Scripture quotations are from the EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2018, 2024 – UK Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.easyenglish.bible 

John 6: 25-37

25 The people found Jesus on the other side of the lake. They asked Him, ‘Teacher, when did you arrive here?’

26 Jesus answered, ‘I tell you this. You saw me do miracles that show God's power. But you are not looking for me because of that. No, you are looking for me because you ate the loaves. I gave you all the food that you needed.

27 Do not work only for that kind of food. It soon becomes spoiled. Instead, work to get the food that continues forever. That kind of food gives you life with God. The Son of Man* will give this food to you. God the Father has given the Son authority to do this.’

28 Then the people asked Him, ‘How can we do the work that God wants us to do?’

29 Jesus answered, ‘You should believe in the one that God has sent to you. That is the work that God wants you to do.’

30 So then the people asked Him, ‘What miracle will you do? Do one that shows that God has sent you. If we see that, we will believe in you. What will you do?

31 Our ancestors* ate manna* in the wilderness*. We know that it says in the Bible, “God gave bread to them from heaven for them to eat.” 

32 Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you this. It was not Moses who gave bread to you from heaven. No. It is my Father who gives to you the true bread from heaven.

33 God's bread is the one who comes down from heaven. He is the one who gives life to people in the world.’

34 So they said to him, ‘Sir, please give this bread to us now and always.’

35 Then Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread that gives life to people. Anyone who comes to me will never be hungry. Anyone who believes in me will never be thirsty.

36 You have seen me, but still you do not believe in me. I have told you that before.

37 Everyone that the Father gives to me will come to me. When anyone comes to me, I will never send that person away.

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Important Vocabulary to Learn

(Some of these words come from the reading and some of them come from the questions below.)

1. Words from the first 1000 high frequency General Service Word List

anyone, answered, arrive, before, belief/believe, bread, choose, continue(s), deep/deeper, effort, (in) fact, find/found, form, heaven, hope/hoping, important, instead, lake, language, needed, poster, power, real/really, reason(s), send, Sir

 (And all the other words in the reading that are not listed in numbers 2 to 4 below.)

2. Words from the second 1000 high frequency General Service Word List

     fruit, loaves, spoiled, hungry

3. Words from the Academic High Frequency Word List

     authority, link

4. Useful Off List Words

(These words are not from high frequency word lists. They are less common in general English.)

    forever, miracle, wilderness, thirsty, vegetables

5. Glossary of Special Terms (these words are marked with a *)

       ancestors - The people in our family, or our country who are no longer alive, and who lived before us.

Son of Man - This name was used by Jesus to talk about Himself. It is used in the New Testament part of the Bible to show He was fully human, like us. It is also used in the Old Testament part of the Bible to talk about the promised Messiah* who will one day rule like a king and act as our judge. Because of this, the Jewish people who listened to the teaching of Jesus understood His meaning when He used this term. They knew He was calling Himself God in human form.

manna - This word is the name given to the food that God gave to the Hebrew people every morning when they were living in the wilderness after they escaped from Egypt.

Messiah - This name is used in the Bible to talk about the person God sends to Earth to save His people (that is, all those who trust in Him).

Learning Questions and Activities

1. Remembering - What did the people call Jesus? What did Jesus call Himself? Why did these people come to see Jesus? What were they hoping to see? What did Jesus say they should do instead?

2. Understanding - What did Jesus mean when He said ‘Work to get the food that continues forever’? Was He talking about real food (like fruit and vegetables), or something else? How do you know? What is the link between the word 'work' and the word 'believe'? Where does our power to 'believe' really come from? (Check your answer in verses 33 and 37.)

3. Applying - What does it mean to you to ‘believe’ in Jesus? Is ‘believing’ just agreeing that what Jesus said is true, or is there a deeper meaning to this word? What did Jesus really mean when he talks about being 'hungry' or 'thirsty'? Do you feel hungry or thirsty for Jesus? Why/Why not?

4. Analysing - When Jesus said ‘work’, did he mean we should work hard to do good things so that we can get the ‘true bread from heaven’ by our own effort (by being good people)? (Look at verse 32 again.) Where does Jesus say this ‘true bread’ comes from? In fact, what (or who) is this true bread?(verse 35).

How does Jesus tell us we can get this ‘true bread’, so that we are never ‘hungry’ again? What kind of ‘hunger’ do you think Jesus was talking about? 

5. Evaluating - Do you think that the people who asked Jesus to do a miracle really thought Jesus was sent from God? Use the reading to give some reasons for your answer. What did Jesus mean when he said that he will never send away anyone who comes to him? In verse 37, it says ‘Everyone that the Father gives to me will come to me.’ What does this verse show us about what God wants to do in our lives? When we really do believe that Jesus is who He said He was, who is doing the ‘work’ of making that belief real in our hearts?

6. Creating - Make a poster about this Bible reading.

● Your poster needs to show something you have learned about Jesus from the reading.

● There should be a picture or drawing of some bread and a drink on your poster.

● Write one of the verses from the reading onto your poster. (Choose a verse that is most important to you. It should be a verse that you think is also important for others to know about.) Try to learn it and say it without looking at it.

● Share your poster with someone. Use your poster as you tell that person what you have learned from the reading.

● If you can, take a photo of your poster, and share it with your friends. (You could do this online.) Use it to explain the message of your poster in one or two sentences. You can do this in English and/or in your own language.