John 6, the multiplication of the bread
/RSS Feed1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
4 And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7 Philip answered him, two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So, the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.
16 And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto the sea,
17 And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them.
18 And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.
19 So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the ship: and they were afraid.
20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid.
21 Then they willingly received him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.
22 The day following, when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save that one whereinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone;
23 (Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given thanks:)
24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.
25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when calmest thou hither?
26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. 27 Labor not for the meat which perished, but for that meat which endured unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.
28 Then said they unto him, what shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
30 They said therefore unto him, what sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.
34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
36 But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.
37 All that the father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.
38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?
43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
45 It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.
46 Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.
47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.
48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.
59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.
60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?
61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?
63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
64 But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70 Jesus answered them, have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.
Hello everyone, I am kiki. Chinese name of our second phase of the program is “读经大讲堂”. The English name is “Bible study”.
We will adopt a relaxed also enjoyable learning mode to take you into a new learning world. Each time I will make a personal summary and analysis from the perspective of a learner, and then Sister Ingrid will help me conduct in-depth learning and problem discussions with everybody.
I hope that such an interesting and interactive process can bring new knowledge experience to you all. The following is my interview with my sister on related issues. Today is the tenth lecture on the Gospel of John 。Everyone is welcome to leave a message in the comment area for discussion!
My summary of John 6 study:
Hello everyone, the following is a summary of my study this time.
One day,after performing miracles and feeding thousands with only a few loaves and fish, Jesus left to be alone on a mountain while his disciples sailed across the sea.
Later, he walked on water to meet them during a storm, calming their fears. The people, amazed by his miracles, sought him out again.
When they found Jesus, he explained that true fulfillment comes from believing in him, not just seeking earthly bread.
Some people struggled to understand his teachings, especially when he spoke symbolically about being the bread of life and offering his flesh and blood.
Jesus emphasized the importance of spiritual nourishment for eternal life, not just physical food.
Not everyone accepted these teachings, and some disciples left him. Even then, Jesus asked his closest followers if they would also abandon him.
Simon Peter, speaking for them, expressed faith in Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus acknowledged that one of the twelve, Judas, would betray him.
Throughout these events, Jesus emphasized the need for belief, even when faced with challenges or doubts.
He urged people to focus on spiritual nourishment and eternal life through faith in him.
Despite the murmurs and departures of some, Jesus remained steadfast in his purpose and reminded his disciples of the importance of having faith in him as the source of everlasting life and truth.
As the Bible study content unfolds, many contents are difficult to understand for me, so now I would like to ask my dear sister Ingrid to explain it to me.
Sister’s comment from my studying summary:
In this story we have to pay attention, that the multitud searched Jesus, because he was healing people before and they would like to have more miracles, they did not want him as a Messias as described in the book of Jesaja who sufferes for them, they wanted him as a strong leader to cast the Romans out of their land.
When he talked in a symbolic manner of the cross, most people went away and did not follow him anymore, only the closests friends stayed, because exept of one of them, they understood the message of the kingdom of God.
Here we meet a challange for us: Why do we follow Jesus? Do we seek blessings here on earth or are the heavenly eternal things more important for us.
Question list based on John 6
Okay.Base on above bible study content, now let me ask sister some related questions.
We hope the following questions can be helpful to our brothers and sisters who have just become Christians.
Sister,what was the significance of Jesus feeding the multitude with just a few loaves and fishes?
First of all, we see, that Jesus cares about our needs. The people prefered to hear him preaching in front of eating at home, so when we put the kingdom of God first and follow Jesus, he will care about our needs.
The second thing we learn out of this story is, when we give the little we have over to Jesus, it converts to more than enough in his hands. We must not forget, that they had after eating 12 baskets in overflow.
And why did Jesus perform miracles like feeding the crowd and walking on water?
When Jesus performed miricales, he thought on his disiples, that they should be steadfasted in their faith. In this two stories, it is not mentioned, but in the wine-miracle in Kanaan it is written, that Jesus performed the miracle to make his disiples believe.
The disiples left everything for Jesus and certainly they had now and than doubts if they are on the right way. So Jesus performed miricales to help them.
Other miracles Jesus performed by having mercy with the people around. Of course he did not want to die them of hunger on their way home, so he helped them with bread and fishes.
How did Jesus respond to those who wanted to make him a king by force?
He went away. Jesus is king, but not of an earthly kingdom. He is king in heaven and that was the point, the jewish people at that time did not understand. They were longing for a strong leader that casts the Roman soldiers out, but that was not the purpose why Jesus came to this world.
Sister,what did Jesus mean when he said, “Labor not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endures unto everlasting life”?
He referes, that we shall receive the sacrifice he did for us on Calvarie. He died and gave his body for us and if we accept this sacrifice and offering by believing in him, we are free from sin and may go to heaven after death.
Why did some of Jesus’ disciples find his teachings about eating his flesh and drinking his blood difficult to understand? I also can’t understand it well.
Jesus is talking in this sentece about his death on the cross, too, and that it is necesarry to accept this and convert our faith in a personal relationship with Jesus.
How did Jesus explain the importance of belief and faith in him for eternal life?
Without believing in Jesus, we can t please the father God and we don t have eternal life. God is our creator and he is holy. When we are living in sin, he does not accept us and does not hear our prayer, because he can t accept sin in his presence.
God hates the sin, but he loves the sinner. That is why he has sent Jesus for to pay the price of sin. In Romans it is written: The price for sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus.
So we just have to accept the work of Jesus by repentance and we can go free.
Why did some of Jesus’ disciples decide to no longer follow him after hearing certain teachings?
They expected earthly things from Jesus. Kapernaum in these times was very poor and they expected that he helps them with their material needs. When he began to talk about heaven and the eternal life and that it is more important than blessings here on earth, they were disappointed and left.
What did Simon Peter’s response reveal about his belief in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God?
He said, for him there is no other place, because Jesus has words of eternal life. Peter understand the importance of eternal life.
How did Jesus demonstrate his awareness of Judas Iscariot’s betrayal?
He knew that he will betray him. But he gave him a lot of chances to repent and not to do this. Judas was allowed to administrate the money of the disiples, Jesus called him friend, when he was arrested, Jesus warned him, that it would be better not to having been borned for him who will betray him.
But Judas was a thieve. He stole money from the cash from the disiples and never converted to a disiple in his heart. He is an example for those who follow today Jesus, too, but never convert in their hearts in true Christians.
Sister，in what ways did Jesus show his disciples that he had the words of eternal life despite challenges and doubts?
As I mentioned, in his miracles, the disiples faith was feeded and living with Jesus makes you believing, that there is heaven and hell and the life with Jesus will bring you to heaven.
I think the comunion with him provocated the faith despite of doubts and when you are living with Jesus in your daily life, doubts disapear as well.
Judas never had this intimate communion with Jesus, because his only intention was to be part of Jesus kingdom.
But the other ones loved Jesus as a person and when he spoke of heaven, they understood him.
