Intro
In today’s passage we will look at one of Jesus’ best-known miracles. In fact, it’s the one miracle that is recorded in detail in all four of the Gospels
Cf. Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17 (I will include a few details from these accounts this morning without necessarily giving you the exact reference).
As we saw in chapter 5, Jesus’ miracles were one way that God the Father testifies that Jesus is exactly who he claims to be – that he is God the Son.
Miracles also reveal other things about Jesus, and we’ll see some of that today.
Often, miracles reveal things (both positive and negative) about the people who benefit from them or witness them, and we’ll see some of that today as well.
Before we get to that, the first four verses give us the setting.
(1) John focuses the most on Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem and Judea in the South, but the events of chapter 6 take place up North, closer to where he grew up.
He is on the Eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee (near the town of Bethsaida, hometown of his disciple Philip).
This would be within the area currently known as the Golan Heights.
(2-3) Large crowds are following him around Galilee.
The religious leaders down south in Jerusalem have rejected him and even started considering how to kill him.
Many regular people are still interested in Jesus, though primarily because they enjoy seeing him do miraculous works.
Jesus is trying to get some time alone with his disciples, but crowds figured out where he had gone and trekked around the lake to be near him (Mark 6:31-34) and see what cool thing he would do next.
(4) John indicates that it is almost Passover time again.
This means almost a year has passed between chapters 2 & 6 of which John has given us just a few highlights.
When we look at Jesus’ sermon in the second half of this chapter we will see some connections to Passover.
But for now, there appears to be a problem…
(5-9) The Problem
(5-6) There are now thousands of people in the middle of nowhere with no food in sight.
There is some concern that the nearest town is far enough way that some people might pass out from hunger before making it back.
Jesus asks his disciple Philip where they can get enough food to feed everyone.
Philip might be singled out because they are not too far from his hometown.
Jesus is actually testing Philip’s faith: Jesus knows what he will do, but how will Philip respond in the face of a seemingly impossible problem?
(7) Philip’s does some quick calculations, and his response is to focus on just how impossible the problem is.
200 denarii = 200 day’s wages for a common laborer (what a Jewish workman would earn working 6 days/week for about 8 months).
Even if they had that much money and trekked back to Bethsaida, they would only be able to afford enough for everyone to have one bite of bread (assuming the shopkeepers even had that much bread on hand).
When faced with seemingly insurmountable situations, we often respond similarly: feeling completely overwhelmed and responding with paralyzing depression and/or anxiety.
That might be your natural response (it tends to be mine), but there is a better way.
Remember, Jesus already knows what he is going to do.
(8-9) Andrew and a young man bring up a lunch basket.
Andrew doesn’t seem to be in a much better frame of mind than Philip.
At Jesus’ instruction (Mark 6:38), he has done a little toward finding how much food is available and cup up with one boy’s picnic lunch.
He is still focused on how impossible it is.
We get the sense of “I tried to do something about it, but there was no immediate solution so I give up.”
Neither Philip nor Andrew seem to think to ask Jesus “what do you think we should do?”
The young man seems to be willing to turn his lunch of five loaves and two fish over to Jesus.
For loaves think biscuits/rolls, not a loaf of sandwich bread or a baguette.
The fact that they are barley rather than some other grain probably means he is from the poorer class.
We don’t know what he was expecting (a miracle? Lunch for Jesus?).
Whatever the case, his response to the problem is to take the one step that he can with the resources at his disposal & leave the results in Jesus’ hands.
This young man shows us a much better solution than sitting around and moping or fretting because the situation seems impossible.
We know that our heavenly Father promises to give us everything we need (not necessarily everything we want or everything that will make our life comfortable).
Instead of being paralyzed by worry, we are supposed to live a life that matters for eternity, trusting God to supply our needs (Matthew 6:31-34).
We make the best use we can of the time, talents, opportunities, money, and possessions he has given us and trust him for the results.
The results will not always be what we were hoping for in the short term, but they will always be what is best for us in the long run (Romans 8:28).
This should be encouragement to pray for wisdom and take the next step if there is one available rather than being paralyzed by rehearsing to yourself everything that could possibly go wrong.
This young man’s willingness to share everything he has ends up benefiting thousands of people.
God can take small acts of everyday faithfulness, sacrifice, or courage and use them to bring good beyond what we would ever imagine.
Classic example: Edward Kimball – Sunday school teacher who took an interest in the most “unchurched” boy in his class, eventually leading him to Christ (that boy was Dwight L. Moody).
(10-13) The Miracle
(10-11) Jesus uses the young man’s lunch to feed 5,000 men plus an unknown number of women and children (cf. Matthew 14:21).
15-20,000 people total is not an unreasonable guess.
Cf. ½ to 2/3 of the people here in Port Huron.
It’s nothing showy…most of Jesus’ miracles are spoken of in simple matter-of-fact terms.
He does it in a fairly organized manner, having everyone sit down (in groups of100’s and 50’s – Mark 6:40) except for those who would be distributing the food.
He prays thanking God for the food – possibly something like the modern blessing: “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”
He starts breaking off pieces and giving them to the disciples to pass out (Mt. 14:19) and no matter how much they pass out there’s always more until everyone is full.
…and then some because they gather up 12 baskets of leftovers.
There might be some deliberate symbolism there of providing for the 12 tribes of Israel, and at the very least each of the 12 disciples now has lunch & supper for the next couple of days.
