12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”
13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly athe Prophet who is to come into the world.”
Jesus Walks on the Sea
15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him aking, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.
16aNow when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea,
17 got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.
18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.
19 So when they had rowed about1 three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were aafraid.
20 But He said to them, a“It is I; do not be afraid.”
21 Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
The Bread from Heaven
22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except1 that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone—
23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—
24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, aseeking Jesus.
25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
26 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.
27aDo not labor for the food which perishes, but bfor the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, cbecause God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered and said to them, a“This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
30 Therefore they said to Him, a“What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?
31aOur fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, b‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but aMy Father 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.”
34aThen they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 And Jesus said to them, a“I am the bread of life. bHe who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never cthirst.
36aBut I said to you that you have seen Me and yet bdo not believe.
37aAll that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and bthe one who comes to Me I will1by no means cast out.
38For I have come down from heaven, anot to do My own will, bbut the will of Him who sent Me.
39This is the will of the Father who sent Me, athat of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
40And this is the will of Him who sent Me, athat everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
Rejected by His Own
41 The Jews then1 complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.”
42 And they said, a“Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them,1“Do not murmur among yourselves.
44aNo one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me bdraws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
45It is written in the prophets, a‘And they shall all be taught by God.’bTherefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
46aNot that anyone has seen the Father, bexcept He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
47Most assuredly, I say to you, ahe who believes in Me has everlasting life.
49aYour fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50aThis is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.
51I am the living bread awhich came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and bthe bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
52 The Jews therefore aquarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”
53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless ayou eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.
54aWhoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is2drink indeed.
56He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood aabides in Me, and I in him.
57As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.
58aThis is the bread which came down from heaven—not bas your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
Many Disciples Turn Away
60aTherefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a1 hard saying; who can understand it?”
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples1 complained about this, He said to them, “Does this2offend you?
62aWhat then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?
63aIt is the Spirit who gives life; the bflesh profits nothing. The cwords that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
64But athere are some of you who do not believe.” For bJesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
65 And He said, “Therefore aI have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”
66aFrom that time many of His disciples went1 back and walked with Him no more.
67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”
68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have athe words of eternal life.
69aAlso we have come to believe and know that You are the1 Christ, the Son of the living God.”
70 Jesus answered them, a“Did I not choose you, the twelve, band one of you is a devil?”
71 He spoke of aJudas Iscariot, theson of Simon, for it was he who would bbetray Him, being one of the twelve.
On the next day, Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum, saying, "I am the Bread of Life" (John 6:32, 35, 48). Though willing to receive the physical bread, many would not receive the living Bread—Jesus Christ who came down from heaven. Thus, the miracle of feeding the multitude was actually a sermon with visual aids.
The main lesson of the miracle is that Christ is the Bread of Life to a dying humanity, and in Him, there is enough to satisfy the entire world. Only He can satisfy the spiritual hunger in mankind. Jesus says, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world. . . . Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:51, 53). The Bread that is Jesus gives life in the present (John 6:35, 47) and eternal life in the future (John 6:27, 40).
The tragedy is that people waste time and money on "that which is not bread" (Isaiah 55:1-7). Waste is an enemy of miraculous generosity, so great care was taken to collect the leftovers, though we are not told how they were used. The lesson is that overabundance does not justify waste.
We also learn that Christ asks that we give Him all that we have and allow Him to use it as He sees fit. When we do this, we never lose, always ending up with more blessings than when we started.
Christ's miracle of feeding the five thousand is unique in that it is the only one that all four gospel writers mention (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14). It illustrates Jesus' authority over nature and His divine intervention on behalf of others, showing that He is concerned about both humans' physical and spiritual needs.
Jesus is moved with compassion at the sight of thousands of people who had made a great effort to hear His message of hope. Although He is tired after a long day, He embraces the opportunity to teach them and heal the sick among them. As evening descends, His disciples suggest that the hungry crowd be disbanded to seek necessary food from the surrounding villages, but Jesus has something else in mind.
To test Phillip's faith, He asks him how the people could be fed. Not only does Philip learn a lesson of faith, but all of the disciples learn that true faith must rely on divine resources, not physical and material ones. Phillip begins to tally all of the meager supplies the disciples had among them, and somewhat stymied, says, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them." One denari was a day's wage at the time.
Then Andrew tells Jesus, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish." Yet, because of their lack of faith, the disciples cannot see any possibility of feeding the great multitude with their scarce funds and the scanty food on hand. However, faith enables us to see that with the omnipotent God, all things are possible.
This miracle is a magnificent act of creative power. No amount of human reasoning can reduce this miracle to a natural phenomenon. Indeed, complete understanding of miracles is beyond human capability to understand. By an act of His own creative power, Jesus revealed proof of His deity to thousands.
At first, Jesus' miracle of feeding the 4,000 (Matthew 15:32-39; Mark 8:1-10) may seem to be the same as the one He performed for 5,000 (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15). They do have a few similarities: Jesus multiplies loaves and fish; a multitude is fed; the disciples are skeptical; and they collect leftovers.
However, some distinct differences nullify any notion that they are the same: The crowds are of different sizes; the disciples speak first in the first miracle, but Jesus does in the second; they occur in discrete locations; they follow different events; the numbers of loaves and fish differ; the numbers of baskets differ; the baskets themselves are different; and finally, Jesus spends one day with the 5,000, but three with the 4,000.
Jesus Himself removes any doubt by referring to them as two different miracles. He mentions the different numbers of people present at the two events, the different numbers of baskets of fragments gathered afterward, and the different sizes of the baskets (Matthew 16:9-10; Mark 8:19-21).
Just prior to this miracle (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14), the people anticipated where Jesus was headed. By walking along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, the crowds joined Him, and He, feeling compassion, healed their sick. When evening came, the disciples sought to send the crowds away because supplies in that remote place were inadequate to feed so many. Despite having only five loaves of bread and two fish at hand, Jesus desired to give them something to eat, and with just these, He performed an astounding miracle. The bread and fish continually multiplied so that everyone was satisfied—so much that twelve basketfuls of broken pieces were left over.
This took place at Bethsaida just before the Passover (John 6:4). Jesus primarily intended this miracle to teach the disciples, although a witness of the Son of God's power had also been impressed upon the multitude. In it, Jesus illustrated the kind of ministry His disciples would conduct after His departure: feeding people with spiritual food, and their source would be Christ Himself. They would have to replenish their supply of spiritual food continually by maintaining a close relationship with Him, but they would be responsible for feeding their congregations.
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