On
the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that Jesus hadn’t entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone away alone. However boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled.
John 6:22-26
John 6 [16.] When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, and they entered into the boat, and were going over the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. The sea was tossed by a great wind blowing. When therefore they had rowed about twenty-five or thirty stadia, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing near to the boat; and they were afraid. But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.” They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat. Immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
John 6 [22.] On the next day, the multitude that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one in which his disciples had embarked, and that Jesus hadn’t entered with his disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone away alone. However boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. When the multitude therefore saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats, and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
John 6 [26.] Jesus answered them, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
John 6 [28.] They said therefore to him, “What must we do, that we may work the works of God?”
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
Meaning:
The morning after the feeding of the five thousand, the crowd went looking for Jesus. These verses describe their search and Jesus’ first reply when they found him. The reply opens the long conversation in the synagogue at Capernaum about the bread of life, which fills the rest of the chapter (John 6:59).
- “there was no other boat there… his disciples had gone away alone”
John carefully explains what the crowd had noticed. The evening before there had been only one boat, and the disciples had left in it without Jesus. They had seen Jesus go up the mountain alone (John 6:15). So where was he? They did not know that he had crossed the lake on foot during the night (John 6:16-21). Their puzzle quietly confirms the miracle of the walking on the sea.
- “boats from Tiberias came near to the place where they ate the bread”
Tiberias, the new capital that Herod Antipas had built on the western shore, was an important town on the lake. Boats from there, perhaps blown across by the same wind that troubled the disciples, gave some of the crowd a way back. John describes the feeding place as where “they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks.” The emphasis falls on Jesus’ thanksgiving, which is what turned five loaves into a feast (John 6:11).
- “seeking Jesus… Rabbi, when did you come here?”
The crowd crossed to Capernaum, Jesus’ home base in Galilee, and found him there. They called him “Rabbi,” teacher, though only the day before they had wanted to make him king. Their question is about timing and travel: when did you come? Jesus does not answer it. He does not tell them about walking on the water, because their curiosity was not the real issue. Instead he answers the question they should have asked, about why they were seeking him.
- “Most certainly I tell you”
This solemn phrase translates the Hebrew word “amen” said twice. Jesus uses it twenty-five times in John to mark a truth of special weight. Here it introduces a hard truth about the crowd’s motives.
- “you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled”
The crowd had seen the miracle, yet they had not really seen the sign. A sign points beyond itself, and the feeding pointed to Jesus as the one sent from God to give life. The crowd saw only free bread. Jesus could see their hearts, as John says of him elsewhere: “he himself knew what was in man” (John 2:25). They wanted another meal and a king who would keep providing it. Through Isaiah, God had asked, “Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy?” (Isaiah 55:1-2). Jesus goes on at once to point them to better food: “Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life” (John 6:27).
The Significance of John 6:22-26
- Why do we seek Jesus?
It is possible to follow Jesus for what he gives rather than for who he is. People may turn to him for health, success, comfort or answers to prayer, and he does care about these needs. But if the gifts matter more than the Giver, faith will fade when the gifts are delayed. This same crowd later grumbled and many turned away (John 6:66).
- Seeing the sign behind the gift
Every good gift from God is meant to lead us to him. Daily bread, healing and answered prayer are signs of his love that should draw us to know him better. Jesus taught his disciples to pray for daily bread (Matthew 6:11), but he also said, “man does not live by bread only” (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Cross-References:
Isaiah 55:2: "Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which doesn’t satisfy?" God calls his people to food that truly satisfies.
John 6:27: "Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life" Jesus’ next words to the crowd.
Matthew 4:4: "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Jesus resists the temptation to turn stones into bread.
Conclusion: The day after the feeding, the crowd worked out that Jesus had not left in the disciples’ boat, so they took boats from Tiberias and found him in Capernaum. Instead of explaining how he got there, Jesus told them that they were seeking him because they had eaten their fill of the loaves, not because they had understood the sign. He calls everyone who seeks him to look beyond his gifts to himself.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible