Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
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 4:3–4You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
- Phil 3:19whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.
- Phil 2:21For they all seek their own, not the things of Jesus Christ.
- Ezek 33:31They come to you as the people come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but don’t do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goes after their gain.
- 1 Tim 6:5constant friction of people of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain. Withdraw yourself from such.
- Acts 8:18–21Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money,
- Rom 16:18For those who are such don’t serve our Lord, Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by their smooth and flattering speech, they deceive the hearts of the innocent.
- Ps 106:12–14Then they believed his words. They sang his praise.
- Ps 78:37For their heart was not right with him, neither were they faithful in his covenant.
- John 6:2A great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs which he did on those who were sick.
- John 6:24When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
- John 3:5Jesus answered, “Most certainly I tell you, unless one is born of water and spirit, he can’t enter into God’s Kingdom.
- John 3:3Jesus answered him, “Most certainly, I tell you, unless one is born anew, he can’t see God’s Kingdom.”
- John 6:15Jesus therefore, perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
- John 6:64But there are some of you who don’t believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who didn’t believe, and who it was who would betray him.
- John 6:30They said therefore to him, “What then do you do for a sign, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you do?
- John 6:47Most certainly, I tell you, he who believes in me has eternal life.
- John 6:53Jesus therefore said to them, “Most certainly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you don’t have life in yourselves.
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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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