41
At this, because he said, "I am the Bread that came down from heaven," the Jews started arguing over him:
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"Isn't this the son of Joseph? Don't we know his father? Don't we know his mother? How can he now say, 'I came down out of heaven' and expect anyone to believe him?"
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Jesus said, "Don't bicker among yourselves over me.
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You're not in charge here. The Father who sent me is in charge. He draws people to me - that's the only way you'll ever come. Only then do I do my work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End.
45
This is what the prophets meant when they wrote, 'And then they will all be personally taught by God.' Anyone who has spent any time at all listening to the Father, really listening and therefore learning, comes to me to be taught personally - to see it with his own eyes, hear it with his own ears, from me, since I have it firsthand from the Father.
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No one has seen the Father except the One who has his Being alongside the Father - and you can see me.
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"I'm telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life.
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I am the Bread of Life.
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Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died.
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But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever.
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I am the Bread - living Bread! - who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live - and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self."