Bible Version: New International Version (NIV)
Application Notes: Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
JOHN 6
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 signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival 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, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to 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 they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 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 sign Jesus performed, 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 about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 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, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed 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. For 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 sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, 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 the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever 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 those 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 those 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 them up at the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there 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 them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned 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 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread 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, “Very truly I tell you, 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 them 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 them. 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 ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 He 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 Then 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—they are full of the Spirit and 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 them.”
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 have come to believe and to 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.)
Application Notes
6:5-7 When Jesus asked Philip where they could buy a great amount of bread, Philip started assessing the probable cost. Jesus wanted to teach him that financial resources are not the most important ones. We can limit what God does in us by assuming we know what he can and cannot do. Is there some seemingly impossible task that you believe God wants you to do? Don't let your estimate of what can't be done keep you from taking on the task. God can do the miraculous; trust him to provide the resources when he gives you a mission.
6:5 If anyone knew Where to get food, it would have been Philip because he was from Bethsaida, a town about nine miles away (1:44). Jesus was testing Philip to strengthen his faith. By asking for a human solution (knowing none existed), Jesus highlighted the powerful and miraculous_ act that he was about to perform.
6:8-9 John contrasts the young boy, who brought what he had, with the confused disciples. They certainly had more resources than the boy, but they knew they didn't have enough, so they didn't give anything at all. The boy gave what little he had, and it made all the difference. If we offer nothing to God, he will have nothing from us to use. But if we give it to him, he can take what little we have and turn it into something great.
6:8-9 In performing his miracles, Jesus usually preferred to work through people. Here he took what a young boy offered and used it to accomplish one of the most spectacular miracles recorded in the Gospels. Jesus recognizes no barriers. Never think you are too young or too old or too anything to be of service to him.
6:13 There is a lesson in the leftovers. God gives in abundance. He takes whatever we can offer him in time, ability, or resources and multiplies its effectiveness beyond our wildest expectations. If you take the first step in making yourself available to God, he will show you how greatly you can be used to advance the work of his kingdom.
6:14-15 “The Prophet” is the one prophesied by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15). The crowd had experienced such great power in Jesus that their hopes rose, and they were ready to try to force him to be king.
6:18-19 The disciples, terrified, probably thought they were seeing a ghost or apparition (Mark 6:49). But if they had thought about all they had already seen Jesus do, they should not have been surprised by this miracle. They were frightened—they didn't expect Jesus to come this way, and they weren't prepared for his help. Jesus said to his disciples, “It is I” (John 6:20). His words are possibly an allusion to the name for God that God gave to Moses (Exodus 3:14). Jesus was revealing his identity to the disciples again. When we believe, we have a mind-set that expects God to act. When we act on this expectation, we can overcome our fears.
6:18 The Sea of Galilee is 690 feet below sea level, 150 feet deep, and surrounded by hills. These physical features make it subject to sudden windstorms that cause extremely high waves. Such storms would have been expected on this lake, but they were nevertheless frightening. When Jesus came to the disciples during a storm, walking on the water (three and a half miles from shore), he told them not to be afraid. We often face spiritual and emotional gales and rough waves and feel tossed about like a small boat on a big lake. Despite terrifying circumstances, if we trust our lives to Jesus for his safekeeping, he will give us peace in any storm.
6:26 Jesus criticized some of the people who followed him because they were only interested in the physical and temporal benefits he offered and not the satisfying of their spiritual hunger. Many people today still use religion for the wrong reasons—to feel better about themselves, gain prestige, or even garner political votes. But those are self-centered motives. True believers follow Jesus simply because they know he has the truth and the key to life's ultimate purpose and meaning.
6:28-29 Many people would sincerely love to know what God wants them to do. The religions of the world stem from people's attempts to answer this question. But Jesus' reply is brief and simple: We must believe in him whom God has sent. Pleasing God does not come from the work we do but from whom we believe. We have plenty to do to serve him, but the first step involves accepting that Jesus' claims are true. Then we can build our spiritual lives on this foundational affirmation. Declare to Jesus, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), and embark on a life of belief that is satisfying to your creator and incredibly fulfilling to you.
6:35 People eat bread to satisfy physical hunger and to sustain physical life. We can satisfy spiritual hunger and sustain spiritual life only with a right relationship with Jesus Christ. No wonder he called himself the Bread of Life. But bread must be eaten to sustain life, and Jesus must be invited into our daily lives to satisfy our hungry souls.
6:37-38 Jesus did not work independently of God the Father but in union with him. This should give us even more assurance of being welcomed into God's presence and being protected by him. Jesus' purpose was to do the will of God, not to satisfy his own human desires. When we follow Jesus, we should have the same purpose.
