John 6:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"

NIV: After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."

NASB: Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, 'This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.'

CSB: When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world."

NLT: When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, 'Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!'

KJV: Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

NKJV: Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Even during Jesus' earthly ministry, Deuteronomy 18:15 was interpreted to predict that a great leader like Moses would come to the people of Israel (John 1:19–21). Jesus has attracted a large crowd due to His miraculous healings (John 6:2). In another Old Testament passage, the prophet Elisha miraculously feeds a hundred men with twenty small barley loaves, with food to spare (2 Kings 4:42–44). The miracle just performed by Jesus far surpasses that (John 6:9–13). As a result, many in the crowd feel Jesus is this prophetic figure they have been waiting for: the prophet-leader promised by Moses.

On one hand, the people's reaction to Jesus' miracle is appropriate. This verse refers to the event as a "sign," from the Greek term sēmeion, referring to an event bearing some specific meaning or message. The gospel of John features seven of these miraculous signs, intended to prove that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be: God incarnate.

Unfortunately, the people's response to Christ's latest miracle is not entirely correct. The following day, Jesus will attempt to explain the purpose of His ministry. When told that bread and miracles are not the point of His mission, most of the crowd will abandon Jesus. This proves that most of their attraction to Jesus is based on spectacle and selfishness, not a genuine interest in spiritual truth (John 6:26, 66).

This is the pinnacle of Jesus' worldly popularity (John 6:15). Jesus rejects the crowd's automatic desire to proclaim Him as the King of Israel. Jesus is passionately committed to God's divine timetable (John 2:4; 7:6; 16:25; Matthew 26:18), and the moment to openly declare Himself King has not yet arrived (John 12:12–15). The overnight miracle on the Sea of Galilee means these people will need to find Him in Capernaum the following day. There, this spike of public enthusiasm will shrink as Jesus clarifies His message.

John 6:1–15 describes the fourth of the gospel's seven ''signs'' of Christ's divinity. This is the only miracle recorded in all four of the gospel accounts. When the crowd complains of hunger, the disciples each react in unique ways. Starting with only a tiny meal of bread and fish, Jesus miraculously divides the food, filling everyone, and leaving more left over than they had to begin with. The people are astounded and immediately react by proclaiming Jesus as ''the Prophet'' who has been promised. Jesus, however, is not yet ready to be publicly announced. He also knows the true motivations of this crowd and will attempt to explain the real importance of the miracle to them the following day.

In chapter 6, Jesus feeds thousands of people who had been following Him. He does this by miraculously dividing the contents of a small meal, leaving more left over than He had to begin with. At first, the crowd is amazed and they enthusiastically praise Jesus. After sending the disciples across the Sea of Galilee and rescuing them from a storm by walking on the water, Jesus once again addresses the crowd. This time, He emphasizes the spiritual lesson behind His prior miracle. In response, most of those who had been praising Jesus turn away in disappointment.

John chapter 6 occurs some months after the events of chapter 5, bringing the narrative to about one year prior to Jesus' crucifixion. As with the rest of the gospel of John, the purpose is not to repeat information from the other three Gospels, but to focus on Jesus' status as God incarnate. This chapter continues to expand the list of Jesus' miraculous signs and the witnesses to His divine nature. Here, Jesus also gives the first of seven ''I am'' statements found in this gospel. Chapter 7 will once again skip ahead to a major public step in Jesus' path to the cross.

The disciple John wrote the gospel of John decades after the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke were written. The author assumes that a reader is already familiar with the content of these other works. So, John presents a different perspective, with a greater emphasis on meaning. John uses seven miracles—which he calls "signs"— to prove that Jesus is, in fact, God incarnate. Some of the most well-known verses in the Bible are found here. None is more famous than the one-sentence summary of the gospel found in John 3:16.