The crowd who had been fed found Jesus at Capernaum (6:22-24); Jesus challenged them about their attitude to him (6 :26) and told them to work for 'the food that lasts for eternal life' and not for the food that perishes. The people asked what they should do to please God (6:28) and Jesus replied that they should believe in the one whom God had sent (6:29). The people then asked for another miracle so that they would be convinced that Jesus was from God, and they referred to the feeding of the Israelites in the desert. Jesus refused because they had not understood the significance of their feeding; they were still in spiritual darkness and could not see who Jesus was.

Jesus said that the manna received by the Israelites in the desert was not the true-bread from heaven. The true bread that God gives is 'he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world' (6:33). The people asked for this heavenly bread (6:34) and in reply, Jesus gave the first of the 'I AM' sayings (6:35) with its underlying Eucharistic meaning. 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never be thirsty.' In the Lord's Supper, spiritual hunger and thirst are satisfied. Jesus will never turn away any who come to him seeking eternal life because it is the will of God 'that all who see the Son and believe in him should have eternal life' (6:36-40) and share in the glory of the resurrection of believers. This is a tremendous message of hope for all generations of Christians. In 6:41-42 the rejection of Jesus by his own community, described in Mark 6: 1-4, is reflected. What Jesus had said seemed nonsense to the crowd (1 Corinthians 1: 18). 6:43-51 continues with underlying Eucharistic teaching and the continued assertion that all that Jesus did was totally in accordance with the will of his Father.

Those who were seeking God's will and the Kingdom of God would recognize God's Son in Jesus. No human being could see the invisible God but the visible Son of God was in the world, doing the will of his Father and revealing the nature of his Father to the world. The final statement of the passage (6:5 I) was the most shocking to Jesus' hearers and was completely misunderstood by them (6:52). To John's readers,

6:53-58 is an explanation of the meaning of the bread and wine of the Lord's Supper. In the context of the Church's understanding of the sacrificial death and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, this passage may be compared with 1 Corinthians 11:2326 and 10: 16, and Mark 14:22-25. The Lord's Supper has been described as an eschatological sacrament because to participate in it is both to renew spiritual union with Christ and to share by faith in the hope of the full manifestation of the Kingdom of God and the resurrection of all believers, at the end of the present age.

In 6:60-71, John brings together in his distinctive way three points to which the synoptic gospels refer differently: (i) In Mark 10: 17-22 and Luke 9:57-62 there are references to men who had wanted t6 follow Jesus but who lacked the full commitment necessary. Jesus himself warned the disciples of what true discipleship involved (Mark 8:34). Many found it too hard to accept Jesus' teaching (John 6:60-66) and some who had followed him so far, turned away.

(ii) The synoptic gospels have accounts of Peter's declaration at Caesarea Philippi but John's gospel does not; from the beginning of John's gospel, the Messiahship of Jesus is proclaimed. In John's gospel, however, in this    setting of the defection of followers of Jesus, Peter's declaration on behalf of the disciples, in 6:68-69, indicates a similar important step forward in their understanding of their Lord. In 6:66-69, there is an important point of distinction made apparent, between the Twelve and many others who followed Jesus.

(iii) Thirdly, the betrayal of Jesus by Judas is first referred to in this setting of the defection of would-be followers (6:70-71).