Jesus Feeds the Hungry

After these things Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiber’i-as).
And a very large crowd followed Him, because they saw His signs: the things He did for those who were diseased. So Jesus went up onto a mountain, and sat down there with His disciples. Now it was nearly time for the Passover, a feast of the Judeans.

When Jesus looked up and saw that a great crowd was coming to Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, so that these people may eat?” But He said this testing him, for He knew what He was about to do.

Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii [well over $10,000 today] would not buy enough bread, for everyone to get a little.”

Andrew, one of His disciples (Simon Peter’s brother), said to Him, “Here’s a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are these to so many?”

Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

Now there was a lot of grass in that area. So they sat down, numbering about five thousand men. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He passed the bread to the disciples, and the disciples to those who were resting. In the same way the fish, as much as they wanted.

And when the people were satisfied, He told His disciples, “Collect the left over fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with fragments of the five barley loaves, left over after the people had eaten.

Because the people had seen the sign that Jesus had accomplished, they said, “This really is the prophet who is to come into the world!” Jesus slipped away alone again into the mountain by Himself, since He knew they were about to come and seize Him in order to make Him king.

Walking on the Sea

That evening, His disciples went down to the sea. And entering the boat, they started across the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not rejoined them. And now the sea was whipped up by a strong wind.

When they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty furlongs [three or four miles], they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat, and they were alarmed.

But He said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” Then they were happy to take Him into the boat, and suddenly the boat reached their destination on land.

The crowd was still across the sea the next day. They had seen no other boat there, except the one Jesus’ disciples had boarded, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples. They had gone away alone. But now other boats from Tiberias arrived near the place where the Lord had given thanks and the people had eaten the bread. When the people saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, then they themselves also got into boats and went to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

And finding Him across the sea, the people said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

Jesus responded by saying to them, “I tell you the absolute truth, you are looking for Me, not because you saw miracles, but because you ate bread and were satisfied. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts to eternal life — which the Son of Man will give to you. Because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

Jesus is the Bread of Life

So then they said to Him, “What should we do, to be doing the works of God?”

Jesus answered them, “This is God’s work, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”

Then they said to Him, “What sign will You do, then, that we may see, and believe You? What are You able to do? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”

Jesus then said to them, “I tell you the absolute truth, Moses has not given you the bread out of heaven. But My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven, and gives life to the world.”

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

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me shall never hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst — never. But I told you that you have even seen Me and do not believe.

“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me. And I will certainly not reject the one who comes to Me. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And 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.

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life; and I will raise Him up at the last day.”

Then the Judeans complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

Jesus answered them, “Do not complain to each other. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up at the last day.

“It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ And so everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father.)

“I tell you the absolute truth, the one who believes in Me has eternal life.

“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And indeed the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Many Unable to Believe

The Judeans were then arguing with each other, saying, “How can He give us His flesh to eat?”

So then Jesus said to them, “I tell you the absolute truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

“For My flesh truly is food, and My blood truly is drink. Whoever who eats My flesh and drinks My blood continues to live in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so also he who partakes of Me will live because of Me. This is the bread that came down out of heaven — not as your fathers ate the manna and died. The one who eats this bread will live for ever.”

This He said while teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum. And many of His disciples, when they heard it, said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can listen to it?”

But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples grumbled about this, said to them, “Does this offend you? And if you should see the Son of Man going up to where He was before?

“It is the spirit that gives life, the flesh adds nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For from the beginning Jesus knew who they were that did not believe, and who would betray Him.

And He said, “That is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless it is granted him by the Father.” At that point many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.

So then Jesus said to the twelve, “Don’t you also wish to go away?”

And Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed, and have known, that You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose the twelve of you? And one of you is a devil.” Now He spoke of Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, because he was one of the twelve, and he would betray Him.

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