6.1 Later, Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee - which is the Sea of Tiberias -
6:2 and a great multitude followed him after seeing his miracles of healing the sick.
6:3 Then Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat with his students.
6:4 Now the Jewish Passover Festival was soon.
6:5 When Jesus lifted his eyes and saw a great number of people coming towards him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
6:6 And this he said to test him, for he knew what he was intending to do.
6:7 Philip answered him, "Two hundred denariis1 worth of bread is not even sufficient for each to receive a little."
6:8 One of his students - Andrew, Simon Peter's brother - said to him,
6:9 "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?"
6:10 Jesus replied, "Have the people sit down." There was much grass in that place, so the people sat down, numbering about five thousand.
6:11 Jesus then took the loaves, offered them to God, and distributed these to his students, and the students to those who were seated - as much as they wanted - likewise with the fish.
6:12 When they were filled, he said to his students, "Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be wasted."
6:13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
6:14 After the people saw the miracle Jesus performed, they said, "This most certainly is a Prophet who has appeared in this world."
6:15 Now Jesus, perceiving they intended to seize upon him and claim him as their leader, withdrew again to the mountain alone.
6:16 When evening came, his students went down to the lake,
6:17 and after getting into a boat, they set off across the lake to Capernaum. It had become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
6:18 And the sea arose due to a great wind that blew.
6:19 After rowing twenty-five or thirty furlongs,2 they saw Jesus walking on the lake and approaching the boat; and they were frightened.
6:20 But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid."
6:21 Then they took him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the shore where they were heading.
6:22 The next day the crowd that stayed on the opposite shore of the sea saw no other boat there other than the one his students got into, and that Jesus did not get in the boat with his students, as his students had left alone.
6:23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Master had offered it to God.
6:24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his students were there, they traveled by boat to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
6:25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
6:26 Jesus responded, "Very truly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
6:27 Do not work for food3 that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Servant of Humanity will give you. For on him the Creator, God, has authorized."
6:28 Therefore they asked him, "What must we do to please God?"
6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, "What will please God is that you trust in the one He has sent."
6:30 So they asked him, "What sign will you give so that we may know and trust you? What will you do?
6:31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them food from heaven to eat.'"
6:32 Jesus then said to them, "Very truly I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the food from heaven, but it is my LORD who gives you the true food from the spiritual realm.
6:33 For the food of God is that which comes out of the spiritual realm and gives life to the world."
6:34 Then they said to him, "Sir, give us this food forever."
6:35 Then Jesus said to them, "I am the food of life. Whosoever follows me will never hunger, and whoever trusts in me will never thirst.
6:36 But as I said to you, you have seen me and still you trust not.
6:37 Anyone entrusted to me by the Creator will follow me, and whoever follows me I will never cast away.
6:38 For I have descended from the spiritual realm not to please myself but to please Him who sent me.
6:39 And what pleases Him who sent me is that I shall lose none of those He has entrusted to me, but raise them up at the time of death.
6:40 For what pleases my LORD is that everyone who perceives the Representative and trusts in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the time of death."
6:41 At this the Jewish officials were grumbling about him because he said, "I am the food that descended from the spiritual realm."
6:42 They were saying, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I descended from the spiritual realm'?"
6:43 Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble among yourselves.
6:44 No one can follow me unless the Creator who sent me guides them, and I will raise them up at the end of their lifetime.
6:45 It is written by the Prophets: 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Anyone who has heard and learned from the Creator also follows me.
6:46 No one knows the Creator except one who associates with God; only he knows the Creator.
6:47 Very truly I say to you, one who trusts in me achieves eternal life.
6:48 I am the food of life.
6:49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, but they died.
6:50 This is the food that descends from the spiritual realm, that which one may eat and not die.
6:51 I am the living food that descends from the spiritual realm. If anyone consumes this food they will live forever. And the food I give for the sake of life in the world is my very substance."4
6:52 Then the Jewish officials began to argue among themselves, saying "How can this man give us his body to eat?"
6:53 Therefore Jesus said to them, "Very truly I say to you, unless you consume the very substance of the Servant of Humanity and absorb his very essence,5 you will have no life within you.
