Grave Robber

“How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible”

Lord Algebra

(We are on Week 5 of an 8 week sermon series based on the book Grave Robber “How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible” by Mark Batterson. Last week pastor Jeff focused on Jesus healing a man who had been an invalid for 38 years at the pool called Bethesda. This week we will be focusing on Jesus feeding the 5000)

WELCOME:

John 6:1-13 HCSB

6 After this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). 2 And a huge crowd was following Him because they saw the signs that He was performing by healing the sick. 3 So Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with His disciples.

4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 5 Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” 6 He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do.

7 Philip answered, “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 Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”

There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000. 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 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.

INTRODUCTION:

Do y’all remember the comedian Bill Engvall? Remember the stories he would tell where at the end someone would end up asking a dumb question?

I shot me a nice deer, and I hung it on the den wall in my house. My neighbor comes over and he says, Did you shoot that thing? I said, Nope. He ran through the wall and got stuck. Here's your sign.

I don’t think that I need to explain to you what that sign meant except that the person who asked that dumb question was not so bright, lol.

But just as that sign points to that persons brightness…or not so brightness. Signs in our life or world can point us to an object, quality, event, or entity that indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else, such as a warning or direction. Signs can be natural, like thunder indicating a storm, or conventional, like words and symbols used in communication.

In the book of John their are 7 recorded signs that Jesus performed.

John chose to call the healings "signs" rather than "miracles" because, like signposts, they pointed people to the divine power behind the act. They serve a deeper purpose beyond just the miraculous acts; they point to His identity as the Christ, the Son of God, and reveal significant truths about His nature and mission. These signs are intended to inspire belief in Jesus and demonstrate His divine authority and power—the power of God.

Ø The first sign, changing water into wine, shows us that nothing is too small for God.

Ø Today’s sign counterbalances it: nothing is too big for God.

SERMON:

THE PLACE: (vs 1-4)

1 After this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). 2 And a huge crowd was following Him because they saw the signs that He was performing by ⌊healing⌋ the sick. 3 So Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with His disciples. 4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. John 6:1-4 (HCSB)

Jesus is on the move again. He is going to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

As he moves, a “great crowd of people” follow him. John immediately explains that Jesus’ vast popularity was not because of any sophisticated understanding of theology, much less because the crowd was trying to serve Jesus.

No, they were there because Jesus healed “the sick.”

ü Jesus was to them a massively effective, utterly inexpensive health-care provider.

ü He was certainly not yet the one that they must serve,

ü much less the one that had a saving agenda for them.

ü Jesus was simply the person who healed the sick.

This was his identity in their minds, and it was the reason for Jesus’ popularity.

(They wanted what they could get from Jesus. They didn’t know or realize who He actually was. They didn’t know that he was the Word made flesh, the great I AM, the savior of the world, God in flesh walking among them.)

No, they just wanted what they could get from him. They wanted physical healing. They wanted their health-care needs to be met by Him.

ü There is nothing wrong with looking for health needs to be met by God,

ü nor with finding effective medical provision.

ü But the truth is that Jesus was more than the latest miracle-worker, and

ü much more than merely someone who was concerned only with their physical well-being. (He was concerned with so much more. He was concerned for their souls. He loved them and He loves you too.)

This sign takes place during the Passover, a yearly Jewish festival that commemorates/celebrates the liberation of the Israelites. When God rescued his people from slavery in Egypt.

ü The final plague was the death of the firstborn.

ü God commanded Moses to have each family kill a lamb and spread its blood on the doorposts of their house.

ü If they did, death would pass over them, and

ü their firstborn would be spared.

This miracle of feeding the 5000 was a major turning point in the ministry of Jesus and is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels.

After this miracle and the teaching that flowed from it, many of those who had been following Jesus defected.

THE PROBLEM: (vs 5-6)

5 Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” 6 He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. John 6:5-6 (HCSB)

Jesus notices that the crowd is not put off by his ascent up a hillside and is still advancing toward him, and so he begins his sign, which will teach them all something of his true identity as the true King.

