Jesus feeds five thousand
1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called Tiberias). 2 Now a very large crowd followed him there, since they had seen the miracles he had performed on the disabled. 3 So he went up into the mountain and sat with his disciples. 4 This was just prior to the Passover festival of the Judeans.
5 When Jesus saw the huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread for them to eat?” 6 (He said this to test him, since he already had in mind what he was going to do.)
7 “Eight month’s wages wouldn’t be enough to give each person a bite!” answered Philip.
8 One of his disciples (Simon Peter’s brother Andrew) said to him, 9 “Here is someone with five barley loaves and two little fish, but what good are they for so many?”
10 But Jesus said, “Have the people seat themselves for a meal.” There was plenty of grass in that area, so the people reclined. The number of men was about five thousand. 11 Then he took the bread, gave thanks, and distributed it to them. It was the same with the fish; 12 they got as much as they wanted. When everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing is wasted.” 13 They did so and were able to stuff twelve wicker baskets with the leftover pieces of the five loaves.
14 Seeing the miracle Jesus did, the people said, “Truly this is the Prophet, the Coming One!” 15 Then Jesus, knowing that they were about to come and seize him in order to make him king, withdrew into the mountain by himself.
Jesus walks on water
16 Now as evening approached, his disciples went down to the sea. 17 They boarded a ship and went across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already come but Jesus had not yet joined them, 18 and the sea was also churned up due to a strong wind. 19 When they had rowed about three miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, approaching the ship, and they were terrified. 20 But Jesus said, “It’s me, don’t be afraid!” 21 They intended to take him on board, but suddenly they found themselves at their destination.
The crowd seeks Jesus for the wrong reasons
22 The next day the crowd was standing on the other side of the sea. They knew that there had only been one other boat there, and Jesus did not leave with his disciples; they had gone off alone. 23 But boats from Tiberias arrived near the place where they had eaten the bread for which the Master had given thanks. 24 So, realizing that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and set off for Capernaum to look for Jesus.
25 Finding him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, you didn’t come looking for me because of the miracles you saw, but because you filled yourselves with bread. 27 Don’t work for food that spoils, but food that endures into eternal life. This is what The Human will give you, the one certified by the Father.”
28 Then they asked him, “What can we do, so that we are performing the work God wants from us?”
29 Jesus answered, “This is what God wants you to do: to put your trust into the one he commissioned.”
30 Then they said to him, “So then, what miracle will you do, so we can see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness just as it is written, ‘Out of the sky he gave them bread to eat.’ ”
32 Jesus replied, “I tell you very truly, it wasn’t Moses who gave you bread from the sky, but my Father who has given you true bread from heaven. 33 For the Bread of God is the one descending from heaven and giving eternal life to the world.”
34 So they said to him, “Sir, keep on giving us this bread!”
35 But Jesus responded, “I am the Bread of Life; whoever comes to me will absolutely never go hungry, and whoever puts their trust in me will never go thirsty. 36 But though I told you that and you’ve seen what I’ve done, you still don’t believe.
37 “All that the Father gives me will reach me; I will absolutely not throw out any that come toward me. 38 The reason I came down from heaven was not to do my own will but that of the one who sent me. 39 And this is what he wants: that I would not lose one of them, but raise them up in the last day. 40 My Father’s will is that all who look to the Son and put their trust in him may have eternal life, and I will raise them up in the last day.”
Jesus is belittled by his hometown
41 Then the Judeans grumbled about him because he said “I am the Bread of Life, the one coming down from heaven.” 42 So they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he say that he came down from heaven?”
43 Jesus replied, “Stop grumbling among yourselves! 44 No one can come to me without being pulled by the Father who commissioned me, and I will raise them up in the last day. 45 It has been written by the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who hears and learns from the Father comes toward me. 46 The Father has been seen by no one except the one from God.
Jesus talks over their heads
47 “I tell you very truly, that the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the Bread of Life. 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and died, 50 but anyone who eats this Bread from heaven will not die. 51 I am the living Bread from heaven; whoever eats this Bread will live forever. Now what I mean by ’bread‘ is my flesh, which I will give up so that the world may live.”
52 Then the Judeans argued with each other and said, “How can he give us his flesh to eat?”
53 So Jesus responded, “I tell you very truly that if you do not consume the flesh and blood of the Human, you have no life in yourselves. 54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that one up at the last day, 55 for my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 The one who consumes my flesh and blood remains in me, and I remain in that one.
57 “Just as the Father who commissioned me lives, I too live because of him. In the same way, the one consuming me will live because of me. 58 This is the Bread that came down from heaven; unlike our ancestors who ate and died, the one consuming this Bread will live forever.”
Some begin to reject Jesus
59 He said these things while teaching in a meeting place in Capernaum. 60 But upon hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a harsh teaching! Who can listen to it?”
61 Now Jesus, perceiving that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Is this tripping you up? 62 What if you were to watch the Human going up to where he was at first? 63 The Spirit is what gives life; the flesh is of no advantage. The things I have declared to you are spirit and life. 64 But there are some among you who do not believe.” Now Jesus knew from the beginning who the unbelievers were, as well as who would betray him. 65 So he continued, “Therefore I have stated that no one could come to me without the Father granting it to them.”
66 At this, many of his disciples turned away and no longer followed him. 67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Please tell me you don’t want to leave too!”
68 Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom would we turn? You have the pronouncements of eternal life! 69 We trust you and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
70 Jesus replied to them all, “Haven’t I chosen you Twelve? Yet one of you is a slanderer!” 71 (He was referring to Judas, son of Simon of Kerioth. Though one of the Twelve, he intended to betray Jesus.)