This is clearly impossible for a mere human being and probably violates what we like to think of as “the laws of physics” (e.g. matter can neither be created nor destroyed).
…but it’s child’s play for the one who created the universe, which is how Jesus is first introduced in this Gospel (John 1:1-3).
God has promised to supply everything his children need by the same power (Philippians 4:19).
This often takes the form of “ordinary” means like a job and help from brothers and sisters in Christ.
In a world created and sustained by the sovereign authority and power of our Lord Jesus Christ I’m not sure if anything counts as “ordinary.”
Many of the miracles demonstrate in an unmistakable way the compassionate care of our God that we otherwise overlook because it is always with us and around us.
“Miracles are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see.” – C. S. Lewis
(14-15) The Response
The crowd’s reaction says a lot about their hearts (and about human nature in general).
(14) They correctly recognize Jesus as the promised prophet of Deuteronomy 18:15-19.
This is one of the titles of the Messiah/Christ (whether they all understood it that way or not is unclear).
These people are not so willfully ignorant that they refuse to see God at work – they know they have seen the power of God in the person of Jesus.
Jesus, like Moses has provided miraculous bread (Jesus will build on this later in the chapter).
They are not wrong in their recognition of Jesus as the Prophet, but they are wrong about his significance…about what his arrival should mean to them.
(15) They assume that he has come to give them the earthly things that they want most:
The average Jewish person of this day desired freedom from Rome above all else (“Make Israel Great again!”) and with a general/king like Jesus this seems possible.
It’s Passover, a time of religious and patriotic fervor.
Gathered here, they already have 5,000 men, that would form an initial army about the same size as a Roman legion.
Even those who aren’t into the whole nationalistic & military potential of Jesus are only excited because they got free food as Jesus points out a little later (6:26).
It has been clear from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry that providing personal and national glory & goodies is not his main purpose for coming to earth the first time.
He did not come to establish the kingdom yet.
He came to take away our sins so that we could be part of his eternal kingdom rather than being swept away by the wrath of God (1:29, 3:3, 3:36).
When he does come to establish his kingdom, it will be by his own power and authority, independent of human effort or the power and goodness of any earthly nation (18:36 cf. Daniel 3:31-45, Revelation 19:11-20:6).
Jesus quickly leaves these people before they try to force him into their plans.
Many people today continue to fall for a false gospel that says “Jesus came to give you the earthly things you most desire” and “Jesus came to make your nation the best nation.”
In our society, health, wealth, and prestige tend to dominate people’s desires and many famous preachers are happy to tell them that Jesus came to give those things.
Joel Osteen: “It’s God’s will for you to live in prosperity instead of poverty. It’s God’s will for you to pay your bills and not be in debt. It’s God’s will for you to live in health and not in sickness all the days of your life.” (Your Best Life Now)
Robert Tilton: “Being poor is a sin, when God promises prosperity. New house? New car? That’s chicken feed. That’s nothing compared to what God wants to do for you.” (unidentified Trinity Broadcasting Network program in 1990 -See Charismatics Chaos, p. 285)
Creflo Dollar: “Well, you need to hear about money, because you ain’t gonna have no love and joy and peace until you get some money. (Creflo Dollar, Praise the Lord, TBN, June 20, 1999).
Jonathan Cahn (prosperity gospel on a national level): And as much as it [the US] fulfilled its calling or aspired to, it would become the most blessed, the most prosperous, the most powerful, and the most revered nation on the earth…” (The Harbinger, p. 19)
This is basically the same mistake that the crowd made about Jesus:
“he’s come to give us the cushy life here and now! Us and our nation!”
“Jesus can be harnessed to get good things for me and greatness for my country!”
…and Jesus wanted nothing to do with it.
The New Testament warns against men like these.
Matthew 7:15 – they are killer wolves dressed up as sheep, but they can be recognized by their fruit (by the sinful actions & false teachings they produce).
1 Timothy 6:8-10 – Their fruit includes the flaunting of lavish wealth and inflaming in others that same greed that Scripture says will destroy them.
2 Peter 2:1-3 – They are preaching a false gospel of greed, bringing contempt on the true Gospel, condemning themselves & anyone who follows them.
God has promised us an incredible future free of pain, sickness, sadness, and death, but it is still future (Revelation 21:1-7).
The Gospel (Good News) is that Jesus Christ came to save us from our sin and put us in a right relationship with God so that we can have that future.
And right now we have the love of our Father who is at work in all things (Philippians 4:6-9, 12-13)
(6-7) We turn our problems over to him, trusting him to supply our needs…
(8-9) We make that rust the focus of our thoughts as we live for him.
(12-13) We cultivate thankfulness and contentment with what he provides (whether it’s exactly what we asked for or not).
Applications
Trust Jesus to provide for your needs, starting with forgiveness of sin & a transformed life.
This great salvation is why he came to earth the first time…to die for our sins and rise again to guarantee our eternal life.
God loves us so much that he made a way for us imperfect people to be made perfect citizens of his eternal kingdom.
Accept this gift by faith in Jesus.
When faced with overwhelming situations, ask Jesus for wisdom, take the next available step (rather than being paralyzed by all the “what if” and “it’s too big” scenarios), and trust him for the results…he will work all things together for good.
Along the way, don’t be fooled by wolves in sheep’s clothing that tell you that you and our nation can have “your best life now” if you just have enough faith.
God has promised us his presence now and a glorious kingdom in the future.
He has warned us against living for the temporary possessions and glory of this present world…don’t be fooled.
Leave a Reply