He asks Philip a question:  “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” . We are told this is to “test him”—not in the sense of an unfair examination, but in the sense of giving Philip a challenge to see if he can rise to it and begin to sense who Jesus truly is.

ü He could have solved the problem without involving them,

ü but he wanted them to see.

ü He wanted them to understand his power, so they would believe.

The miracle isn’t just for the hungry people.

It’s for the disciples, so they would not underestimate the power of Jesus.

(The disciples were still struggling with their comprehension of His divine nature and mission at this point)

If anyone knew where to get food, Philip would because he was from Bethsaida, a town about nine miles away.

By asking for a human solution (knowing that there was none), Jesus highlighted the powerful and miraculous act that he was about to perform.

Jesus did not want Philip to miss what he was about to do.

THE TEST

As he did with Philip, Jesus sometimes tests us by putting us in difficult situations with no easy answers.

At these times we feel frustrated, as Philip did. However, frustration cannot be God's intended result.

The wise disciple always keeps the door open for God to work.

When the first or second look at a problem yields no solution, do you trust God to work or assume it's hopeless?

Philip fell short because he allowed his thinking to be limited by his own limited resources instead of seeking God's limitless resources.

THE PESSIMISM: (vs7-9)

7 Philip answered, “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?” John 6:7-9 (HCSB)

Philip says it would cost more than “two hundred denarii”. A denarius is equal to one day’s labor.

200 days equates to about 8 month’s worth of labor!

Philip’s answer shows the immensity of the problem. Even if they were to spend eight months’ salary on bread, it wouldn’t be enough for each person there to get a bite.

They didn’t have the money to feed the people, and even if they did, where would the bread come from? Human ingenuity couldn’t solve the problem.

Ø This passage is a great reminder that we will always be confronted with problems too big for us to solve.

We are powerless, just like Philip.

ü Like Philip we’re quick to look for human solutions.

ü A problem comes along and our minds start going.

ü We’re going to fix it.

ü And like Philip, we forget who’s standing with us.

ü  ( The Great I AM. The One who owns the cattle on a thousand hills. The One that all things are possible with)

ü Jesus asked Philip the question so Philip would learn that no problem is a match for Jesus’s power.

Andrew is also scratching his head, wondering what on earth to do about the problem they now find themselves facing.

Andrew then, almost half-jokingly, points out that there is a boy nearby who has a sack lunch with him.

Andrew brings the boy to Jesus. It seems like a great act of faith until it’s undermined by his final comment, “But what are they for so many?” It’s as if he were saying, “Here you go, Jesus, but I don’t know what good it will do.”

Remember… These loaves weren’t large. We would probably call them biscuits. Imagine five thousand men show up for breakfast, and there are five biscuits and a small bowl of gravy for the whole group. That’s the situation here.

When I face a situation that seems impossible, I look for human solutions (as Philip did), and if I don’t see any, then I despair (as Andrew did), thinking, What good will it do? What difference will it make?

There’s a small boy with a happy meal. It’s hopeless. It looks like everyone’s going hungry.

IMPOSSIBLE IS NOT IN GOD'S VOCABULARY

ü We can limit what God does in us by assuming what is and is not possible.

ü Is there a seemingly impossible task that you believe God wants you to do?

ü Don't let your estimate of what can and can't be done keep you from taking on the task.

ü God can do the miraculous; trust him to provide the resources.

THE PLAN: (vs 10-11)

10 Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000. 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. John 6:10-11(HCSB)

The focal point of the fourth miracle is Jesus feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. Of course, whoever dubbed it the feeding of the five thousand shortchanged Jesus. There were five thousand men. So the total head count was probably closer to twenty thousand men, women, and children. Jesus doesn’t just pull a rabbit out of a hat. He pulls out twenty thousand fish.

In perhaps the greatest understatement ever written, John describes Jesus’ technique.

Ø He took the loaves from the boy,

Ø simply “gave thanks,” and

Ø then the food was “distributed” to those who were seated.

