What does John 6:23 mean?
Crowds were already following Jesus because of His healing miracles (John 6:2). Now, thanks to His public feeding of thousands (John 6:9–14), even more have come to seek Him out. To some extent, this was the purpose behind the supernatural works Jesus performed. These are signs, according to John, which are meant to explain some message or convey some sort of meaning. The people are right to respond, but the upcoming verses will show that their motivations are wrong. Their real interest is in free food, and entertainment, not spiritual truth (John 6:26).This verse also makes a specific reference to Jesus giving thanks to God prior to His miracle (John 6:11). At least for John, the meaning of that miracle is not lost: it is God's power, not ours, which gets results. Jesus' feeding of more than five thousand people was accomplished by appealing to God's will, and God's provision, before using human efforts to solve the problem. Those earthly efforts are still necessary. But they're secondary. For John, the writer of this gospel, the fact that Jesus appealed to heaven prior to the miracle is a central fact.