John 6

Part of Conflict and the Bread of Life📖 John introduction

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¹After this, Jesus crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias). ✦ ²A large crowd followed Him because they saw the signs He was performing on the sick. ✦ ³Then Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down with His disciples. ✦ ⁴Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover was near. ✦ ⁵When Jesus looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” ✦ ⁶But He was asking this to test him, for He knew what He was about to do. ✦ ⁷Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to have a small piece.” ✦ ⁸One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ✦ ⁹“Here is a boy with five barley loaves and two small fish. But what difference will these make among so many?” ✦ ¹⁰“Have the people sit down,” Jesus said. Now there was plenty of grass in that place, so the men sat down, about five thousand of them. ✦ ¹¹Then Jesus took the loaves and the fish, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. ✦ ¹²And when everyone was full, He said to His disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” ✦ ¹³So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. ✦ ¹⁴When the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed, they began to say, “Truly this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” ✦ ¹⁵Then Jesus, realizing that they were about to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself. ✦ ¹⁶When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, ¹⁷got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was already dark, and Jesus had not yet gone out to them. ✦ ¹⁸A strong wind was blowing, and the sea grew agitated. ✦ ¹⁹When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the sea—and they were terrified. ✦ ²⁰But Jesus spoke up: “It is I; do not be afraid.” ✦ ²¹Then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and at once the boat reached the shore where they were heading. ✦ ²²The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with His disciples, but they had gone away alone. ✦ ²³However, some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ✦ 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. ✦ ²⁵When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they asked Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” ✦ ²⁶Jesus 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. ✦ ²⁷Do not work for food that perishes, 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.” ✦ ²⁸Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” ✦ ²⁹Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” ✦ ³⁰So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do? ✦ ³¹Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ✦ ³²Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ✦ ³³For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ✦ ³⁴“Sir,” they said, “give us this bread at all times.” ✦ ³⁵Jesus answered, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst. ✦ ³⁶But as I stated, you have seen Me and still you do not believe. ✦ ³⁷Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away. ✦ ³⁸For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me. ✦ ³⁹And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. ✦ ⁴⁰For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” ✦ ⁴¹At this, the Jews began to grumble about Jesus because He had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ✦ ⁴²They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’” ✦ ⁴³“Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus replied. ✦ ⁴⁴“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. ✦ ⁴⁵It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me— ✦ ⁴⁶not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father. ✦ ⁴⁷Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life. ✦ ⁴⁸I am the bread of life. ✦ ⁴⁹Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. ✦ ⁵⁰This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that anyone may eat of it and not die. ✦ ⁵¹I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And this bread, which I will give for the life of the world, is My flesh.” ✦ ⁵²At this, the Jews began to argue among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” ✦ 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. ✦ ⁵⁴Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. ✦ ⁵⁵For My flesh is real food, and My blood is real drink. ✦ ⁵⁶Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. ✦ ⁵⁷Just as the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on Me will live because of Me. ✦ ⁵⁸This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your fathers, who ate the manna and died, the one who eats this bread will live forever.” ✦ ⁵⁹Jesus said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. ✦ ⁶⁰On hearing it, many of His disciples said, “This is a difficult teaching. Who can accept it?” ✦ ⁶¹Aware that His disciples were grumbling about this teaching, Jesus asked them, “Does this offend you? ✦ ⁶²Then what will happen if you see the Son of Man ascend to where He was before? ✦ ⁶³The Spirit gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. ✦ 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.) ✦ ⁶⁵Then Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to Me unless the Father has granted it to him.” ✦ ⁶⁶From that time on many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. ✦ ⁶⁷So Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?” ✦ ⁶⁸Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. ✦ ⁶⁹We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.” ✦ ⁷⁰Jesus answered them, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ✦ ⁷¹He was speaking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. For although Judas was one of the Twelve, he was later to betray Jesus. ✦

Tap any verse for its study page. Underlined terms mark a concept, person, or place; ✦ marks verses with cross-references.

In this chapter

Concept The Bread of Life

Where this chapter connects

John 6 ·118 John 3 ·26 John 5 ·16 John 8 ·16 John 1 ·15 John 17 ·15 Mark 6 ·15 Matt 14 ·14

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 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.

Resources, by level

Lay

★ Start hereDocumentaryFollowing the MessiahAppian Media · Free · evangelical
A free, beautifully shot 10-part series walking the lands of Jesus' life — Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more.
★ Start hereVideoBibleProject — video overviews & word studiesBibleProject · 5–10 min · Free · evangelical
Free animated overviews of every book of the Bible, plus themes and Hebrew/Greek word studies — the best visual on-ramp to any book. (Biblical-theology, broadly evangelical, not distinctly Reformed.)
★ Start hereAudioThrough the WordThrough the Word · ~10 min/chapter · Free · evangelical
A clear ~10-minute audio teaching for every one of the Bible's 1,189 chapters — the most systematic free way to study chapter by chapter.
DocumentaryHolyLandSiteHolyLandSite · Free · evangelical
Free on-location videos tying biblical events to the actual sites in Israel — the Temple Mount, Galilee, Capernaum, and more.
ApologeticsCold-Case Christianity (J. Warner Wallace)J. Warner Wallace · Free · evangelical
A cold-case homicide detective examines the Gospels' reliability — forensic faith for skeptics and seekers.

Pastoral

★ Start hereSermonMLJ Trust — Martyn Lloyd-Jones sermonsMartyn Lloyd-Jones · Free · reformed
1,600+ free sermons from "the Doctor," including landmark verse-by-verse series (Romans, John, Ephesians, Acts) — a gold standard of expository preaching.
SermonGrace to You — John MacArthurJohn MacArthur · Free · reformed
Decades of careful verse-by-verse expository sermons, especially through the New Testament. (MacArthur, d. 2025; archive remains free.)
SermonGospel in Life — Tim KellerTim Keller · Free · reformed
Tim Keller's gospel-centered preaching — sermons stream free (the complete downloadable archive is paid).
ArticleRecommended NT commentaries (9Marks / Schreiner)Thomas R. Schreiner · Free · reformed
A trusted pastor-oriented guide to the best commentary on each New Testament book.
SermonChuck Smith — C2000 SeriesChuck Smith · Free · evangelical
Free verse-by-verse audio through the entire Bible from the founder of Calvary Chapel.
VideoVerse By Verse Ministry InternationalVerse By Verse Ministry Int'l · Free · evangelical
In-depth, verse-by-verse expository teaching book-by-book — strong for working straight through a whole New Testament book.
VideoLook at the Book — John PiperJohn Piper · Free · reformed
Watch Piper trace the logic of a passage phrase by phrase on screen — a model of close reading.

Seminary

★ Start hereApologeticsGary Habermas — the resurrectionGary Habermas · Free · evangelical
130+ free videos and lectures from the scholar behind the "minimal facts" method — the start-here on the historical evidence for the resurrection. (Only his books are paid.)
★ Start hereCommentaryThe Gospel According to John (Pillar NT Commentary)D. A. Carson · ~720 pp · Paid · reformed
The go-to mid-level exegetical commentary on John — rigorous and readable.

Commentaries & study tools

VideoBibleProject — John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
VideoWatch teaching on John 6YouTube · Lay · Free
Sermons and chapter teaching from across YouTube.
CommentaryEnduring Word — John 6David Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical
Readable, verse-by-verse exposition of the whole chapter.
CommentaryMatthew Henry on JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
ReferenceBlue Letter Bible — John 6Blue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free
Interlinear, lexicon, and study tools across the chapter.

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