Joh 6 | HCSB | STEP | After this , Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias ).

John 6

The Fourth Sign: Feeding 5,000

1 After ^a this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee ^b (or Tiberias ^c). 2 And a huge crowd was following Him because they saw the signs that He was performing by healing the sick. 3 So Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with His disciples.

4 Now the ^{▼▼Passover: The Israelite festival celebrated on the fourteenth day of the first month in the early spring. It was a celebration of the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt, commemorating the final plague on Egypt when the firstborn were killed.}Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 5 Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, ^e He asked Philip, ^f “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” 6 He asked this to test him, ^g for He Himself knew what He was going to do.

7 Philip answered, “Two hundred ^{▼▼denarius: A small silver Roman coin, which was equal to a day's wage for a common laborer}denarii ⁱ worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

8 One of His disciples, Andrew, ^j Simon ^k Peter’s ^l brother, said to Him, 9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish – but what are they for so many?”

10 Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000. ^m 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated – so also with the fish, as much as they wanted. ⁿ

12 When they were full, He told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” ^o 13 So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

14 When the people saw the sign ^{▼▼Other mss read signs} He had done, they said, “This really is the Prophet ^q who was to come ^r into the world!” ^s 15 Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, ^t He withdrew again ^{▼▼A previous withdrawal is mentioned in Mk 6:31-32, an event that occurred just before the feeding of the 5,000.} to the mountain by Himself.

The Fifth Sign: Walking on Water

16 When ^v evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. ^w Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 Then a high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles, ^{▼▼Lit 25 or 30 stadia; 1 stadion = 600 feet} they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.

20 But He said to them, “It is I. ^{▼▼Lit I am
,} ^z Don’t be afraid!” 21 Then they were willing to take Him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

The Bread of Life

22 The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea knew there had been only one boat. ^{▼▼Other mss add into which His disciples had entered
,} ^ab They also knew that Jesus had not boarded the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone off alone. 23 Some boats from Tiberias ^ac came near the place where they ate the bread after the Lord gave thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

25 When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “ ^{▼▼Rabbi: The Hebrew word Rabbi means my great one; it is used of a recognized teacher of the Scriptures.}Rabbi, ^ae when did You get here?”

26 Jesus answered, “ ^{▼▼I assure you: This is a phrase used only by Jesus to testify to the certainty and importance of His words; in Mt, Mk and Lk it is literally Amen, I say to you, and in Jn it is literally Amen, amen, I say to you.}I assure you: You are looking for Me, not because you saw ^{▼▼Or perceived} the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Don’t work for the food that perishes ^ah but for the food that lasts for eternal life, ^ai which the ^{▼▼Son of Man: The most frequent title Jesus used for Himself; Dn 7:13}Son of Man ^ak will give you, because God the Father ^al has set His seal of approval on Him.”

28 “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

29 Jesus replied, “This is the work ^am of God – that you believe in the One He has sent.” ^an

30 “What sign then are You going to do so we may see and believe You?” they asked. “What are You going to perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna ^ao in the wilderness, ^ap just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ^{▼▼Bread miraculously provided by God for the Israelites} ^{ar
,} ^as

32 Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Moses ^at didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the real bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always!”

35 “I am ^au the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me ^av will ever be hungry, ^aw and no one who believes in Me ^ax will ever be thirsty ^ay again. 36 But as I told you, you’ve seen Me, ^{▼▼Other mss omit Me} and yet you do not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never cast out. ^ba 38 For I have come down from heaven, ^bb not to do My will, but the will of Him ^bc who sent Me. 39 This is the will of Him who sent Me: that I should lose none of those He has given Me but should raise ^bd them up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father: ^be that everyone who sees the Son ^bf and believes in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise ^bg him up on the last day.”

41 Therefore the ^{▼▼Jew(s): In Jn the term Jews usually indicates those in Israel who were opposed to Jesus, particularly the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem who led the nation.}Jews started complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, ^bi whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus answered them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws ^{▼▼Or brings, or leads; see the use of this Gk verb in Jn 12:32; 21:6; Ac 16:19; Jms 2:6.} him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ^bk And they will all be taught by God. ^{bl
,} ^bm Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father ^bn comes to Me – 46 not that anyone has seen the Father ^bo except the One who is from God. ^bp He has seen the Father. ^bq

47 “I assure you: Anyone who believes ^{▼▼Other mss add in Me} has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna ^bs in the wilderness, ^bt and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. ^bu 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live ^bv forever. ^bw The bread that I will give for the life ^bx of the world is My flesh.” ^by

52 At that, the Jews argued ^bz among themselves, ^ca “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

53 So Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man ^cb and drink His blood, ^cc you do not have life in yourselves. 54 Anyone who eats My flesh and drinks My blood ^cd has eternal life, and I will raise ^ce him up on the last day, 55 because My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. 56 The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood lives in Me, and I in him. ^cf 57 Just as the living ^cg Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live ^ch because of Me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna ^{▼▼Other mss omit the manna} your fathers ate – and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.” ^cj

59 He said these things while teaching in the ^{▼▼synagogue(s): A place where the Jewish people met for prayer, worship and teaching of the Scriptures}synagogue ^cl in Capernaum. ^cm

Many Disciples Desert Jesus

60 Therefore, when many of His disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard! Who can accept ^{▼▼Lit hear} it?”

61 Jesus, knowing in Himself ^co that His disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this ^{▼▼cause the downfall of/ causes to sin: The Greek word skandalizo has a root meaning of "snare" or "trap," but has no real English counterpart.}offend you? 62 Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man ^cq ascending ^cr to where He was before? 63 The Spirit ^cs is the One who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning ^ct those who would not ^{▼▼Other mss omit not} believe and the one who would betray ^cv Him.) 65 He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me ^cw unless it is granted to him by the Father.”

66 From that moment many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. 67 Therefore Jesus said to the Twelve, ^cx “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

68 Simon Peter ^cy answered, “Lord, who will we go to? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God!” ^{▼▼Other mss read You are the Messiah, the Son of the Living God
,} ^da

70 Jesus replied to them, “Didn’t I choose you, the Twelve? ^db Yet one of you is the Devil!” ^dc 71 He was referring to Judas, ^dd Simon Iscariot’s son, ^{▼▼Other mss read Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son
,} ^{▼▼Lit Judas, of Simon Iscariot} one of the Twelve, because he was going to betray ^dg Him.