"Well, then," they said to Jesus, "show us the sign that will prove that you have come from God, then we will believe in you. What is the work that you are doing? Our fathers under Moses in the desert ate the manna that Moses gave them. You remember that it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
You see, the people wanted Jesus to show his power again by repeating the miracle with the loaves, and giving them more bread in the same way.
"In truth I tell you," replied Jesus, "it was not Moses who gave your fathers the bread from heaven; it was my Father, the Lord God. And my Father does give you now the real bread from heaven. For God's bread is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
"Master," they said, "give us that bread always!"
"I am the life-giving bread," answered Jesus. "He who comes to me shall never be hungry, and he who believes in me shall never be thirsty. But, as I told you, you have seen me, and yet you do not believe in me. All those whom the Father gives me will come to me; and no one who comes to me will I ever turn away. For I have come down from heaven not to carry out my own will, but the will of Him who sent me; and his will is this—that I should not lose even one of all those whom He has given me, but shall raise them up to life at the last great day. For it is the will of my Father that every one who sees the Son, and believes in him, should have everlasting life; and I myself will raise him up at the last day."
The Jews who heard Jesus began to find fault with him for saying, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."
"Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, 'I came down from heaven?'"
They could not understand his words, and they were angry with him because he would not again work the miracle of giving them bread. Also they now found that Jesus was not willing to be a king such as they wanted, one that would sit on a throne and live in a palace; would raise an army to drive away the Romans and make the Jews a ruling people upon the earth. It was, as we have seen, the time of the Passover, and one reason for the great crowds around Jesus was that all were expecting him to lead the people to Jerusalem and take his place as the king of Israel. But this year Jesus did not go, as he usually did, to the feast in Jerusalem, for he had other plans for himself and his disciples.
When the crowd following Jesus found that he would not be a king according to their desires, that he would not do wonders for them to look upon, and that his words were such as they could not understand, nearly all of them turned against Jesus. They went away, leaving the twelve disciples alone with him.
Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you, too, wish to leave me?"