John 6:1-14

In Australia we are known to have a bit of a tall poppy syndrome. This is where we cut down those who succeed. We don’t like it when people rise to the top or have a lot of stuff. This in turn, means that we might not want to rise to the top, or self promote. We may say things like, “I am actually not that good”. This thinking can turn in to a false humility or even a false belief that we are not that much. We might look at ourselves and think God can’t use me, that I don’t have much or anything to offer. Do you think that?

In our story we see that not having much can be plenty, if we have Jesus.

The Problem

In our story there is a problem. Jesus and the disciples have gone down the lake to avoid the crowds and to have a bit of a break, but the people kept on coming. The crowds went looking for Jesus, for another sign, for another miracle. They wanted to see what Jesus would do next.

When Jesus saw them coming, he turns to one of the disciples, Philip and says “Where shall we buy bread for the people to eat?” Philip was probably taken a little back from this. How could he solve this problem? It is too big.

We are told Jesus asked this to test them. Jesus wanted to involve the disciples, not because He didn’t know what to do. He wanted them to be part of this, to see what they really have. To see who Jesus really was.

Exalting Jesus in John Jesus Miraculously Feeds the People

The miracle isn’t just for the hungry people. It’s for the disciples, so they would not underestimate the power of Jesus

Poverty of Possessions

So, first Philip dose the math and says, they they would need half a years wages just to buy the bread so each person could have a little. He did the accounting, consulted with the finance team and was like, “we can’t afford this feeding ministry”.

Then, another disciple Andrew, he speaks up and says he has found a boy who has five small barley loaves and two small fish. But really won’t go far. It not much as all.

Barley loaves was the cheapest bread, eaten by the poorer classes. This probably shows the poverty of the crowd. This bread would have been

John The Feeding of the Five Thousand (6:1–15)

like five round loaves of today’s pita bread

The disciples thought that their problem was that they had no money and just enough bread for one role per 1,000. But their main problem was that they didn’t know their wealth with Jesus.

Exalting Jesus in John Jesus Miraculously Feeds the People

Human ingenuity couldn’t solve the problem... This passage is a great reminder that we will always be confronted with problems too big for us to solve. Death, disease, war—those are the big ones.

But Jesus can step in and help and He does so here. He starts organising the place. He gets the people to sit down, and then gives thanks for the boy’s small meal and then hands it out to everyone. In the end everyone could have as much as they wanted. We are told there were 5,000 men, there could have been women and children there too. This was a large undertaking and we are told they did not have a snack, they didn’t have a symbolic meal. They had plenty.

Plenty with left overs

This is a miracle. In this

John The Feeding of the Five Thousand (6:1–15)

Jesus is fulfilling and recreating images from Israel’s past. He is [acting like] a figure who harks back to great historic figures (Moses and Elisha) who knew God’s power intimately

In 2 Kings 4 there is another feeling miracle.

John The Feeding of the Five Thousand (6:1–15)

Elisha feeds a hundred men with twenty barley loaves and is assisted by a young boy... they also had baskets of food left over.

In our passage we are told the setting is that:

Exalting Jesus in John A Greater Moses (John 6:1–21)

these events took place during the Passover, a yearly Jewish festival celebrating when God rescued his people from Egypt

After that Exodus rescue, God cared for His nation by feeding them in the wilderness for 40 years with manner from heaven.

Just before this bit in John, Jesus is talking about Moses, and here we are seeing one like Moses provide for a crowd.

We also see that Psalm 22 is looking

The Gospel according to John J. The Fourth Sign—Feeding the Multitude (6:1–15)

forward to the day when “The poor will eat and be satisfied” (

This is what is happening here.

Jesus tells His disciples to “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted”. Jesus didn’t want any of this to go to waste.

Jesus took a little amount and turned it into plenty. Jesus is a greater prophet than those in the past. If we come to Jesus with nothing or not much that is fine.

Exalting Jesus in John Jesus Miraculously Feeds the People

Jesus has never yet run into a problem he can’t solve.

• No wine at the wedding. No problem.

• No food in the wilderness. No problem.

• No life in the tomb. No problem.

When you follow Jesus, you never reach a dead end.

The chapter will later go on to say that Jesus is the bread of life. We know

John Contemporary Significance

that the material things of life do not provide the secret to true happiness.

We need more than our stomachs filled, we need life. While food helps us to keep alive, Jesus offers us life, life to the full, eternal life. He is the one we are to feed on and trust, for He can provide what we need for life.

A Prophet?

At the end of this story the people start wondering if Jesus is the promised prophet. Is He the one Moses and the prophets have talked about? Jesus has shows that He is better than Elijah by providing for more people with less. Here, Jesus shows that He is like God who can provide food for the many. Jesus is a greater Moses who will be able to rescue His people.

But they didn’t get it all right.

In this story we see that

John—That You May Believe The Problem (vv. 1–9)

The disciples had a defective view of Christ. That was their problem, and very often that is the root of our problem

We need to see who Jesus is that that with him, we don’t just have enough we have plenty. We need to see

John—That You May Believe Chapter 23: Appropriating Christ’s Power and Sufficiency

the sufficiency and power that only Christ gives. Sooner or later each one of us will need this strength. This message is for all of us.

We face many problems with aging. Things do get hard, as we slow down and become impatient or even confused with things. But we are not on our own. We have God. In His strength we have enough.

As someone else puts it:

John—That You May Believe The Solution (vv. 10–13)

Do you have nothing to give? Then give that. Your nothing plus God is everything. We need to believe that God is big enough, that he wants to help us. Then we must give our problem to him. May we set aside our pride and give it all to him.

Our passage shows that our

Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, Volume 3 Homiletical Perspective

“not enough” is not the final answer.

John—That You May Believe The Solution (vv. 10–13)

[Jesus] wanted his disciples to see that no matter what they had—even the tiniest or most menial thing—if they really gave it to him, he could use it. Little is much when God is in it.

Trust in Jesus, that He is a provider. That He has carried you to be here, for a long time, and He is not tired. He is always willing to help and comfort. He is with you, and always working to help change you.

2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

Jesus is the provider and the Bread of Life. He helps us and we can participate with Him. We will be reminded of this more, as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper soon, where we will take the bread and the juice to remember all that the Lord has done for us.