²² The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. ²³ Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. ²⁴ So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. ²⁵ They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. ²⁷ But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

²⁸ They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

²⁹ Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

³⁰ They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? ³¹ After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

³² Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. ³³ The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”

³⁵ Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. ³⁷ However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. ³⁹ And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

⁴¹ Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said. ⁴⁴ For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me, and at the last day I will raise them up. ⁴⁵ As it is written in the Scriptures,^[i] ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. ⁴⁶ (Not that anyone has ever seen the Father; only I, who was sent from God, have seen him.)

⁴⁷ “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ Yes, I am the bread of life! ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. ⁵⁰ Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”

⁵² Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.

⁵³ So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. ⁵⁴ But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷ I live because of the living Father who sent me; in the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever.”

⁵⁹ He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

⁶⁰ Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”

⁶¹ Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? ⁶³ The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁴ But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and he knew who would betray him.) ⁶⁵ Then he said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.”

⁶⁶ At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. ⁶⁷ Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?”

⁶⁸ Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. ⁶⁹ We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

⁷⁰ Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, but one is a devil.” ⁷¹ He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would later betray him.

John 6:22-71

Dear God, this is a long passage, but it’s too easy to take one or two verses out of context so I didn’t want to not look at all of it together. The verse of the day from Bible Gateway was just verse 29, but since this all seems to be part of one scene on one day I wanted to link it all together.

I almost feel like I need to outline this to really see what John’s trying to communicate to us through his telling of this story:

• It’s the day after walking on water the night before.
• The crowd is surprised to see Jesus gone and they go looking for him. I wonder how big that crowd was.
• They found him and John tells us they explicitly asked him to solve the mystery of how he ended up there without a boat.
• Jesus doesn’t answer. He changes the subject and starts to challenge them. Was he frustrated with them? I think so. What frustrated him? Was it that they were still only wanting to use him for themselves. He tells them they are just wanting a sign and fun miracles. Jesus claims to have your seal of approval, and says they need to seek the eternal life that he can give.
• They change it back to works and miracles. I think they are saying they would love to be able to do some miracles. That would be cool and fun.
• Here is the verse of the day (verse 29). Jesus tells them to let go of the flash and glory of being able to do cool things and simply believe in him.
• They hold onto the miracles and the show. They want to see a sign so they can believe in him. I have to admit, I would not have believed in Jesus if I had been there. Not just because he told me to.
• They want him to be like Moses. At that level. That’s the kind of liberator they are looking for. Maybe he can do what Moses did and bring on some food.
• Jesus deflects the glory from Moses and even himself to you, Father.
• They still want bread.
• Jesus challenges them a little more by claiming to have come to them directly from you.
• They aren’t buying it.
• Here’s a fun one that causes controversy even to this day. From Jesus: “No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.” (NASB1995) Predestination? I’m not going there today. Your ways are too complicated for me to fully understand.
• And now the divisive issue that permeates the church even to this day. The idea of us eating Jesus’s flesh. The living bread. Again, I have my thoughts on this, and people I love and respect have other thoughts. I’m going to trust you with our disagreements and simply move on and love you.
• Most of the crowd leaves. He finally culled the herd a little. It’s interesting that you don’t seem to want to have every last one of us in the fold. I think you want each of us as individuals. You love us all. But it’s almost like hiring someone to work for me. I love each person, but I can’t have them all work for me. There are some that I know would be a bad fit for our team and our work. Is it the same for you? You can’t have just anyone in the fold? You need each one to be bought in and working together?
• Jesus looks at who’s left (the twelve) and asks if they are in.
• Peter looks beyond the tricks and miracles and simply says, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” (NASB1995)
• Jesus affirms his selection of them including Judas, indicating he knew all along what Judas would do.

Father, I am grateful for the successes you give me in life, but I know they are for your glory and not mine. If you are blessing me with good things it is so I can give them away and do good for others. I don’t think your desire for me to be your ambassador and hands and feet in the world takes a break. You just want me to love and worship you. To love and share you with others. Help me to be your love to others today.

I pray this in Jesus and with your Holy Spirit,

Amen