He Shows Goodwill Tells the Good Story 6
6
HE FEEDS FIVE THOUSAND
1After this Creator Sets Free (Jesus) went over to the other side of Lake of Circle of Nations (Sea of Galilee), also called Sea of Rolling Water (Sea of Tiberias). 2A great crowd of people followed him because they saw the powerful signs he performed, healing the sick. 3Creator Sets Free (Jesus) walked up to the mountainside and sat down with his followers. 4Soon it would be time again for the yearly Passover festival for the tribes of Wrestles with Creator (Israel).
5From the mountainside Creator Sets Free (Jesus) could see how large the crowd following behind him had become. There were over five thousand men, along with women and children!
He then looked at Friend of Horses (Philip) and said, “Where will we find enough food to feed all these people?”
6He said this to test him, for he already knew what he would do.
Friend of Horses (Philip) took a step back and looked at him with wide eyes. He was not sure whether Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was serious or not.
7Friend of Horses (Philip) answered, “‘Eight moons’ worth of gathered food would only give them enough for one small bite apiece!”
8Stands with Courage (Andrew), one of the twelve, the brother of Stands on the Rock (Peter), tried to be helpful and said, 9“Here is a boy with five pieces of frybread and two small fish, but how would that possibly be enough?”
10Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to them, “Have the people sit down on the grass.”
There was much grass there, so all of the five thousand men began to sit down, along with women and children.
Creator Sets Free (Jesus) waited patiently for them to finish. When they were all settled down, he had the ones who walked the road with him bring baskets and stand in a circle around him.
11He took the five pieces of frybread given by the little boy and held them up to the sky. He gave thanks to the Great Spirit and began to break the frybread into smaller pieces and gave them to his followers to give to the people. In the same manner he also divided the two fish, and they were given out to the people. 12Everyone ate until they were full!
When they were done eating, he instructed them to gather the leftovers of fish and frybread, so nothing would go to waste. 13It took twelve baskets to hold it all.
HE MUST BE THE PROPHET
14The people began to realize what had happened. This was a powerful sign that Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had just performed.
They began to wonder who this man was who could do such amazing things. Like wildfire, the hopes and dreams of many generations began to rise in their hearts and minds.
They were saying to one another, “This must be the Prophet, spoken of long ago, who would come into the world!”
15Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew in his spirit that the people were about to take him by force to make him their chief, so he left the crowd and went to a quiet place on the mountainside to be alone and pray.
WATER WALKER
16Later, as the sun began to set, his followers climbed into a canoe to go to Village of Comfort (Capernaum) on the other side. 17Darkness was beginning to creep across the water with no sign of Creator Sets Free (Jesus), so they pushed off from shore.
As they continued to paddle, lightning flashed in the distance, and the sound of thunder rolled across the sky.
18-19A strong wind blew in over the waters. The waves grew large and pounded against them, threatening to overturn the canoe. They were pulling hard on the paddles, trying to make headway, but had only traveled partway across#6:18-19 About three and a half miles the great lake and were still a long way from land.
They looked out through the storm, and their eyes grew wide with fear, for they saw Creator Sets Free (Jesus) coming toward them, walking on the water!
20Creator Sets Free (Jesus) saw the fear in their faces and called out to them, “Do not fear. Take heart, it is I!”
21When they knew it was Creator Sets Free (Jesus), they were glad to bring him into the canoe, and suddenly they were at the shoreline on the other side of the great lake.
LOOKING FOR THE WRONG FOOD
22It was now morning, and the crowd of people on the other side of Lake of Circle of Nations (Sea of Galilee) began to look for Creator Sets Free (Jesus), for they knew there was only one canoe and that he did not go with his followers. 23Just then some canoes arrived from Rolling Water (Tiberias) at the same place where Creator Sets Free (Jesus) had given thanks for the frybread and fed them all. 24When they could not find Creator Sets Free (Jesus) or his followers, they climbed into the canoes to go to Village of Comfort (Capernaum) to find him.
25When they arrived on the other side and found Creator Sets Free (Jesus), they asked, “Wisdomkeeper, when did you get here?”
26Creator Sets Free (Jesus) ignored their question and said to them, “Listen closely to my words, you are not looking for me because of the powerful sign you saw, but only because you filled your bellies with food. 27Why are you working so hard for food that fades away? You should work for the food that gives you the life of the world to come that never fades away. The True Human Being will give you this food, for he has the Father’s full approval.”
28“What does Great Spirit require from us,” they asked, “so we can do what he wants and have his approval also?”
29“Here is what he wants you to do,” he answered, “put your trust in the one he has sent.”