This was no magic trick; this was no occult power. (This was GOD in flesh)

There was no sleight of hand. He prayed, thanked his Father for what he was about to do, and turned five loaves and two fishes into an all-you-can-eat buffet: “as much as they wanted”.

Simple—for Jesus, that is.

ü When Jesus supplies, it’s never too little.

ü He never runs out.

ü Jesus loves to go above and beyond not only what we can ask but even what we can think (Eph 3:20). This verse goes on to say “according to the power at work in us”

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

ü No wine at the wedding… No problem.

ü Dying boy 20 miles away... No problem.

ü Man can’t walk for 38 years... No problem.

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

THE POWER: (vs 12-13)

12 When they were full, He told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten. John 6:1-13 (HCSB)

And there was more to come. The people “were full ”. That is, they had more than enough!

(The account in the Gospel of Matthew says “everyone ate and was satisfied”. The Greek word for satisfied is “chortazo”. Which means to feed or fill to fullness—often used in reference to animals being fattened or people being completely filled.)

The text strongly implies they ate until they were completely full, and then there were still abundant leftovers.

Jesus told the disciples to gather up what was left, and when they did so, they discovered that NOT ONLY did Jesus provide enough, BUT he provided more than enough; “they filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over”.

LEFTOVER LESSONS

We can learn from the leftovers.

Ø God gives in abundance.

Ø He takes whatever we offer him in time, ability, or resources and multiplies its effectiveness beyond our wildest expectations.

Ø If we take the first step in making ourselves available to God,

Ø he will show us how greatly we can be used to advance the work of his kingdom.

Ø Most of us want to see a great work of God, but can we take the first step of sacrifice?

CLOSER:

Miracles don’t just happen when we believe God for big things. Miracles happen when we obey God in the little things.

When we do little things like they are big things, God will do big things like they are little things.

God can do more with the little we have to offer than any of us could ever imagine

The reaction of the disciples and the people point to a couple of issues that we face as well!

THEIR VIEWS OF JESUS WERE TOO SMALL

Jesus wanted to see whether his disciples had really grasped what he was saying: that he was none other than God in human flesh.

And obviously, the human answer was that it was impossible. It could not be done!

BUT what Philip had failed to take into account was that the one before him was God.

Philip thought things through on a purely human level, not taking into consideration the infinite power of a gracious God.

His view of Jesus was too small, too limiting.

BATTERSON: By definition, a God-ordained dream will always be beyond your resources and beyond your ability. In other words, you cannot afford it and you cannot accomplish it. Not in your lifetime! But God can do more in one day than you can accomplish in a hundred lifetimes. And He owns the cattle on a thousand hills!  Your job is not to crunch numbers and audit the will of God. When you add God to the equation, His output always exceeds your input. And your two fish can go a lot further than you imagine if you put them into His hands.

THEIR DESIRES FOR THEMSELVES WERE TOO WEAK

The attraction of Jesus was not only that he entertained them by astounding miracles, but also that he was someone who helped meet their needs.

You didn’t need to visit the doctor when Jesus was around, you didn’t need to go to Publix either: Jesus would provide you with food for free.

That was the problem. They were preoccupied with the here and now; with their immediate physical needs; with their material problems. But there was so much more that Jesus had come to do for them.

Do we follow Jesus just because he meets our needs? In God’s economy, Our needs are small compared to His desires for us!

BATTERSON: God doesn’t do the supernatural if we don’t pull our weight by doing the natural. You must take responsibility for your actions in the natural realm, such as through prayer and aligning your goals with God's will. Sometimes you may even need to fast. The lesson embedded in this miracle is so simple: if you put what you have in your hands into God’s hands, He can make a lot out of a little!

Ø It’s so easy to let what we cannot do keep us from doing what we can.

Ø The boy didn’t let what he didn’t have keep him from giving what he did have to Jesus.

Ø And that is the precursor to many a miracle!

God cannot give back what you don’t give away. It’s as simple as that. And that’s why many of us never experience His miraculous multiplication. Here’s one secret to experiencing the miraculous: if you give beyond your ability, God will multiply it beyond your ability.