Jesus Fed the People

Intro:

Who’s ready for lunch?

That’s a question I’m always thinking about.

No matter what time it is or what’s going on, I’m usually thinking about what I’m going to eat.

In today’s story, I imagine that there were many who thought about that same thing.

Although the food situation in our story was a bit difficult and impossible, Jesus did the impossible and fed 5,000 (and maybe even more), for nothing is impossible with God.

Lesson:

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John 6:1–15 (CSB)

1 After this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias).

2 A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick.

3 Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.

4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near.

5 So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat?”

6 He asked this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.

7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,

9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

There was plenty of grass in that place; so they sat down. The men numbered about five thousand.

11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.

12 When they were full, he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.”

13 So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

14 When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

15 Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

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What a miracle Jesus performed! He took 5 loaves of barley bread and two fish and fed over 5,000 people with it.

The people were convinced: this truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world!

But… they wanted to make Jesus king. Sounds like a good thing, right? The only problem was, Jesus didn’t come to be just an earthly king.

The people didn’t want Jesus for the right reasons, that He was the Savior. They wanted Him for His power and the material goods He could provide them, like food for their bellies.

Later the next day, the crowd found Jesus again. They asked him when He had gotten to where He was at that moment. He answered them by saying this:

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John 6:26–27 (CSB)

26 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

27 Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.”

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The people in the crowd still weren’t getting it. They wanted Jesus for the things He could offer, not because of who He was and the signs He did that showed everyone He truly was the Son of God.

Jesus later told them this:

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John 6:35–40 (CSB)

35 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.

36 But as I told you, you’ve seen me, and yet you do not believe.

37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out.

38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.

39 This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day.

40 For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

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Jesus came to suffer and die for sinners. That doesn’t sound like something a king in power would do, does it?

You see, Jesus was the Son of God. He performed miracles to confirm and show that He was who He said He was. Jesus was God in the flesh. There was nobody like Him.

Bottom Line:

Jesus performed miracles because He is the Son of God.

The son of God didn’t come to be an earthly king and sit on a throne for a set amount of years; the son of God is the King of kings, and came to be King of Heaven and Earth.

What should we do?

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John 6:40 (CSB)

40 For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

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It is the will of God that you and I would believe in Jesus and trust in Him. Do you trust in Jesus? Have you trusted in Him?