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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John 6: LEB
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John 6
6
Bread and Fish for All
1-4After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.
5-6When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.
7Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.”
8-9One of the disciples—it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter—said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this.”
10-11Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” There was a nice carpet of green grass in this place. They sat down, about five thousand of them. Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted.
12-13When the people had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted.” They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves.
14-15The people realized that God was at work among them in what Jesus had just done. They said, “This is the Prophet for sure, God’s Prophet right here in Galilee!” Jesus saw that in their enthusiasm, they were about to grab him and make him king, so he slipped off and went back up the mountain to be by himself.
16-21In the evening his disciples went down to the sea, got in the boat, and headed back across the water to Capernaum. It had grown quite dark and Jesus had not yet returned. A huge wind blew up, churning the sea. They were maybe three or four miles out when they saw Jesus walking on the sea, quite near the boat. They were scared senseless, but he reassured them, “It’s me. It’s all right. Don’t be afraid.” So they took him on board. In no time they reached land—the exact spot they were headed to.
22-24The next day the crowd that was left behind realized that there had been only one boat, and that Jesus had not gotten into it with his disciples. They had seen them go off without him. By now boats from Tiberias had pulled up near where they had eaten the bread blessed by the Master. So when the crowd realized he was gone and wasn’t coming back, they piled into the Tiberias boats and headed for Capernaum, looking for Jesus.
25When they found him back across the sea, they said, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26Jesus answered, “You’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free.
The Bread of Life
27“Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last.”
28To that they said, “Well, what do we do then to get in on God’s works?”
29Jesus said, “Sign on with the One that God has sent. That kind of a commitment gets you in on God’s works.”
30-31They waffled: “Why don’t you give us a clue about who you are, just a hint of what’s going on? When we see what’s up, we’ll commit ourselves. Show us what you can do. Moses fed our ancestors with bread in the desert. It says so in the Scriptures: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32-33Jesus responded, “The real significance of that Scripture is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world.”
34They jumped at that: “Master, give us this bread, now and forever!”
35-38Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own agenda but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.
39-40“This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed—not a single detail missed—and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole. This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time.”
41-42At this, because he said, “I am the Bread that came down from heaven,” the Jews started arguing over him: “Isn’t this the son of Joseph? Don’t we know his father? Don’t we know his mother? How can he now say, ‘I came down out of heaven’ and expect anyone to believe him?”
43-46Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End. This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, ‘And then they will all be personally taught by God.’ Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally—to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father. No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father—and you can see me.
47-51“I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever. I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.”
52At this, the Jews started fighting among themselves: “How can this man serve up his flesh for a meal?”
53-58But Jesus didn’t give an inch. “Only insofar as you eat and drink flesh and blood, the flesh and blood of the Son of Man, do you have life within you. The one who brings a hearty appetite to this eating and drinking has eternal life and will be fit and ready for the Final Day. My flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. By eating my flesh and drinking my blood you enter into me and I into you. In the same way that the fully alive Father sent me here and I live because of him, so the one who makes a meal of me lives because of me. This is the Bread from heaven. Your ancestors ate bread and later died. Whoever eats this Bread will live always.”
59He said these things while teaching in the meeting place in Capernaum.
Too Tough to Swallow
60Many among his disciples heard this and said, “This is tough teaching, too tough to swallow.”
61-65Jesus sensed that his disciples were having a hard time with this and said, “Does this rattle you completely? What would happen if you saw the Son of Man ascending to where he came from? The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don’t make anything happen. Every word I’ve spoken to you is a Spirit-word, and so it is life-making. But some of you are resisting, refusing to have any part in this.” (Jesus knew from the start that some weren’t going to risk themselves with him. He knew also who would betray him.) He went on to say, “This is why I told you earlier that no one is capable of coming to me on his own. You get to me only as a gift from the Father.”
66-67After this, many of his disciples left. They no longer wanted to be associated with him. Then Jesus gave the Twelve their chance: “Do you also want to leave?”
68-69Peter replied, “Master, to whom would we go? You have the words of real life, eternal life. We’ve already committed ourselves, confident that you are the Holy One of God.”
70-71Jesus responded, “Haven’t I handpicked you, the Twelve? Still, one of you is a devil!” He was referring to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot. This man—one from the Twelve!—was even then getting ready to betray him.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.