Gospel of John - Chapter 6

Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John contains the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Jesus feeds over 5,000 people with bread and fish but offers them something far more valuable - The Bread of Life.

Many times in life we seek the wrong bread, the physical bread that sustains our physical lives - a life that ends, when we should seek a life that never ends with the Bread of Life. We need to seek Jesus Christ who is the Bread of Life who gives us eternal life by the sacrifice of himself for us.

Your learning comes from reading and studying the Bible. After you have read the Scripture passage below from the Gospel of John, answer the following questions. It's a good idea to do them every day, so we offer to email the questions to you every day - just sign up below.

1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"

10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20 But he said to them, "It is I; don't be afraid." 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" 26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." 30 So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

32 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

35 Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.

39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."

41 At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"

43 "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.

50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

53 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. 60 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"

61 Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64 Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. 67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."

70 Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

A seventh email will allow you to compare your answers and take you to Chapter 7.

1. How do you think Philip did when Jesus tested him as provided in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6 verse 6?

2. What miracle had Philip already seen Jesus perform in the Gospel of John that should have helped him believe that Jesus could feed the 5,000?

3. What do we know of Philip from the following verses:

• Matt 10:3
• John 1:44
• John 1:45
• John 14:8
• Acts 1:1-13

DAY TWO

1. Why did Jesus feed the 5,000?

2. From the Gospel of John, Chapter 6 verses 26, 27, 30, 33, 34 and 35, what is the crowd persistently seeking from Jesus and what does Jesus keep offering instead?

3. From the following verses in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6 characterize the attitudes of those who followed Jesus.

Use the phrase “They were ______” and add 1 word to describe their attitude (e.g They were curious).

Describe the attitudes from:

• verse 2
• verses 14-15
• verses 26-27
• verses 28-31
• verse 34
• verses 41-42
• verse 52

DAY THREE

1. What is the recurring idea in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6 verses 37 and 39?

2. Which of the verses from the Gospel of John, Chapter 6 verses 35 to 59 promote the idea of eternal life for the believer?

3. The incident of Jesus walking on water occurs here in the Gospel of John but also occurs in two other Gospels. What do we learn of the incident of Jesus walking on water from Matthew Chapter 14, verses 22 - 33 and Mark Chapter 6, verses 47-52?

DAY FOUR

1. Why were the Apostles terrified when they saw Jesus walking on the water?

2. Compare the manna of Moses time to the Bread of Life that Jesus offered in the Gospel of John. How are they similar? How are they different?

3. List the grumblings or reasons for the crowds objections to Jesus' teachings in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6 verses 30, 41 and 61.

DAY FIVE

1. Why do you think the crowd wanted to make Jesus king as provided in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6 verse 14? What is the irony in this?

2. What do we learn about God the Father from the following verses in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6:

• 37
• 39-40
• 45
• 46
• 57

3. Why do you think Jesus asked the question “Have I not chosen you” to the 12 disciples at the end of the Gospel of John, Chapter 6?

DAY SIX

1. Why did many of Jesus’ disciples leave him after his teaching in the Synagogue at Capernaum as shown in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, verse 66?

Compare Your Answers for the Gospel of John Chapter 6