John 6

The AIT Bible

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

1After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

2And a large crowd was following him, because they were seeing the signs he was performing on the sick.

3And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

4Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.

5So Jesus, lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?”

6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was about to do.

7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to have a little.”

8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,

9“There is a young boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are these for so many?”

10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.

11Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; he did likewise with the fish, as much as they wanted.

12And when they had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the leftover pieces, so that nothing may be lost.”

13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

14So when the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

15Therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on the Water

16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

18and the sea was becoming rough as a strong wind was blowing.

19So after they had rowed 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 were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Discourse on the Bread of Life

22The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.

23But boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.

24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

25And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”

27Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that remains for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.

28So they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”

29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in him whom he has sent.”

30So they said to him, “Then what sign do you perform, that we may see and believe you? What work do you do?”

31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

32So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34So they said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.

36But I told you that you have seen me and yet you do not believe.

37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

38For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

39And this is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

40For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

The Living Bread from Heaven

41So the Jews were grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

42And they were saying, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can 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 draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.

45It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard from the Father and learned 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 say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

48I am the bread of life.

49Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.

50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.

51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world.”

52Then the Jews began to dispute among themselves, saying, “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 the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in yourselves.

54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him 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 him.

57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will also live because of me.

58This is the bread that came down from heaven—not like that which the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

59He said these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

A Hard Saying

60Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can accept it?”

61But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Does this offend you?”

62What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

63It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

64But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe, and who it was that would betray him.

65And he said, “This is why I have told you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by the Father.”

66After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

67So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

69And we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

70Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.”

71Now he was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.

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Cross-references in this chapter

Where this passage connects across Scripture — each link typed and reasoned, part of the AIT Bible Nexus Chart.

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Jesus Walks on the Water

Discourse on the Bread of Life

The Living Bread from Heaven

A Hard Saying