6:54 Whoever consumes my substance and absorbs my essence has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the time of death.
6:55 For my substance is real food and my essence is real nourishment.
6:56 Whosoever consumes my substance and absorbs my essence remains with me, and I with them.
6:57 Just as the living Creator sent me and I live because of the Creator, so one who is nourished from me will live because of me.
6:58 This is the food that descended from the spiritual realm. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whosoever consumes this food will live forever."
6:59 These things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum.
6:60 When many of his disciples heard this, they said, 'This is a tough teaching - who can understand it?"
6:61 But Jesus, aware that his disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this offend you?
6:62 Then what if you see the Servant of Humanity ascend to where he was before?
6:63 It is spirit that gives life; the physical body provides no benefit. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
6:64 Yet there are some of you who do not trust." For Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe, and who would turn him over to be persecuted.
6:65 And he said, "For this reason I have taught you that no one can follow me unless they have been enabled by the Creator."
6:66 As a result of this, many of his students left him and no longer followed him.
6:67 Accordingly, Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to leave too, do you?"
6:68 Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life.
6:69 We have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God."
6:70 Jesus answered, "Did I myself not select you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a slanderer."
6:71 Now he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to turn him over to be persecuted.
Footnotes:
1. Verse 6.6: Equivalent to more than half a year's average wages.
2. Verse 6:19. 25 to 30 furlongs is equivalent to between three and four miles.
3. Verse 6:27. The Greek word ἄρτος (artos) can mean "food composed of flour" or "food of any kind" according to the lexicon.
4. Verse 6:51. The word σάρξ (sarx) can refer to "body" when used anatomically – but when used metaphorically, indicates one's substance – what they are made of. Jesus is describing his core objectives and mission. The Pharisees misunderstood this metaphor and mistakenly thought Jesus was referring to his physical body.
5. Verse 6:53. The word αἷμα (haima) can refer to “blood” when used anatomically, but in the metaphorical sense (as Jesus uses it) it means, "the seat of life" – one's essence or core existence.
6:2 and a great multitude followed him after seeing his miracles of healing the sick.
6:3 Then Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat with his students.
6:4 Now the Jewish Passover Festival was soon.
6:5 When Jesus lifted his eyes and saw a great number of people coming towards him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
6:6 And this he said to test him, for he knew what he was intending to do.
6:7 Philip answered him, "Two hundred denariis1 worth of bread is not even sufficient for each to receive a little."
6:8 One of his students - Andrew, Simon Peter's brother - said to him,
6:9 "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?"
6:10 Jesus replied, "Have the people sit down." There was much grass in that place, so the people sat down, numbering about five thousand.
6:11 Jesus then took the loaves, offered them to God, and distributed these to his students, and the students to those who were seated - as much as they wanted - likewise with the fish.
6:12 When they were filled, he said to his students, "Gather up the leftover pieces so that nothing will be wasted."
6:13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
6:14 After the people saw the miracle Jesus performed, they said, "This most certainly is a Prophet who has appeared in this world."
6:15 Now Jesus, perceiving they intended to seize upon him and claim him as their leader, withdrew again to the mountain alone.
6:16 When evening came, his students went down to the lake,
6:17 and after getting into a boat, they set off across the lake to Capernaum. It had become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
6:18 And the sea arose due to a great wind that blew.
6:19 After rowing twenty-five or thirty furlongs,2 they saw Jesus walking on the lake and approaching the boat; and they were frightened.
6:20 But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid."
6:21 Then they took him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the shore where they were heading.
6:22 The next day the crowd that stayed on the opposite shore of the sea saw no other boat there other than the one his students got into, and that Jesus did not get in the boat with his students, as his students had left alone.
6:23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Master had offered it to God.
6:24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his students were there, they traveled by boat to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
6:25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
6:26 Jesus responded, "Very truly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
6:27 Do not work for food3 that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Servant of Humanity will give you. For on him the Creator, God, has authorized."
6:28 Therefore they asked him, "What must we do to please God?"
6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, "What will please God is that you trust in the one He has sent."
6:30 So they asked him, "What sign will you give so that we may know and trust you? What will you do?
