Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
1After this jJesus went away to the other side of kthe Sea of Galilee, which is lthe Sea of Tiberias. 2And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3Jesus went up on mthe mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4Now nthe Passover, the ofeast of the Jews, was at hand. 5pLifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to qPhilip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7rPhilip answered him, “Two hundred denarii1 worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, sAndrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five tbarley loaves and two fish, but twhat are they for so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” uNow there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and vwhen he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, w“This is indeed xthe Prophet ywho is to come into the world!”
15zPerceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus awithdrew again to bthe mountain by himself.
Jesus Walks on Water
16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19When they had rowed about three or four miles,2 they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20cBut he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
I Am the Bread of Life
22On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only done boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord ehad given thanks. 24fSo when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and gwent to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, h“Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, iyou are seeking me, not because you saw jsigns, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27kDo not work for the food that perishes, but for lthe food that endures to eternal life, which mthe Son of Man will give to you. For on nhim God the Father has oset his seal.” 28Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing pthe works of God?” 29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, qthat you believe in him whom rhe has sent.” 30So they said to him, s“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31tOur fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, u‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is vhe who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34They said to him, w“Sir, give us this bread always.”
35Jesus said to them, x“I am the bread of life; ywhoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37zAll that athe Father gives me will come to me, and bwhoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38For cI have come down from heaven, not to do dmy own will but dthe will of him ewho sent me. 39And fthis is the will of him who sent me, gthat I should lose nothing of hall that he has given me, but iraise it up on the last day. 40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who jlooks on the Son and kbelieves in him lshould have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
41So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, m“I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They said, n“Is not this Jesus, othe son of Joseph, whose father and mother pwe know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me qdraws him. And rI will raise him up on the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets, s‘And they will all be ttaught by God.’ uEveryone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46vnot that anyone has seen the Father except whe who is from God; he xhas seen the Father. 47Truly, truly, I say to you, ywhoever believes has eternal life. 48zI am the bread of life. 49aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and bthey died. 50cThis is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it dand not die. 51I am the living bread ethat came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give ffor the life of the world is gmy flesh.”
52The Jews then hdisputed among themselves, saying, i“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of jthe Son of Man and drink his blood, you khave no life in you. 54Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood lhas eternal life, and mI will raise him up on the last day. 55For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood nabides in me, and I in him. 57As othe living Father psent me, and qI live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58rThis is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread3 the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59Jesus4 said these things in the synagogue, as he taught sat Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60tWhen many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61But Jesus, vknowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62Then what if you were to see wthe Son of Man xascending to ywhere he was before? 63zIt is the Spirit who gives life; athe flesh is no help at all. bThe words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But cthere are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus vknew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and dwho it was who would betray him.) 65And he said, “This is why I told you ethat no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.”
66fAfter this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67So Jesus said to gthe twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have hthe words of eternal life, 69and iwe have believed, and have come to know, that jyou are kthe Holy One of God.” 70Jesus answered them, l“Did I not choose you, gthe twelve? And yet one of you is ma devil.” 71He spoke of Judas nthe son of Simon Iscariot, for ohe, one of the twelve, was going to betray him.
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A Study on the Birth of the Lord Jesus Galatians 4:4–5, John 6:25–40 Series • ID: 25701Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language.