John 6

²A huge crowd followed Jesus everywhere He went, because they had seen Him heal sick people and do amazing miracles.

³Jesus went up a hillside and sat down with His disciples — His closest friends and followers.

⁴It was almost time for the Passover, the special feast when God's people remembered how He rescued them from Egypt long ago.

⁵Jesus looked up and saw a huge crowd coming toward Him. He asked Philip, 'Where can we buy enough bread to feed all these people?'

⁶Jesus asked this question to test Philip — because Jesus already had a plan. He always knows what He is going to do.

⁷Philip answered, 'It would cost a huge amount of money — and even then it still wouldn't be enough to give everyone just a little bit!'

⁸But one of Jesus' disciples — Andrew, who was Simon Peter's brother — stepped up and spoke.

⁹Andrew said, 'There is a young boy here who has five small loaves of bread and two little fish. But what is that for so many thousands of people?'

¹⁰Jesus said, 'Tell everyone to sit down.' There was plenty of green grass. So the people sat — about five thousand of them!

¹¹Jesus took the loaves of bread, gave thanks to God, and then broke them and passed them out. He did the same with the fish. Everyone ate as much as they wanted!

¹²After everyone had eaten until they were full, Jesus told His disciples, 'Now gather up all the leftovers — don't let anything go to waste.'

¹³They gathered all the pieces and filled twelve whole baskets — all from the five small loaves of bread that the boy had shared!

¹⁴When the people saw this miracle, they said, 'This must truly be the Prophet who God promised would come into the world!'

¹⁵Jesus knew the crowd wanted to grab Him and make Him their king by force. So He slipped away by Himself up into the hills.

¹⁶As evening came, Jesus' disciples went down to the shore of the sea.

¹⁷They got into a boat and started rowing toward Capernaum. It was now completely dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

¹⁸Then a strong wind began to blow and the sea became rough and stormy.

¹⁹After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on top of the water toward their boat — and they were terrified!

²⁰But Jesus called out to them: 'It is I — do not be afraid!'

²¹Gladly they pulled Jesus into the boat — and instantly the boat was at the shore where they were heading!

²²The next morning, the crowd still on the other shore noticed there had been only one boat — and that Jesus had not got into it with His disciples. They had left without Him.

²³(However, other boats had come from Tiberias and arrived close to where Jesus had given thanks and fed everyone.)

²⁴When the crowd realised Jesus and the disciples were both gone, they got into boats and sailed to Capernaum — looking for Jesus.

²⁵They found Jesus on the other side of the sea and asked, 'Teacher, when did You get here?'

²⁶Jesus answered them: 'I tell you the truth — you are looking for Me not because you understood the miracle, but because you ate the bread and had a full stomach!'

²⁷Jesus said, 'Don't work so hard for food that only lasts a day. Work for the food that gives you life forever — that is what I, the Son of Man, will give you. God the Father has marked Me as the one to give it.'

²⁸The people asked Him, 'What do we need to do to do the work God wants?'

²⁹Jesus answered them: 'The work God wants is this — believe in the One God has sent.'

³⁰So they said to Him, 'What miracle can You do so we can see it and believe You? What amazing thing will You do?'

³¹They said, 'Moses gave our ancestors bread from heaven in the desert — it's written in Scripture: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'

³²Jesus told them: 'I tell you truly — it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven. It is My Father who gives you the real bread from heaven!'

³³Jesus explained: 'The bread God gives is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the whole world.'

³⁴The people said, 'Lord, please give us this bread every single day, for ever!'

³⁵And Jesus said: 'I AM the Bread of Life! Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again — ever. And whoever trusts in Me will never be thirsty again. I am all you need!'

³⁶Jesus continued: 'But I have told you — you have seen Me with your own eyes and you still don't believe.'

³⁷Jesus said: 'Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me — and I will never, ever turn away anyone who comes to Me. Never!'

³⁸Jesus said: 'I did not come from heaven to do what I want — I came to do what My Father who sent Me wants.'

³⁹Jesus continued: 'And this is what My Father who sent Me wants: that I keep safe every person He gives Me — not losing even one — and raise them all up on the last day.'

⁴⁰Jesus said: 'It is God's will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him will have everlasting life — and I will raise that person up on the last day.'

⁴¹The Jewish religious leaders started grumbling about Jesus because He said, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven.'

⁴²They said, 'Isn't this Jesus — Joseph's son? We know His father and mother! How can He say He came down from heaven?'

⁴³Jesus replied: 'Stop grumbling among yourselves!'

⁴⁴Jesus continued: 'No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws them to Me — and I will raise that person up on the last day.'

⁴⁵Jesus said: 'The prophets wrote: they shall all be taught by God. So everyone who has listened to the Father and learned from Him will come to Me.'

⁴⁶Jesus said: 'No one has seen the Father except Me — the One who is from God. I have seen the Father.'

⁴⁷Jesus declared: 'I am telling you the absolute truth — whoever believes in Me has everlasting life. Right now. Already.'

⁴⁸Jesus said simply and powerfully: 'I AM the Bread of Life.'

⁴⁹Jesus said: 'Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness — and they still died.'

⁵⁰Jesus said: 'But here is the bread that comes down from heaven — whoever eats it will never die.'

⁵¹Jesus said: 'I am the Living Bread from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. The bread I give is Myself — My life — which I will give so that the whole world can live.'

⁵²The people began to argue among themselves: 'What does He mean — how can He give us His flesh to eat? That makes no sense!'

⁵³Jesus told them: 'I tell you truly — unless you receive Me completely, trusting in everything I did for you, you do not have real life inside you.'

⁵⁴Jesus said: 'Whoever truly receives Me — trusting in what I did — has eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.'

⁵⁵Jesus said: 'What I offer is truly food and truly drink — real nourishment for your soul, better than any meal you have ever had.'

⁵⁶Jesus said: 'Whoever truly receives Me lives in Me — and I live in them. We are together, inside each other!'

⁵⁷Jesus said: 'The living Father sent Me and I live through My connection to Him. In the same way, whoever receives Me will live through their connection to Me.'

⁵⁸Jesus said: 'This is the bread from heaven — not like the manna your ancestors ate and then died anyway. Whoever receives this bread will live forever.'

⁵⁹Jesus said all these things while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum — the town where He often taught.

⁶⁰Many of Jesus' followers, hearing all of this, said, 'This teaching is too hard — who could possibly accept it?'

⁶¹Jesus knew inside Himself that His followers were grumbling about His words. So He asked them directly: 'Does this offend you?'

⁶²Jesus asked them: 'What will you think when you see the Son of Man go back up to where He was before?'

⁶³Jesus said: 'It is the Spirit who gives life — the body alone can't do that. The words I speak to you are spiritual and alive — they carry real life!'

⁶⁴Jesus continued: 'But some of you do not truly believe.' For Jesus knew from the very beginning who would not believe — and even who would betray Him.

⁶⁵Jesus said: 'That is why I told you — no one can come to Me unless the Father gives them the ability to do so.'

⁶⁶After this, many of the people who had been following Jesus turned around and left — they stopped walking with Him.

⁶⁷Then Jesus turned to the twelve disciples and asked quietly: 'Will you also leave Me?'

⁶⁸Simon Peter answered: 'Lord, where else would we go? You have the words that give eternal life!'

⁶⁹Peter continued: 'And we believe — we are completely sure — that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God!'

⁷⁰Jesus replied: 'Did I not choose you twelve Myself? And yet one of you is working for the enemy.'

⁷¹John tells us Jesus was talking about Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. He was the one who would betray Jesus — and he was one of the twelve disciples.