John 6 explained: The Bread That Gives Life

Five thousand fed (vv. 1-15)

With Passover near, the yearly feast remembering Israel's escape from Egypt, Jesus feeds about five thousand men from one boy's five barley loaves (the cheap bread of poor people) and two fish, and twelve baskets of leftovers are gathered. The crowd calls him "the Prophet" (v. 14), probably meaning the prophet like Moses promised in Deuteronomy, and tries to force him to be their king, so he slips away alone.

Walking on the water (vv. 16-21)

At night on rough water, the disciples see Jesus walking toward their boat and are terrified until he tells them it is him and not to be afraid (v. 20). In Greek his words are literally "I am," and many readers hear an echo of God, whom the Old Testament describes as treading on the waves of the sea (Job 9:8).

Food that lasts (vv. 22-34)

The crowd tracks him to Capernaum, and he tells them they came for another free meal; what God asks of them, he says, is to trust the one God sent (v. 29). They want a sign like the manna, the bread God gave Israel in the desert, and he answers that his Father, not Moses, gave that bread, and that the Father now gives the real bread from heaven, which brings life to the world (vv. 32-33).

"I am the bread of life" (vv. 35-51)

Jesus says he is that bread: whoever comes to him and trusts him will never go hungry, and he will raise them up on the last day (vv. 35-40). His words that no one comes unless the Father "draws" them (v. 44) are read by Reformed Protestants as God choosing who will believe, and by Catholic, Orthodox and many other Protestant Christians as God reaching out to all people, who stay free to refuse.

Eating his flesh and blood (vv. 52-59)

Teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, he goes further: unless people eat his flesh and drink his blood they have no life (v. 53), words many read as pointing to his coming death "for the life of the world" (v. 51). His listeners argue over how anyone could eat his flesh (v. 52), and Christians have long debated how these words relate to Communion, the shared meal of bread and wine.

Many leave, Peter stays (vv. 60-71)

Many followers find this too hard to accept and leave for good, even after Jesus says his words are about spirit and life (v. 63). When he asks the Twelve if they will go too, Peter answers that there is no one else to go to, because Jesus has the words of eternal life and is the Holy One of God (vv. 68-69). Yet Jesus says one of them is "a devil," meaning Judas, who would later betray him.

Key verse: John 6:35

Where Christians differ

Catholic and Orthodox Christians read the call to eat his flesh and drink his blood (vv. 53-56) as speaking directly of Communion, where they believe Christ is truly received, while many Protestants, including classic Lutheran and Reformed teaching, read it mainly as receiving Christ by faith rather than as a description of the sacrament itself.

Something to think about

What keeps you committed to a person or an idea once it stops being easy and starts asking hard things of you?