Sunday Messages

John 6

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

1After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 2A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. 3Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. 4(It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.

7Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money*6:7 Greek Two hundred denarii would not be enough. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage. to feed them!”

8Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. 9“There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”

10“Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. 12After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

14When the people saw him*6:14a Some manuscripts read Jesus. do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”*6:14b See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6. 15When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.

Jesus Walks on Water

16That evening Jesus’ disciples went down to the shore to wait for him. 17But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. 18Soon a gale swept down upon them, and the sea grew very rough. 19They had rowed three or four miles*6:19 Greek 25 or 30 stadia [4.6 or 5.5 kilometers]. when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, 20but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid. I am here!*6:20 Or The ‘I Am’ is here; Greek reads I am. See Exod 3:14.” 21Then they were eager to let him in the boat, and immediately they arrived at their destination!

Jesus, the Bread of Life

22The 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. 23Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. 24So 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.