Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.
- NASB Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled.
- NLT Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus tells the crowd they seek Him not because they understood the signs but because they were fed. He exposes their self-interested, shallow pursuit.
Overview
With the solemn 'Most certainly,' Jesus diagnoses their hearts: they want full stomachs, not the truth the sign revealed. A true response to His miracles is faith in Him, not mere consumption of His gifts. This rebuke opens the Bread of Life discourse, calling them from earthly to eternal hunger.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Jas 4:3–4And when you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may squander it on your pleasures.
- Phil 3:19Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.
- Phil 2:21For all the others look after their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.
- Ezek 33:31So My people come to you as usual, sit before you, and hear your words; but they do not put them into practice. Although they express love with their mouths, their hearts pursue dishonest gain.
- 1 Tim 6:5and constant friction between men of depraved mind who are devoid of the truth. These men regard godliness as a means of gain.
- Acts 8:18–21When Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money.
- Rom 16:18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Ps 106:12–14Then they believed His promises and sang His praise.
- Ps 78:37Their hearts were disloyal to Him, and they were unfaithful to His covenant.
- John 6:2A large crowd followed Him because they saw the signs He was performing on the sick.
- John 6:24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum to look for Him.
- John 3:5Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
- John 3:3Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
- John 6:15Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself.
- John 6:64However, 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.)
- John 6:30So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do?
- John 6:47Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life.
- John 6:53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
John declares him plainly: the eternal Word made flesh, the Lamb of God, the great 'I AM' — bread, light, door, shepherd, way, truth, life, resurrection — that you may believe and have life in his name.
How John 6:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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