Jesus Is A Problem Solver

Secular -

Today we are talking about How Jesus solves problems and meets our needs. Here is a story about an innovative problem solver.

According to a news report, a certain private school in Washington recently was faced with a unique problem. A number of 12-year-old girls were beginning to use lipstick and would put it on in the bathroom.

That was fine, but after they put on their lipstick they would press their lips to the mirror leaving dozens of little lip prints. Every night, the maintenance man would remove them and the next day, the girls would put them back. Finally the principal decided that something had to be done. She called all the girls to the bathroom and met them there with the maintenance man. She explained that all these lip prints were causing a major problem for the custodian who had to clean the mirrors every night.

To demonstrate how difficult it had been to clean the mirrors, she asked the maintenance man to show the girls how much effort was required. He took out a long-handled squeegee, dipped it in the toilet, and cleaned the mirror with it. Since then, there have been no lip prints on the mirror.

Historical/Cultural Context -

The Gospel of John was written between 90 AD and 100 AD. Scholars also believe that John wrote the three Epistles and the book of Revelation around the same time-frame as he wrote this Gospel. The Gospel of John was written after Matthew, Mark, & Luke had been written and circulated. John has been dubbed by most scholars as “The Spiritual Gospel.”

Biblical Text -

John 6:1–14 NKJV

After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Jesus Meets Our Needs Through Others In Ways We Don’t Expect.

Life Point - Jesus Responds To Our Problems Through Others

Exegetical -

John 6:1–7 NLT

After this, Jesus crossed over to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. A huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous signs as he healed the sick. Then Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him. (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration.) Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do. Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”

Homiletical -

There has been some time that elapsed between the events of chapter 5 and chapter 6, about a year’s time. We know this because John marks time by the feasts that are mentioned.

Does this mean Jesus did nothing for about a year?

No, it just means John didn’t record it for us. Either because events were recorded elsewhere that needed no more explanation or because he just chose not to do so.

We do know that ultimately it was the Holy Spirit who decided not to inspire John to write more that what was recorded.

John 21:25 NLT

Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

John is writing this so that we may continue to believe in Christ.

John 20:31 NLT

But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.

In this event Jesus goes over the sea of Galilee. Probably because wherever he would go, there would be a crowd that would follow him. Even at this we find a huge crowd followed him anyway.

If we take the 5000 men that followed him in this even and counted one wife per man and 1 child per couple then it is possible that Jesus had 15000 people there.

So we can easily say that there were 10-15,000 people at this event. You see we can’t say that there were only 5,000 people there because women and children were not counted. The best estimate we can come up with then is 10-15,000 people.

Jesus has crossed over the sea of Galilea and he has sat down with his disciples. Then this large number of people shows up and Jesus sees this as a teachable moment for all the disciples, including Phillip.

He says “where can we buy bread to feed all of these people?” He already knew what he was going to do, but He wanted Phillip to think about this one, to test him.

Phillip says we can’t buy enough to feed these people with even 200 denarii. Which, was worth months and months worth of wages at the time.

Phillip is like, this is a huge problem. We can’t feed them all even if someone were to work months for the money, the could never come up with it.

Have you ever been in a place where it was like, OK Lord. I am about to lose it all. I can’t afford to buy food. I can’t afford gas to the grocery store. I am not talking about your wants here, I am talking about your needs here.

I am not talking about wanting the latest iPhone, a Mercedes, boat, or motorcycle. I am talking about getting yourself to a store and even if you could you don’t have the money to buy anything there.

I don’t know about you but I have been there. It isn’t a fun place to be. When you lack the necessities, not perceived wants, Jesus will make a way when there appears to be no way. How is he gonna do it? Through other people’s generosity.

How is He going to meet the needs of people around us? Through your generosity.

James 2:14–18 NLT

What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, “Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well”—but then you don’t give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do? So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless. Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”

If you say you have faith, but your actions don’t support it then your faith is fake. It is a faith in word only and not in action. Don’t be the brother or sister who doesn’t help others.

Illustration -

I have many stories about this kind of thing, but the one that stands out to me is the Christian family when Amanda and I were young who took what little they had to help us out.

We stopped in one night because they were on the way to my mother’s house. Amanda and I were heading that way because we had no money, but enough gas to get somewhere so we were going to stop it in at mom’s because we knew we could get a meal there.

So here we are, we hadn’t made our need known to anyone, and we stop in on these acquaintances from church. Just to see how they are. We have a good few minutes together but their 3 young kids needed to go through their night time routine to get to bed. We excuse ourselves.

This man asks us “What are you doing out in our neck- of- the-woods. I didn’t want to lie to him, so I told him we got no money and need a meal.

So they scrape 100 bucks together, which is like 200 today, and they take us down to the store and show us how to properly shop for groceries and how to package things for the long haul.

They didn’t have to do that. They could have said “have a nice night” and be done with us. But they didn’t. They practiced the scriptures and that will always stay with me until the day I die. We have lost contact with them years ago, but they will always be remembered by us.

Life Point - Jesus Usually Responds In A Way We Don’t Expect

Exegetical -

John 6:8–14 NLT

Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?” “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.) Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted. After everyone was full, Jesus told his disciples, “Now gather the leftovers, so that nothing is wasted.” So they picked up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with scraps left by the people who had eaten from the five barley loaves. When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”

Homiletical -

So Andrew speaks up and he says we don’t have much here Lord, but here is what we got and it ain’t near enough

So Jesus is like, trust me that’s enough.

He give thanks to God and everyone eats until they are full. I mean Baptist Potluck kind of full. So full you’re afraid you’re going to break the pew if you sit down kind of full.

So Jesus tells the disciples to go get any leftovers so nothing gets wasted.

Now remember there is 10-15,000 people here and they are told to go pickup leftovers.

These baskets aren’t some mamby pamby easter baskets ok. These were good sized baskets, large baskets.

Why does he tell them to pickup the left overs?

So that nothing is wasted.

I have noticed that God does not, anywhere in scripture, promote waste. As a matter of fact there is a lot in scripture about not wasting things. That we will be held to account for wasting things.

Proverbs 21:20 NLT

The wise have wealth and luxury, but fools spend whatever they get.

Ephesians 5:16 NLT

Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.

Galatians 6:10 NLT

Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.

Acts 2:44–47 NLT

And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity— all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

I am not saying to go sell everything you have, but to use what you have to help others. This is the one sure fire way to grow the church of God and that is love and kindness to others. As you meet needs with the right heart motivations, God will add to the church from those activities.

Why?

Because of your heart, people will sense your love for them and will listen to the message of the cross. That is what it is all about. I meet your temporary perceived need and give you the eternal need of your life. Jesus Christ.

That is where a lot of people go wrong. Churches want to help with people’s needs, but not out of love for people but for other reasons. Whether that is bragging rights or numbers or whatever.

What happens is we have this activity but then we don’t share the Gospel with people. If we aren’t sharing the Gospel while we do acts of love then we are only meeting half a person’s need. Let us strive to meet a person’s entire need as we do the works that are worthy of salvation.

And there are many more scriptures which point us to not being wasteful.

We see here there was a need. The need was that you have all these people who are hungry. Rather than sending them on their way, Jesus supplies their need.

Was it in a way that they expected? Well, no.

Just like when God met mine and Amanda’s need all those year’s ago, it was not in a way or a manner that we had expected or even thought about. But it was the way that God chose to meet our need.

Life Principle– Jesus Meets Our Needs Through Others In Ways We Don’t Expect.

Call to Action – altar call….