John's Story (23 page)

⁴¹
“I do not receive honor from men.
⁴²
But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.
⁴³
I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.
⁴⁴
How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that
comes
from the only God?
⁴⁵
Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is
one
who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust.
⁴⁶
For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.
⁴⁷
But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

Feeding the Five Thousand

6
After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is
the Sea
of Tiberias.
²
Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.
³
And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.

⁴
Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.
⁵
Then Jesus lifted up
His
eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”
⁶
But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.

⁷
Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”

⁸
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,
⁹
“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”

¹⁰
Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
¹¹
And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed
them
to the disciples, and the disciples
a
to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
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 the 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 king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

¹⁶
Now 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 about three or four miles,
a
they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.
²⁰
But He said to them, “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, except that one which His disciples had entered,
a
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, seeking 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.
²⁷
Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because 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, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

³⁰
Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?
³¹
Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written,
‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
”
a

³²
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father 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
Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

³⁵
And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
³⁶
But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
³⁷
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.
³⁸
For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
³⁹
This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.
⁴⁰
And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that 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 then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.”
⁴²
And they said, “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, “Do not murmur among yourselves.
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,
‘And they shall all be taught by God.’
a
Therefore everyone who has heard and learned
b
from the Father comes to Me.
⁴⁶
Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.
⁴⁷
Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me
a
has everlasting life.
⁴⁸
I am the bread of life.
⁴⁹
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
⁵⁰
This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.
⁵¹
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.”

⁵²
The Jews therefore quarreled 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 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 food indeed,
a
and My blood is drink indeed.
⁵⁶
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
⁵⁷
As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.
⁵⁸
This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as 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

⁶⁰
Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard
this,
said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it?”

⁶¹
When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, “Does this offend you?
⁶²
What
then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?
⁶³
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and
they
are life.
⁶⁴
But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.
⁶⁵
And He said, “Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father.”

⁶⁶
From that
time
many of His disciples went 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 the words of eternal life.
⁶⁹
Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
a

⁷⁰
Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?”
⁷¹
He spoke of Judas Iscariot,
the son
of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

Jesus’ Brothers Disbelieve

7
After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews
a
sought to kill Him.
²
Now the Jews’ Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.
³
His brothers therefore said to Him, “Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.
⁴
For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.”
⁵
For even His brothers did not believe in Him.

⁶
Then Jesus said to them, “My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.
⁷
The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.
⁸
You go up to this feast. I am not yet
a
going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come.”
⁹
When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

The Heavenly Scholar

¹⁰
But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.
¹¹
Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, “Where is He?”
¹²
And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him. Some said, “He is good”; others said, “No, on the contrary, He deceives the people.”
¹³
However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

¹⁴
Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.
¹⁵
And the Jews marveled, saying, “How does this Man know letters, having never studied?”

¹⁶
Jesus
a
answered them and said, “My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.
¹⁷
If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or
whether
I speak on My own
authority.
¹⁸
He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.
¹⁹
Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law? Why do you seek to kill Me?”

²⁰
The people answered and said, “You have a demon. Who is seeking to kill You?”

²¹
Jesus answered and said to them, “I did one work, and you all marvel.
²²
Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.
²³
If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?
²⁴
Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”

Could This Be the Christ?

²⁵
Now some of them from Jerusalem said, “Is this not He whom they seek to kill?
²⁶
But look! He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him. Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly
a
the Christ?
²⁷
However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from.”

²⁸
Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, “You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.
²⁹
But
a
I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me.”