John 6, Part 1

After Jesus has spoken of His authority, he moves into a new location and has a new group of listeners. We see a parallel to what is getting ready to happen, when Moses went into the promised land, there was a concern. How would you feed all the Israelites for 40 years? As we know, God provided for their needs, telling Moses He would feed them from heaven. Every morning, bread called manna was on the ground, and it would last long enough to feed them one day. He provided their daily need the next day. Now, Jesus is in a similar situation - he is faced with a crowd and no way to feed them.

Jesus IS the bread of life, therefore He provides for our daily needs. Looking elsewhere sets us up for failure, and a lack of satisfaction. Therefore, believing and trusting in Jesus as our Provider is essential for us. While we may not have everything given at the exact moment we want it, these trials help provide faith and trust in Him.

Need

John 6:1–6 ESV

1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

The feeding of the five thousand is the only miracle of Jesus recorded in all four Gospels. Jesus had crossed to the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee at a time when the Jewish Passover feast was near.

“After These Things”: this is a reference to the closing days of the Galilaean ministry, the events covered between Mt. 4:12–14:12. These events are not covered by John. His concentration is the Judaean ministry of Jesus; therefore, He simply moves over the Galilaean events by using the words “after these things.”

Note the words “following” (eklouthei) and “seeing” or beheld (etheoroun). The two words mean that the people had been following Jesus for a long time and kept on following Him, beholding the ministry of His miracles upon people (the Greek imperfect active tense).

Jesus was tired and weary from the pressure of facing the crowd day after day. He sought refuge across the lake on the top of some unknown mountain. He needed time to be alone with God and with His disciples. It was the Passover season, a time when thousands of pilgrims flooded Jerusalem and the surrounding suburbs.

The picture is that of Jesus sitting on the mountainside, lifting up His eyes from resting upon His knees and seeing “a great company” of thousands streaming across the fields and up the mountain toward Him. The “great company” included both those who had followed Him around the lake and pilgrims who were caught up in the excitement of hearing about Jesus, the proclaimed Messiah.

Jesus was concerned for meeting the needs of man, even the most minute need of missing a meal. There is no need that Jesus does not want to meet. The multitude that had been following Him for days had just made a nine mile journey, having rushed (followed, eklouthei) to keep from losing Him. They were not only hungry and apparently out of food, but they were in mountainous country, an area without any possibility of purchasing food. The point is this: the people were so desperate to find and keep up with Him that they just forgot about eating. As usual, Jesus was filled with compassion for those who so desperately sought Him out. He used the occasion to teach the great lesson: He will meet even the most minute need of men. He asked His disciples, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?”

He would also use this as a time to strengthen the disciples. He knew what He was going to do, but He used the occasion to test and strengthen the disciples, teaching them a tremendous lesson on faith. They were as we are, full of needs; and their greatest need was the same as ours, to grow in faith.

Doubt

John 6:7 ESV

7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”

There is a pessimistic faith seen in Philip. Philip needed to see his faith for what it was—pessimistic. The disciples either had two hundred denarii in their treasury or else Philip was just pulling a figure out of the air stressing that even such a large amount would not feed the crowd. A pessimistic faith sees money and human resources, and that is all.

A pessimistic faith does not see God nor the power of God. Philip seems to only see the immediate need, and not the potential miracle. He calls out the impossibility of feeding this many people, the lack of resources, and was vocal in his hopelessness.

A pessimistic faith professes God and professes Christ to be the Son of God. It professes the belief that Christ has the power to meet the needs of man. It even witnesses the miraculous working of Christ in other instances. But when a problem arises, the immediate response of a pessimistic faith is to see the problem, not the power of God. It does not see the opportunity for the power of God to be demonstrated in conquering the problem and bearing a strong testimony to His name. In the crises of the problem, the power of God seems forgotten.

Phillip has forgotten the fulfilled promises from the past, it doesn’t look to the power of God, and it looks at the problem as being bigger than God and His Power. His pessimistic faith leaves out true faith - thinking God can fail and He does not care for us or our problems. A pessimistic faith gives thanks and praise to God for what one has (health, money, things) but fails to trust God for the miraculous (healing and multiplication of resources so that one can better serve and help others).

A pessimistic faith looks to others for help instead of looking to God and depending upon Him alone, but it also runs the risk of us failing to see God be glorified when He meets the need.

