- Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
- 1
- Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee
- (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
- 2
- and a great crowd of people followed him
- because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.
- 3
- Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
- 4
- The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
- 5
- When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him,
- he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
- 6
- He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
- 7
- Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy
- enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
- 8
- Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,
- 9
- "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish,
- but how far will they go among so many?"
- 10
- Jesus said, "Have the people sit down."
- There was plenty of grass in that place,
- and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
- 11
- Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those
- who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
- 12
- When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples,
- "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."
- 13
- So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with
- the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
- 14
- After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say,
- "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."
- 15
- Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force,
- withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
- Jesus Walks on the Water
- 16
- When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,
- 17
- where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum.
- By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.
- 18
- A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.
- 19
- When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,
- they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified.
- 20
- But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid."
- 21
- Then they were willing to take him into the boat,
- and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
- 22
- The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake
- realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it
- with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.
- 23
- Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place
- where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.
- 24
- Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
- they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
- Jesus the Bread of Life
- 25
- When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him,
- "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
- 26
- Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me,
- not because you saw miraculous signs
- but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
- 27
- Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life,
- which the Son of Man will give you.
- On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
- 28
- Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
- 29
- Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
- 30
- So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give
- that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
- 31
- Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; 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 it is 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, "from now on give us this bread."
- 35
- Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life.
- He who comes to me will never go hungry,
- and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
- 36
- But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
- 37
- All that the Father gives me will come to me,
- and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
- 38
- For I have come down from heaven not to do my will
- but to do the will of him who sent me.
- 39
- And this is the will of him who sent me,
- that I shall lose none of all that he has given me,
- but raise them up at the last day.
- 40
- For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son
- and believes in him shall 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 said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph,
- whose father and mother we know?
- How can he now say, `I came down from heaven'?"
- 43
- "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered.
- 44
- "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,
- and I will raise him up at the last day.
- 45
- It is written in the Prophets: `They will all be taught by God.'
- Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me.
- 46
- No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God;
- only he has seen the Father.
- 47
- I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.
- 48
- I am the bread of life.
- 49
- Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.
- 50
- But here 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.
- This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
- 52
- Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves,
- "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
- 53
- 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 remains 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 forefathers ate manna and died,
- but he who feeds on this bread will live forever."
- 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
- Many Disciples Desert Jesus
- 60
- On hearing it, many of his disciples said,
- "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
- 61
- Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this,
- Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you?
- 62
- What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!
- 63
- The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.
- The words 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
- He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me
- unless the Father has enabled him."
- 66
- From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
- 67
- "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
- 68
- Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?
- You have the words of eternal life.
- 69
- We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
- 70
- Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve?
- Yet one of you is a devil!"
- 71
- (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot,
- who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)