New Believer's Bible Sample - Flipbook - Page 51
page 1003
following him wherever he went, because
they saw his miraculous signs as he healed
the sick. 3 Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat
down with his disciples around him. 4 (It was
nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) 5 Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people
coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he
asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all
these people?” 6 He was testing Philip, for he
already knew what he was going to do.
7 Phil
ip replied, “Even if we worked for
months, we wouldn’t have enough money* to
feed them!”
8 Then An
drew, Si
mon Pe
ter’s brother,
spoke up. 9 “There’s a young boy here with
five barley loaves and two fish. But what good
is that with this huge crowd?”
10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So
they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The
men alone numbered about 5,000.) 11 Then
Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and
distributed them to the people. Afterward he
did the same with the fish. And they all ate
as much as they wanted. 12After everyone was
full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the
leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they
picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets
with scraps left by the people who had eaten
from the five barley loaves.
14 When the people saw him* do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the
Prophet we have been expecting!”* 15 When
Jesus saw that they were ready to force him
to be their king, he slipped away into the hills
by himself.
Jesus Walks on Water
evening Jesus’ disciples went down to
the shore to wait for him. 17 But as darkness
16 That
J ohn 6
fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got
into the boat and headed across the lake toward Capernaum. 18 Soon a gale swept down
upon them, and the sea grew very rough.
19 They had rowed three or four miles* when
suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the
water toward the boat. They were terrified,
20 but he called out to them, “Don’t be afraid.
I am here!*” 21 Then they were eager to let him
in the boat, and immediately they arrived at
their destination!
Jesus, the Bread of Life
22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on
the far shore saw that the disciples had taken
the only boat, and they realized J esus had not
gone with them. 23 Several boats from Tiberias
landed near the place where the Lord had
blessed the bread and the people had eaten.
24 So when the crowd saw that neither J
esus
nor his disciples were there, they got into the
boats and went across to Capernaum to look
for him. 25 They found him on the other side
of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you
get here?”
26
Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you
want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs.
27 But don’t be so concerned about perishable
things like food. Spend your energy seeking
the eternal life that the Son of Man* can give
you. For God the Father has given me the seal
of his approval.”
28 They replied, “We want to perform God’s
works, too. What should we do?”
29 Jesus told them, “This is the only work
God wants from you: Believe in the one he
has sent.”
30 They answered, “Show us a miraculous
6:7 Greek Two hundred denarii would not be enough. A denarius was equivalent to a laborer’s full day’s wage. 6:14a Some
manuscripts read Jesus.
6:14b See Deut 18:15, 18; Mal 4:5-6. 6:19 Greek 25 or 30 stadia [4.6 or 5.5 kilometers]. 6:20 Or The
‘I Am’ is here; Greek reads I am. See Exod 3:14. 6:27 “Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.
C O R N E R S T O N E S
Passing divine tests
read JOHN 6:6
Here we read that Jesus was testing Philip, even though Jesus already had a plan for feeding
the huge crowd who had come to look for him. Similarly, God may allow you to face tests,
even though he already has a plan to meet your need. When that unexpected bill comes
in the mail and you wonder, How will we ever pay this? or when a problem causes you to
say, “I don’t think I can make it another day”—you can trust God. He already knows what
he’s going to do.
The only way to pass divine tests is to recognize your utter inability to come up with the
answers on your own. Instead, cast yourself on God and on him alone. No backup plan—just
trust in the Lord. God will allow you to enter situations in which the only way out is him.
Then he will get the glory.
For the next note on “Perseverance” turn to page 1010.
