I Am the Bread of Life
22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only
1one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.
23
Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord
2had given thanks.
24
3So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and
4went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
25
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him,
5“Rabbi, when did you come here? ”
26
Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
6you are seeking me, not because you saw
7signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
27
8Do not work for the food that perishes, but for
9the food that endures to eternal life, which
10the Son of Man will give to you. For on
11him God the Father has
12set his seal. ”
28
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing
13the works of God? ”
29
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God,
14that you believe in him whom
15he has sent. ”
30
So they said to him,
16“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
31
17Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written,
18‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat. ’”
32
Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33
For the bread of God is
19he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. ”
34
They said to him,
20“Sir, give us this bread always. ”
35
Jesus said to them,
21“I am the bread of life;
22whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
36
But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
37
23All that
24the Father gives me will come to me, and
25whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
38
For
26I have come down from heaven, not to do
27my own will but
28the will of him
29who sent me.
39
And
30this is the will of him who sent me,
31that I should lose nothing of
32all that he has given me, but
33raise it up on the last day.
40
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who
34looks on the Son and
35believes in him
36should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. ”
41
So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said,
37“I am the bread that came down from heaven. ”
42
They said,
38“Is not this Jesus,
39the son of Joseph, whose father and mother
40we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’? ”
43
Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves.
44
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me
41draws him. And
42I will raise him up on the last day.
45
It is written in the Prophets,
43‘And they will all be
44taught by God. ’
45Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—
46
46not that anyone has seen the Father except
47he who is from God; he
48has seen the Father.
47
Truly, truly, I say to you,
49whoever believes has eternal life.
48
50I am the bread of life.
49
51Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and
52they died.
50
53This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it
54and not die.
51
I am the living bread
55that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give
56for the life of the world is
57my flesh. ”
52
The Jews then
58disputed among themselves, saying,
59“How can this man give us his flesh to eat? ”
53
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of
60the Son of Man and drink his blood, you
61have no life in you.
54
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood
62has eternal life, and
63I will raise him up on the last day.
55
For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.
56
Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood
64abides in me, and I in him.
57
As
65the living Father
66sent me, and
67I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
58
68This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever. ”
59
Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught
69at Capernaum.
The Words of Eternal Life
60 70When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it? ”
61
But Jesus,
71knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this?
62
Then what if you were to see
72the Son of Man
73ascending to
74where he was before?
63
75It is the Spirit who gives life;
76the flesh is no help at all.
77The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
64
But
78there are some of you who do not believe. ”(For Jesus
79knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and
80who it was who would betray him. )
65
And he said, “This is why I told you
81that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father. ”
66
82After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
67
So Jesus said to
83the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well? ”
68
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have
84the words of eternal life,
69
and
85we have believed, and have come to know, that
86you are
87the Holy One of God. ”
70
Jesus answered them,
88“Did I not choose you,
89the Twelve? And yet one of you is
90a devil. ”
71
He spoke of Judas
91the son of Simon Iscariot, for
92he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him.