Shortly after his miraculous feeding of the five thousand, Jesus was being followed everywhere by large crowds.  But in this passage, he manages to confuse and startle them quite a bit.

Don't just skim this passage; take a little time with it and see if you can decipher some of the levels of meaning.  (Some particularly interesting bits are highlighted in bold.)

John 6:25-64 (NIV)

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

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.  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."

Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?  What will you do?  Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

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 true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

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.  But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.  All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.  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.  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."

At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."  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'?"

"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered.  "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.  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.  No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.  I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.  But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die.  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."

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

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.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.  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.  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."  He said this while teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching.  Who can accept it?"

Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you?  What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before!  The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.  The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.  Yet there are some of you who do not believe."

 

A few questions to consider from this passage:

1. Jesus says that the crowds were looking for him because "you ate the loaves and had your fill."  What do you think he means?  Why do you think that meeting people's physical needs was such an important part of Jesus' ministry?

2. In this passage, Jesus says what "the work of God" is.  Does his statement surprise you?  If someone had asked you to define "the work of God," would you have defined it differently?

3. Notice that Jesus says, "whoever comes to me I will never drive away."  Are there times you've been afraid that Jesus might drive you away?  (To me, there's a lot of security in this verse!)

4. Jesus repeatedly describes himself as "the bread of life" in this passage, and suggests that only those who eat his body have true life in them.  What might this mean?  Is it only a reference to the eucharist (or "Lord's supper") practiced in churches today, or is there another meaning to Jesus' words?

5. Notice the reaction of the disciples at the end of this passage.  Do you think they understood Jesus' meaning?  (Have you ever found a Bible passage to be "a hard teaching" or even offensive?  Do you think you understood it?)  Why do you think Jesus responded to them the way he did?