6:39 Jesus said he would not lose even one person whom the Father had given him. Thus, anyone who makes a sincere commitment to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior can rest secure In God’s promise of eternal life. Jesus will not let his people be overcome by Satan and lose their salvation (also see 17:12; Philippians 1:6).
6:40 Those who put their faith in Jesus Christ will be resurrected from physical death to eternal life with God when Jesus comes again (see 1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
6:41 Some of the people grumbled in disagreement because they could not accept Jesus' claim of divinity. They saw him only as a carpenter from Nazareth. They refused to believe that he was God's divine Son, and they could not tolerate his message. Many people reject Jesus because they say they cannot believe he is the Son of God. In reality, though, it is often the demand that he makes for their loyalty and obedience that is hard for them to accept. So to protect themselves from the message, they reject the messenger.
6:44 God, not people, plays the most active role in salvation. When someone chooses to believe in Jesus Christ as Savior, he or she does so only in response to the urging of God's Holy Spirit. God does the urging; then we decide whether to listen and believe. Thus, no one can believe in Jesus without God's help (see 6:65).
6:45 Jesus was alluding to an Old Testament view of the messianic kingdom, in which all people are taught directly by God (Isaiah 54:13; Jeremiah 31:31-34). He was stressing the importance of not merely hearing but learning. We are taught by God through the Bible, our experiences, the thoughts the Holy Spirit brings, and relationships with other Christians. Are you open to God's teaching?
6:47-58 The religious leaders frequently asked Jesus to prove to them why he was better than the prophets of the past. Here Jesus refers to the manna that God had given their ancestors in the wilderness during Moses' time (see Exodus 16). This bread was physical and temporal. The people ate it, and it sustained them for a day. But they had to get more bread every day, and this bread could not keep them from dying. Jesus, who is much greater than Moses, offers himself as the spiritual bread from heaven that satisfies completely and leads to eternal life.
6:47 As used here, believes means ·continues to believe: We do not believe merely once; we keep on believing in and trusting Jesus, following him as our Lord and Savior day by day.
6:51-53 How can Jesus give us himself as bread to eat? To eat living bread means to accept Christ into our lives and become united with him. We are united with him in two ways: (1) by believing in his death (the sacrifice of his body, or flesh) and resurrection and (2) by devoting ourselves to living as he requires, depending on his teaching for guidance and trusting in the Holy Spirit for power.
6:56 This was a shocking message—to eat flesh and drink blood sounded cannibalistic. The idea of drinking any blood, let alone human blood, was repugnant to the religious leaders because the law forbade it (Leviticus 17:10-11). Jesus was not talking about literal blood, of course.
He was saying that his life had to become their own, but they could not accept this concept. He was predicting his death and what it would mean to all believers. The Gospel writers and the apostle Paul used the body and blood imagery in teaching about the Lord's Supper (see 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
6:63, 65 The Holy Spirit gives spiritual life; without the work of the Holy Spirit, we cannot even see our need for new life (14:17). All spiritual renewal begins and ends with God. He reveals truth to us, lives within us, and then enables us to respond to that truth.
6:66 Why did Jesus' words cause many of his followers to desert him? (1)They may have realized that Jesus wasn't going to be the conquering Messiah-King they expected. (2) Jesus refused to give in to their self-centered requests. (3) Jesus emphasized faith, not deeds. (4) Jesus' teachings were difficult to understand, and some of his words were offensive. As we grow in our faith, we may be tempted to turn away because Jesus' lessons are difficult. Will your response be to give up, ignore certain teachings, or reject him? Instead, ask God to show you what his teachings mean and how they apply to you. Then persist with courage to act on God's truth.
6:67-68 After many of Jesus' followers had deserted him, he asked the 12 disciples if they were also going to leave. Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go?” In his straightforward way, Peter answered for all of us—there is no other way. Though there are many philosophies and self-styled authorities, Jesus alone has the words of eternal life. People today want to go their own way or no way at all. They look to their own imaginations, instincts, or some intangible wisdom inside them. People look everywhere for eternal life and miss Jesus, the only source of it. Stay with him, especially when you are confused or feel alone.
6:67 Jesus offers no middle ground. When he asked the disciples if they would also leave, he was showing that they could either accept or reject him. Jesus was not trying to repel people with his teachings. He was simply telling the truth and giving them a choice. The more the people heard Jesus' real message, the more they divided into two camps—the honest seekers who wanted to understand more and those who rejected Jesus because they didn't like what they had heard.
6:70 In response to Jesus' message, some people left; others stayed and truly believed; and some, like Judas, stayed but tried to use Jesus for a personal agenda. Many people today turn away from Jesus. Others pretend to follow him, going to church for status, the approval of family and friends, or business contacts. But only two real responses to Jesus are available—you either accept him or reject him. How have you responded?
Taken from Life Application Study Bible - Third Edition - (NIV)