What does John 6:4 mean?

This verse provides a clue regarding the timeline of chapters 5, 6, and 7. Passover is a celebration held close to April, while chapter 7's Feast of Tabernacles is held closer to October. This places events of chapter 6 about six months prior to those of chapter 7. Also based on New Testament context, this Passover would have been the year prior to Jesus' crucifixion.

One reason for Jesus' time here in Galilee is the very fact of His growing popularity. The end of chapter 5 saw Jesus disputing with religious leaders in Jerusalem over His Sabbath-day healing at the Pool of Bethesda. Other verses mention the tension between Christ and the Jewish priests. At this stage of Jesus' ministry, it is safer and wiser to mostly stay away from Jerusalem.

Jesus is about to perform a major miracle, which makes the reference to Passover especially important. The Passover celebration means the Jewish people's remembrance of their rescue from slavery in Egypt. There is a heavy focus on food, especially unleavened bread, in these Passover rites. Over the course of this chapter, Jesus will miraculously provide a meal of bread for these almost-exclusively Jewish people. They would have been especially sensitive to themes of divine intervention and rescue from oppression.

At the same time, Jesus' later explanation of His role as the Bread of Life would have run directly counter to these Jewish interpretations of Passover. This would have contributed to their offense at His teaching, causing most to abandon Him (John 6:66).