Jesus Feeds More than Five Thousand

(Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17)

1After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (that is, to Tiberias). 2A large crowd kept following him because they had seen the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. 3But Jesus went up on a hillside and sat down there with his disciples.

4Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. 5When Jesus looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6Jesusa said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do.

7Philip answered him, “Two hundred denariib worth of bread isn’t enough for each of them to have a little.”

8One of his disciples, Andrew, who was Simon Peter’s brother, told him, 9“There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fish. But what are these among so many people?”

10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was plenty of grass in that area, so they sat down, numbering about 5,000 men.

11Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were seated. He also distributedc as much fish as they wanted. 12When they were completely satisfied, Jesusd told his disciples, “Collect the pieces that are left over so that nothing is wasted.” 13So they collected and filled twelve baskets full of pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14When the people saw the signe that he had done, they kept saying, “Truly this is the Prophet who was to come into the world!” 15Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, withdrewf again to the hillside by himself.

Jesus Walks on the Sea

(Matthew 14:22-27; Mark 6:45-52)

16When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already fallen, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18A strong wind was blowing, and the sea was getting rough. 19After they had rowed about 25 or 30 stadia,g they saw Jesus walking on the sea toward their boat. They became terrified. 20But he told them, “It is I. Stop being afraid!” 21So they were glad to take him on board, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.

Jesus the Bread of Life

22The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea noticed that only one boat had been there, and no other, and that Jesus had not gotten into that boat with his disciples. Instead, his disciples had gone away by themselves. 23Other small boats from Tiberias arrived near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.h 24When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into these boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus.

25When they had found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi,i when did you get here?”

26Jesus replied to them, “Truly, I tell all of youj emphatically, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were completely satisfied. 27Do not work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him.”

28Then they asked him, “What must we do to perform God’s works?”

29Jesus answered them, “This is God’s work: to believe in the one whom he has sent.”

30So they asked him, “What sign are you going to do so that we may see it and believe in you? What actions are you performing? 31Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”k

32Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of youl emphatically, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34Then they told him, “Sir, give us this bread all the time.”

35Jesus told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty. 36I told you that you have seen me,m yet you don’t believe. 37Everything the Father gives me will come to me, and I’ll never turn away the one who comes to me. 38I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. 39And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything that he has given me, but should raise it to life on the last day. 40This is my Father’s will: That everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him to life on the last day.”

41Then the Jewish leadersn began grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”

42They kept saying, “This is Jesus, the son of Joseph, isn’t it, whose father and mother we know? So how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43Jesus answered them, “Stop grumbling among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him to life on the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets, ‘And all of them will be taught by God.’o Everyone who has listened to the Father and has learned anything comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who comes from God. This one has seen the Father. 47Truly, I tell all of youp emphatically, the one who believes in meq has eternal life. 48I’m the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness and died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die. 51I’m the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he’ll live forever. And the bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

52Then the Jewish leadersr debated angrily with each other, asking, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

53So Jesus told them, “Truly, I tell all of yous emphatically, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I’ll raise him to life on the last day, 55because my flesh is realt food, and my blood is realu drink. 56The person who 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 the kind that your ancestors ate. They died, but the one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

The Words of Eternal Life

60When many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This is a difficult statement. Who can acceptv it?”

61But Jesus, knowing within himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? 62What if you saw the Son of Man going up to the place where he was before? 63It’s the Spirit who gives life; the flesh accomplishes nothing. The words that I’ve spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But there are some among you who don’t believe...”—because Jesus knew from the beginning those who weren’t believing, as well as the one who would betray him. 65So he said, “That’s why I told you that no one can come to me unless it be granted him by the Father.” 66As a result,w many of his disciples turned back and no longer associatedx with him.

67So Jesus asked the Twelve, “You don’t want to leave, too, do you?”

68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69Besides, we have believed and remain convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”y

70Jesus answered them, “I chose you, the Twelve, didn’t I? Yet one of you is a devil.” 71Now he was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot,z because this man was going to betray him, even though he was one of the Twelve.