Jesus is the bread that gives us life with God
25 The people found Jesus on the other side of the lake. They asked him, ‘Teacher, when did you arrive here?’ 26 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you this: You saw me do miracles that show God's power. But you are not looking for me because of that. No, you are looking for me because you ate the loaves. I gave you all the food that you needed. 27 Do not work only for that kind of food. It soon becomes spoiled. Instead, work to get the food that continues for ever. That kind of food gives you life with God. The Son of Man will give this food to you. God, the Father, has given the Son authority to do this.’
28 Then the people asked him, ‘How can we do the work that God wants us to do?’ 29 Jesus answered, ‘You should believe in the one that God has sent to you. That is the work that God wants you to do.’ 30 So then the people asked him, ‘What miracle will you do? Do one that shows that God has sent you. If we see that, we will believe in you. What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness. We know that it says in the Bible, “God gave bread to them from heaven for them to eat.” ’
32 Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you this: It was not Moses who gave bread to you from heaven. No. It is my Father who gives to you the true bread from heaven. 33 God's bread is the one who comes down from heaven. He is the one who gives life to people in the world.’ 34 So they said to him, ‘Sir, please give this bread to us now and always.’
35 Then Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread that gives life to people. Anyone who comes to me will never be hungry. Anyone who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 You have seen me, but still you do not believe in me. I have told you that before. 37 Everyone that the Father gives to me will come to me. When anyone comes to me, I will never send that person away. 38 I have not come down from heaven to do what I myself choose to do. No, my Father has sent me. I have come to do what he wants me to do. 39 He has sent me. He does not want me to lose any of the people that he has given to me. Not even one of them. He wants me to raise all of them up to life on the last day. 40 These are the people who will have life for ever with God: everyone who sees the Son and believes in him. I will raise them all up on the last day. That is what my Father wants.’
41 Jesus had said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ When he said this, the Jewish leaders there did not like it. So they started to say bad things about Jesus. 42 They said, ‘This is Jesus, the son of Joseph. We know his father and his mother. He should not say that he came down from heaven.’
43 Jesus answered, ‘Stop saying these bad things about me to each other. 44 The Father has sent me. Nobody can come to me unless the Father brings them to me. I will raise those people up on the last day, so that they have life for ever. 45 The prophets wrote in the Bible, “God will teach all the people.” Everyone who hears the Father's message and learns from him will come to me. 46 I came from God and I am the only one who has seen the Father. Nobody else has seen him. 47 I tell you this: The person who believes my message has life for ever. 48 I am the bread that causes you to live. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, but they died. 50 This bread that comes down from heaven is different. Anyone who eats this bread will not die. 51 I am the bread that gives life to people. This bread came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live for ever. The bread that I will give is my own body. I will give it so that all people in the world may have life with God.’
52 Then the Jewish leaders became angry and they argued with each other even more. They said, ‘This man cannot give his body to us so that we can eat it!’ 53 Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you this: You must eat the body of the Son of Man and you must drink his blood. Unless you do those things, you do not have true life. 54 Every person needs to eat my body and they need to drink my blood. If they do those things, they have life for ever with God. I will raise them up on the last day. 55 My body is the true food and my blood is the true drink. 56 Anyone who eats my body and drinks my blood lives in me. And I live in them. 57 The Father, who has life, sent me. I live because of him. In the same way, anyone who takes me as their food will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna that your ancestors ate. They ate it but they died. But the person who eats this bread will live for ever.’
59 Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the Jewish meeting place at Capernaum.
