King James Bible
"Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled."
Jesus responds to the crowd's pursuit with a solemn declaration, using the double 'verily' (amen, amen) to emphasize the gravity and certainty of his forthcoming statement. This formal introduction signals that he is about to expose their true motives. Christ identifies their pursuit as disconnected from spiritual understanding of his miraculous signs, which were meant to reveal his divine identity. The crowd witnessed the feeding of the 5,000 but missed its deeper significance as a messianic sign. Jesus exposes their materialistic motivation—they follow him for physical satisfaction rather than spiritual truth. This critique sets up his subsequent teaching about being the true bread of life, contrasting temporary physical sustenance with eternal spiritual nourishment.