Solution

John 6:8–9 ESV

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

An optimistic, questioning faith loves the Lord and is committed to the Lord. Andrew saw Christ’s concern, so he went among the crowd to search for food. He found and gathered all the resources he could.

The question might be, what is the difference betwen Phillip and Andrews response?

An optimistic, questioning faith lays what it can find before the Lord. No matter how little the resources or how poor the quality, it is all laid before the Lord. The barley bread was the bread of the poor, the very cheapest bread that could be made or bought. It was anything but a delicacy. The two fish were even “small.” Note the simple, optimistic faith of Andrew. He had searched and could find nothing but five small barley cakes and two small fish, but he offered what he had found—the boy and his food—to the Lord.

A questioning faith looks at the need and then looks at the meager resources, both how little and how poor the quality of the resources are, and it questions God. It questions instead of believing God to take care of the problem. The need may be what it is in this event, the need for food; or it may be the need for health, money, deliverance, or a myriad of other human needs. Whatever the need may be, the fundamental need is for one to learn to trust Christ and not to question and doubt His love and care, wisdom and power.

Faith

John 6:10–13 ESV

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

Christ Himself demonstrated for His disciples the kind of strong faith they were to have in God. Jesus took what He had and gave thanks to God for what He had. He had only a meager supply of bread. In fact, He could hold all He had in the palm of His hand. He did not stand there looking at the meagerness of what He had, questioning, being gripped with despair and hopelessness, wondering how the need was going to be met. He looked up and gave thanks to God. The small supply and poor quality did not matter. What mattered was that He had something; there was some provision. A gift, a sacrifice, a resource—small though it was—had been given and laid at His feet for Him to use as He willed. So He took it, being ever so appreciative, and lifted it up to God, giving thanks to God and trusting God to meet the need of the hour. Note how positive and unswerving the act of Christ was. He knew beyond any question that God would meet the need and multiply the resources. Jesus gave what He had, and note: all He could do was distribute what was in His hands and trust God. This He did. He simply gave what He had and God did the rest.

All any of us can do is give God what we have, and let God do the rest. He will meet our needs. Even deeper is this; as Christians, the needs of the world can only be met if we give what God has given to us. Whether that be money, talent, time, etc. Many of us are holding onto what God has given, as though we are concerned we will lose it, or He will not replenish what we give in His service. Being separated from God may lead to others never coming to know God as the source of salvation. Even Jesus used others to help Him in meeting the need. He gave to the disciples and the disciples gave to the people. His disciples were essential to the task. They were the ones made responsible for feeding the people.

God met the need because of the positive, unwavering faith of Jesus. God met the people’s need and filled them. In fact, and this is extremely important, He more than met their need. There was provision left over. How much? Twelve baskets full. Why twelve baskets? There were twelve disciples, twelve servants who had so obediently and trustingly helped Christ. Each servant had a supply that would last him for days. God always provides abundantly for His true servants. Not a morsel was to be wasted. Every ounce of provision would be used.

Messiah Acknowledged

John 6:14–15 ESV

14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

The people professed Jesus to be the Messiah, but they were thinking of an earthly, materialistic king, a Messiah who could meet both their personal and community or national needs. Jesus had fed and healed them. He had done what everyone wanted, met their need for health and food. Therefore, they wanted to set Him up as the King of their lives. They did not want to ever hunger or be sick again, not as long as they lived. BUT, they saw in Jesus the possibility of an earthly, human Messiah, as One who could provide food for their hunger, healing for their sicknesses, deliverance from their trials, comfort for their sorrows, plenty for their wants, peace through their disturbances, and victory over their enemies. Jesus, of course, can help any person through anything. But the problem with the crowd was their desire for earthly and worldly satisfaction. They thought in terms of the physical and material, not the spiritual. Even when Christ meets physical and material needs, the physical and material are only temporary. They pass away. The Lord’s concern is primarily spiritual—spiritual strength and spiritual blessings, the strength and blessings that last forever. This is the reason most men forsake Christ. Instead, we are called to deny ourselves and to separate ourselves from the world.

We are called out of the comfortable, and asked to move into the uncomfortable. From the plenty, to the meager. We are called to become set apart. We are called to true faith.

Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2004. The Gospel according to John. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

Gangel, Kenneth O. 2000. John. Vol. 4. Holman New Testament Commentary. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.