BREAD FROM THE WORLD ABOVE
30“What powerful sign will you show us, that we should trust in you?” they asked. “What sign will you perform? 31When our ancestors were wandering in the desert they ate bread, just as the Sacred Teachings tell us, ‘From the spirit-world above he gave them bread to eat.’#6:31 Exodus 16:15”
32“Listen closely,” Creator Sets Free (Jesus) answered. “Drawn from the Water (Moses) did not give you the bread from the spirit-world above. It is my Father who gives you the true bread that comes down from the spirit-world above. 33This bread gives the life of beauty and harmony to the world.”
34“Honored One,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
35Creator Sets Free (Jesus) smiled, held out his arms to them, and said, “I am the bread of life that came down from the spirit-world above. The ones who come to me will hunger no more. The ones who trust me will thirst no more.”
36 He lowered his arms and with a heavy heart he continued, “But even as I told you before, you have seen me but you still do not trust me. 37The ones my Father has given to me will come to me. They are a gift from my Father that I will always keep.
38“I came down from the spirit-world above, from the one who sent me, to walk his path, not to walk my own. 39He wants me to keep safe the ones he has given me and bring them back to life again at the end of all days. 40The ones who see who the Son truly is will put their trust and hope in him and have the life of the world to come that never fades away. Yes! I will bring them back to life again at the end of all days, for this is what my Father who sent me wants.”
41Upon hearing this, the Tribal Members complained, “Who is this ‘Bread from the spirit-world above’? 42Is this not the son of He Gives Sons (Joseph)? We know who his mother and father are. How can he say ‘I came down from the spirit-world above’?”
43“Stop grumbling to each other,” he answered. 44“The only ones who come to me have been drawn by my Father. These are the ones I will bring back to life at the end of all days. 45The Sacred Teachings from the prophets of old tell us, ‘There will come a time when the Great Spirit will instruct everyone.’#6:45 Isaiah 54:13 That is why the ones who hear and listen to the Father come to me.
46“The only one who has seen the Father is the one sent from the Great Spirit. This one has clearly seen the Father. 47I speak truth from my heart, the ones who trust in me have the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony.
48“I am the bread that gives this life. 49Your ancestors ate bread in the desert wilderness, and they died. 50Here, standing before you, is the bread that comes down from above. The ones who eat this bread will not die. 51I am the living bread from above. The ones who eat this bread will live beyond the end of all days. And this is the bread that I will give as a gift to the world—my human body.”
52His words caused a great division among the Tribal Members, and they began to argue with one another.
“How can this be?” they asked. “Will he give us his flesh to eat?”
53“I speak from my heart,” he answered. “The only way to have my life in you is to eat the body of the True Human Being and drink his blood. 54Then, the life of the world to come will be yours, and at the end of all days I will bring your body back to life. 55My body is true food. My blood is pure drink. 56The ones who eat and drink my body and blood live in me, and I live in them. 57In the same way the living Father sent me and gave me his life, the ones who feed on me will have my life. 58The bread from above is not like the bread our ancestors ate—and then died. This bread gives the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony.”
59These are the words he spoke to the people at the gathering house in Village of Comfort (Capernaum).
MANY FOLLOWERS WALK AWAY
60When the ones who walked the road with Creator Sets Free (Jesus) heard this, many of them said, “These words are too hard to hear. Who can even listen to them?”
61Creator Sets Free (Jesus) knew in his spirit what was troubling them, so he said, “Do these words make you stumble from the path? 62What will you do when you see the True Human Being going back up to where he came from?
63“Life comes from the spirit, not from the human body.#6:63 Lit. flesh My words have spirit and life in them— 64but some of you have no faith in who I am.”
He said this because he knew, from the beginning, the ones who did not believe and who would betray him.
65He then finished by saying, “That is why I said no one can come to me on their own, but only as a gift from my Father.”
66When they heard this, many who followed him turned and walked away. 67Creator Sets Free (Jesus) looked at the twelve and said, “Do you also want to walk away?”
68“Wisdomkeeper,” One Who Hears (Simon), also named Stands on the Rock (Peter), answered him, “who else would we walk the road with? You have the words that give the life of the world to come that never fades away, full of beauty and harmony. 69We have come to know and trust in you as the Holy One from the Great Spirit.”
70Creator Sets Free (Jesus) said to them, “Even though I chose all twelve of you, one of you is an enemy.”#6:70 Lit. devil or adversary
71He was talking about Speaks Well Of (Judas), one of the twelve, who would later turn on him and betray him.
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