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this Jesus crossed over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). 2 A large crowd of people followed Him because they saw the miraculous signs He was performing for the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountain and sat down there with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where are we going to buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do.
7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a little.”
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”
There was plenty of grass in that place, so they all sat down. There was about five thousand men there.
11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those sitting down, as much as they wanted, and so also the fish. 12 When they had all had enough to eat, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the pieces that are left over so nothing is wasted.”
13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the miraculous signs that He had done, they began to say, “This really is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, so He withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.
16 When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 where they got into a boat and set off to cross the sea to Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A strong wind began to blow, and the sea became rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water, and they were terrified.
20 But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the shore where they were heading. 22 The next day the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea knew that there had been only one boat there. They also realised that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had gone off alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberius landed near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given 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, when did You come here?”
26 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for Me, not because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you; for God the Father has set His seal of approval on Him.”
28 Then they asked Him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?”
29 Jesus replied, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the One He has sent.”
30 So they asked Him, “What miraculous sign are You going to do so we may see and believe You? What sign will You perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’.”
32 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “give us this bread always.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen Me and yet you still do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me: that I should lose none of all that He has given Me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For the will of My Father is that all who look to the Son and believe in Him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews began to grumble 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, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
43 Jesus said to them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. 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. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God’. Everyone who listens to and learns from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God. He alone has seen the Father.
47 “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
52 At that, the Jews argued sharply among themselves. “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” they were saying.
53 So Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is real food and My blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your fathers ate the manna and they died, but anyone who feeds on this bread will live forever.”
59 He said these things while He was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
60 When many of His disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61 But Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples were complaining about this, so He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you should see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? 63 The Spirit is the One who gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray Him. 65 So He said, “This is why I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted to him by My Father.”
66 From that time many of His disciples turned back and no longer accompanied Him. 67 So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave, do you?”
68 Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.”
70 Jesus answered them, “Haven’t I chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71 He was speaking of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, though one of the Twelve, was going to betray Him.