JohnChapter 6
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1After this, Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. (It is also called the Sea of Tiberias.) 2A large crowd followed him because they saw the signs he was doing by healing the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Feast of the Passover was near. 5Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him. He said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6But he was asking this to test Philip. He already knew what he was going to do. 7Philip answered, "Two hundred days' pay would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a little piece."a 8Andrew, one of his disciples, spoke up. He was Simon Peter's brother. He said to Jesus, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish. But what good are they with so many people?" 10"Have the people sit down," Jesus said. There was a lot of grass in that place. So the men sat down. There were about 5,000 of them. 11Then Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks. He handed them out to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish. They had as much as they wanted. 12When everyone was full, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted." 13So they gathered them. They filled twelve baskets with pieces of the five barley loaves. These were left over by the people who had eaten. 14The people saw the sign Jesus had done. They began to say, "This really is the Prophet who is coming into the world!" 15Jesus knew they were about to come and force him to be their king. So he went off again to a mountain by himself. 16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea. 17They got into a boat and started across the sea to Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18A strong wind was blowing, and the waves grew rough. 19They had rowed about three or four miles. Then they saw Jesus walking on the sea, coming near the boat. They were terrified. 20But Jesus called out, "It is I. Don't be afraid." 21Then they were glad to take him into the boat. Right away the boat reached the shore where they were going. 22The next day, the crowd was still on the other side of the sea. They knew that only one boat had been there. They knew Jesus had not gotten into it with his disciples. The disciples had gone away by themselves. 23But some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread. That was where the Lord had given thanks. 24The crowd saw that Jesus and his disciples were not there. So they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus. 25They found him on the other side of the sea. They asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" 26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are not looking for me because you saw the signs. You are looking for me because you ate the loaves and were full. 27Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that lasts for eternal life. The Son of Man will give you that food. God the Father has put his seal of approval on him." 28Then they asked, "What must we do to do the works God wants?" 29Jesus answered, "This is the work God wants: to believe in the one he has sent." 30So they asked him, "Then what sign will you do so we can see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven. It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven. He gives life to the world." 34"Sir," they said, "give us this bread all the time." 35Jesus answered, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me, and still you do not believe. 37Everyone the Father gives me will come to me. And I will never send away anyone who comes to me. 38I have come down from heaven. I did not come to do what I want. I came to do what the one who sent me wants. 39And this is what the one who sent me wants. I must not lose any of the people he has given me. I must 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 him up on the last day." 41Then the Jews began to grumble about Jesus. That's because he had said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. So how can he say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" 43"Stop grumbling to each other," Jesus answered. 44"No one can 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, 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46This doesn't mean anyone has seen the Father. Only the one who is from God has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, the one who believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, but they still died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh. I will give it for the life of the world." 52Then the Jews began to argue with each other. They said, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53So Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, you must eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood. If you don't, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. 55My flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood stays in me, and I stay in him. 57The living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father. In the same way, the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your fathers ate the manna and died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." 59Jesus said this while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?" 61Jesus knew his disciples were grumbling about this teaching. So he asked them, "Does this upset you? 62Then what if you see the Son of Man go up to where he was before? 63The Spirit gives life. The flesh is no help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life.b 64But some of you do not believe." (Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe. He also knew who would betray him.) 65Then Jesus said, "That is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father allows him to." 66From then on, many of his disciples turned back. They didn't follow him anymore. 67So Jesus asked the Twelve, "Do you want to leave too?" 68Simon Peter answered, "Lord, who would we go to? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe, and we know that you are the Holy One of God." 70Jesus answered them, "Didn't I choose you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71He was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. Judas was one of the Twelve, but later he would betray Jesus.