of Simon Iscariot, because this one—one of the twelve—was going to betray him.)
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