John 6:32 - Printer Friendly

ESV: Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

NIV: Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.

NASB: Jesus then said to them, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.

CSB: Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

NLT: Jesus said, 'I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven.

KJV: Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

NKJV: Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.

As Jesus attempts to explain the real message behind His miracles, the people are still hung up on materialism. They are seeking free food (John 6:26) and spectacular events rather than spiritual truth. When Jesus clarifies that salvation is based on belief, not on good works or rituals (John 6:29), the people immediately demand another miracle! Further, they invoke the provision of manna when Israel was in the wilderness under Moses (John 6:30–31). Their challenge is that if Jesus is to claim to have more authority than Moses, Jesus ought to do something more spectacular than Moses did.

In response, Jesus continues to draw a distinction between material bread and spiritual bread (Isaiah 55:2; Matthew 4:4). The first correction He makes is that God was the one who provided the manna. So, these people need to focus on God and His requirement of faithful belief rather than ritual obedience to the laws of Moses (Romans 10:1–4). Jesus has pointed out that material food is temporary, but spiritual food is eternal (John 6:27; Matthew 6:19–20). Likewise, He suggests that the manna was merely a physical item; "the true bread from heaven" is something else.

In the following verse, Jesus will explicitly state that He is this "bread of God" which gives eternal life to the world. Even so, the people's fixation on material things will cause them to misunderstand. They will once again ask for something physical, rather than spiritual.

John 6:22–40 describes the initial aftermath of Jesus' feeding of thousands the previous day. The crowd's actual desire is for another supernatural spectacle and more free food. In this passage, Christ begins to explain the true meaning behind His miracle and His ministry. This includes the first of seven ''I am'' statements in the gospel of John—moments where Jesus declares His own divinity. Jesus clarifies that physical things such as bread are symbols of a spiritual truth. In the following segment, the crowd will stop seeking and start complaining.

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.