John 6

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

1After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. 2A large crowd followed him because they were seeing the signs he was doing for the sick. 3Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover festival was near. 5When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so these people may eat?” 6He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was about to do. 7Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each person to receive even a little.” 8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said, 9“There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down, about five thousand men. 11Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those sitting there. He did the same with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12When they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather the pieces that remain so that nothing is lost.” 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with pieces from the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is coming into the world.” 15Jesus knew they were about to come and seize him to make him king, so he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on the Sea

16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea toward Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18A strong wind was blowing, and the sea was becoming rough. 19After rowing about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were afraid. 20But he said to them, “I am. Do not be afraid.” 21Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

The Crowd Seeks Jesus

22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw that only one boat had been there. They knew Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples but that the disciples had gone away alone. 23Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten 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 asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For God the Father has set his seal on him.” 28They asked, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29Jesus answered, “This is the work of God: that you trust in the one he sent.” 30So they said, “What sign then will you do so we may see and trust you? What work will you perform? 31Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I tell you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For God’s bread is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34They said, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

The Bread of Life

35Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty. 36But I told you: you have seen me and still do not trust. 37Everything the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will certainly never cast out, 38because I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 39This is the will of the one who sent me: that I lose nothing of everything he has given me but raise it up on the last day. 40For this is my Father’s will: everyone who sees the Son and trusts in him has eternal life, and I will raise that person up on the last day.” 41Then some Jewish people began grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They said, “Is this not Jesus son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43Jesus answered, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws that person, and I will raise them up on the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Truly, truly, I tell you, the one who trusts has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat from it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread, they will live forever. And the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52Then the Jewish people began arguing with one another: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like what the ancestors ate and died. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 59He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Words of Eternal Life

60When many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can listen to it?” 61Jesus knew within himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, so he said, “Does this cause you to stumble? 62Then what if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63The Spirit is the one who gives life; the flesh is of no help. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life. 64But there are some among you who do not trust.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who did not trust and who would hand him over. 65He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted by the Father.” 66Because of this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away too, do you?” 68Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have words of eternal life. 69We have trusted and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.” 70Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve? Yet one of you is a devil.” 71He was speaking about Judas son of Simon Iscariot, because he, one of the twelve, was going to hand Jesus over.