10.22.17 ~ John 6:1-15, “Lunch for 5,000.”

Bible Text: John 6:1-15 | Preacher: Pastor Mike Hale | Series: John

 

The last two weeks we studied a variety of biblical evidence for the deity of Jesus Christ: the testimony of John the Baptist, the Father, the works of Christ, the Disciples record in the Scriptures and the Scriptures themselves.
John 5:36, “”I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given Me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent Me.”

When you think of all the miracles done and the divine teaching given by Jesus, it is amazing, considering the supernatural works Jesus did and could have done; yet He chose to do those miracles that clearly demonstrated His love and compassion upon mankind (chap. 2, 4, 5): turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, so that the wedding couple would not be disgraced, healing the officials son from a distance because of the faith the official had in Jesus to do this, and then healing a man on the Sabbath, who had been an invalid for 38 years.

Today we will look at the miraculous feeding of 5,000 men (not counting the women and children who would have also been there).

This is the fourth sign recorded by the Apostle John, again, these are given to prove that Jesus was indeed the Messiah and the Son of God. It is significant that this miracle is the only miracle (apart from Christ’s resurrection) that is also recorded in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 14:13-20; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17).

When you think of the number of people affected by this miracle, it raises it to the level of being Christ’s largest recorded miracle.
Read John 6:1-4… John writes, “sometime after this,” meaning after the events that occurred in chapter 5. The location is “the far shore of the Sea of

Galilee” (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), named for the city of Tiberias that was founded by Herod Antipas and was named after Emperor Tiberias (cf. Luke 3:1).

The disciples and Jesus had gone to the eastern side of the lake, in order to get away from the crowds and have a time of rest; but also, it would seem, the death of John the Baptist was part of the impetus for going there (cf. Matthew 14:1-13).

It would seem that a large crowd followed Jesus on foot, walking around the shore line to where He came ashore (cf. Mark 6:32-34); the people (Matthew 14:14) were there waiting when Jesus and His disciples arrived, as they (John 6:2), had seen “the miraculous signs He had performed on the sick.”

It would appear that the people were there to see miracles, to get something for themselves from Christ, rather than to hail Him as the Messiah and worship Him.

Jesus takes His men (John 6:3) up on the mountainside, no doubt, wanting some time to be with them, then John mentions that the time for the Passover was near (perhaps a reason for the large crowd, Jews traveling to Jerusalem for this very important feast that commemorates the deliverance of Israel from Egypt. Read John 6:5-9… “Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him.” The Synoptics add (Matthew 14:14), that He healed their sick; (Mark 6:34), that He

1

had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and (Luke 9:11), He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God [heaven].

We also learn from the Synoptics (Matthew 14:15; Mark 6:35; Luke 9:12) that it was very late in the day and this place was desolate, and therefore there was absolutely nowhere close for the people to go to buy food for themselves.

John 6:5b records, “He [Jesus] said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’” Do you think Jesus didn’t know the answer to that question? Of course He did (verse 6), He already knew what He was going to do, but was testing the disciples- did they have faith in Him?

Phillip (verse 7) is concerned about how much it would cost for each person to have a bite of bread [200 denarii = 8 month’s wages; a denarius equalled one days wage for common labor (cf. Matthew 20:2), 24 work days in a month (4 weeks, 6 days a week) X 8 = 192 denarii].

Maybe these guys forgot about the wedding in Cana? Jesus turned about 180 gallons of water into wine.

Notice (verses 8-9a), it would seem that Andrew had been trying to find out how much food was available among these people, and so he brings this boy to Jesus who has five barley loaves and two fish.
Note: In Mark 6:38 we learn that Jesus had commanded the disciples to go through the crowd and find out how much food was available.

So, Andrew finds this boy with a large lunch and brings him to Jesus, but them immediately expressed doubt that it is going to make any difference (verse 9b), “but how far will they go among so many?”
Read John 6:10-13… Jesus tells the disciples to have the people sit down, and John notes that there is much grass (Spring, March-April, Passover). We learn from Mark 6:40, that the disciples sit the people down in groups of 50 and 100; no doubt this will make it much easier to get the food to them all. There are 5,000 men [John 6:10, written this way because it is a patriarchal society], there were no doubt women and children as well, for families were traveling to Passover; so this easily brings the total number of people to between 15-20,000.

Jesus distributes the bread and then the fish, to the people. The Synoptics tell us that Jesus used the disciples to do this; even though they had just displayed a lack of faith in Him, concerning the feeding of these people, Jesus is now going to allow them to witness and be part of this marvelous event.

Jesus (verse 11) takes the loaves of bread and gives thanks, then passes them to the disciples who, in turn, take them to the groups of people; Jesus does the same thing with the fish. This is amazing! Jesus partials out pieces of bread from the loaves and it seems to just keep multiplying; He does the same thing with the fish, but the bread and fish seem to just keep multiplying.

Verse 12 tells us that everyone ate as much as they wanted, to the point of being filled, satiated, no more hunger…. Then Jesus tells the disciples to gather up all the leftovers after everyone had finished eaten. It would seem, from John’s narrative (John 6:13) that only the pieces of bread are picked up, perhaps there wasn’t any fish leftover?

2

Mark 6:43, “the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish.”

After feeding 15-20,000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish from a Jewish boy’s lunch, there are enough leftovers to fill 12 baskets; one for each disciple’s next meal. Did this break through the shallow faith that had been displayed by the disciples, especially Phillip and Andrew, at the onset of the dilemma of how to feed all those people out in the middle of nowhere?

Read John 6:14… The people who had just been supernaturally fed were amazed, and began to quote a prophecy that had been given by Moses.
Deuteronomy 18:15, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you (cf. Acts 3:22).

Mark 1:15, “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” 17 “Come, follow Me.” See John 10:11, 14-15, 27-30…

The thing is, the Jews seemed to be much more interested in having their physical needs met, i.e., if this Jesus could heal all their illnesses and provide food everyday, they would make Him king, go with Him to Jerusalem and overthrow the Romans.

But, Jesus came to set them free from sin not Roman rule. He did not come to offer some prosperity gospel of health, wealth and happiness; He came to offer forgiveness for sin by dying for our sins, He came to offer birth into God’s family by God’s Spirit, He came to provide eternal life through His own resurrection from the grave; and all this is God’s gift through Jesus Christ, God’s Son, Creator, Savior Lord and Judge over all.

Romans 10:9, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of

God the Father.”
ReadJohn6:15… JesusismercifulandgraciousandHelovesmankind;butHe also calls sinners to turn from their sin, repent and acknowledge Him as Lord.

Jesus will not be taken by force, nor will He be used to simply fulfill people’s felt needs and wants.

Jesus withdrew from this crowd and went farther up the mountain to be alone; for these people were not seeking or receiving Him for the right reasons, just like so many people today who do not acknowledge that this Jesus, who was crucified for our sins, buried, and then rose from the grave on the third day, is both Sovereign Lord and Sacrificial Savior for all who believe in Him.

Pastor Mike <‘(((><