6:31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: 'He gave them food from heaven to eat.'"
6:32 Jesus then said to them, "Very truly I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the food from heaven, but it is my LORD who gives you the true food from the spiritual realm.
6:33 For the food of God is that which comes out of the spiritual realm and gives life to the world."
6:34 Then they said to him, "Sir, give us this food forever."
6:35 Then Jesus said to them, "I am the food of life. Whosoever follows me will never hunger, and whoever trusts in me will never thirst.
6:36 But as I said to you, you have seen me and still you trust not.
6:37 Anyone entrusted to me by the Creator will follow me, and whoever follows me I will never cast away.
6:38 For I have descended from the spiritual realm not to please myself but to please Him who sent me.
6:39 And what pleases Him who sent me is that I shall lose none of those He has entrusted to me, but raise them up at the time of death.
6:40 For what pleases my LORD is that everyone who perceives the Representative and trusts in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the time of death."
6:41 At this the Jewish officials were grumbling about him because he said, "I am the food that descended from the spiritual realm."
6:42 They were saying, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I descended from the spiritual realm'?"
6:43 Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not grumble among yourselves.
6:44 No one can follow me unless the Creator who sent me guides them, and I will raise them up at the end of their lifetime.
6:45 It is written by the Prophets: 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Anyone who has heard and learned from the Creator also follows me.
6:46 No one knows the Creator except one who associates with God; only he knows the Creator.
6:47 Very truly I say to you, one who trusts in me achieves eternal life.
6:48 I am the food of life.
6:49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, but they died.
6:50 This is the food that descends from the spiritual realm, that which one may eat and not die.
6:51 I am the living food that descends from the spiritual realm. If anyone consumes this food they will live forever. And the food I give for the sake of life in the world is my very substance."4
6:52 Then the Jewish officials began to argue among themselves, saying "How can this man give us his body to eat?"
6:53 Therefore Jesus said to them, "Very truly I say to you, unless you consume the very substance of the Servant of Humanity and absorb his very essence,5 you will have no life within you.
6:54 Whoever consumes my substance and absorbs my essence has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the time of death.
6:55 For my substance is real food and my essence is real nourishment.
6:56 Whosoever consumes my substance and absorbs my essence remains with me, and I with them.
6:57 Just as the living Creator sent me and I live because of the Creator, so one who is nourished from me will live because of me.
6:58 This is the food that descended from the spiritual realm. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whosoever consumes this food will live forever."
6:59 These things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum.
6:60 When many of his disciples heard this, they said, 'This is a tough teaching - who can understand it?"
6:61 But Jesus, aware that his disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this offend you?
6:62 Then what if you see the Servant of Humanity ascend to where he was before?
6:63 It is spirit that gives life; the physical body provides no benefit. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
6:64 Yet there are some of you who do not trust." For Jesus knew from the beginning who did not believe, and who would turn him over to be persecuted.
6:65 And he said, "For this reason I have taught you that no one can follow me unless they have been enabled by the Creator."
6:66 As a result of this, many of his students left him and no longer followed him.
6:67 Accordingly, Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to leave too, do you?"
6:68 Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the message of eternal life.
6:69 We have believed, and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God."
6:70 Jesus answered, "Did I myself not select you, the twelve? And yet one of you is a slanderer."
6:71 Now he meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to turn him over to be persecuted.
Footnotes:
1. Verse 6.6: Equivalent to more than half a year's average wages.
2. Verse 6:19. 25 to 30 furlongs is equivalent to between three and four miles.
3. Verse 6:27. The Greek word ἄρτος (artos) can mean "food composed of flour" or "food of any kind" according to the lexicon.
4. Verse 6:51. The word σάρξ (sarx) can refer to "body" when used anatomically – but when used metaphorically, indicates one's substance – what they are made of. Jesus is describing his core objectives and mission. The Pharisees misunderstood this metaphor and mistakenly thought Jesus was referring to his physical body.
5. Verse 6:53. The word αἷμα (haima) can refer to “blood” when used anatomically, but in the metaphorical sense (as Jesus uses it) it means, "the seat of life" – one's essence or core existence.
