What’s for Supper?

Some of you may remember the old Hee Haw Show which starred Buck Owens and Roy Clark and had a Who’s Who of Nashville Stars.  One of the spots on the show featured Grandpa Jones.  On that spot, a group of people would shout out, Hey Grandpa, what’s for supper?  To which Grandpa Jones would recite a huge menu of mouth-watering food.  After he finished, the large crowd would shout, Yum, Yum!

This question of What’s for Supper has been a part of family conversation for centuries.  There were times in our house when we’d just barely finish lunch, then one of the children would pipe up with the question . . . What’s for supper?  Recently, I read that one of the questions every adult asks, is What’s for supper/dinner? However, for many throughout the world, this isn’t a question of what tasty treats might await, but rather a genuine concern for nourishment.  

In John 6, we will be looking at a unique and different perspective on this interesting question.  As Christians, we usually give thanks to God before or after we eat a meal.  We recognize, or should understand, that we would not have this food were it not for God’s gracious provision.  However, this passage is not just about food.  John includes this to show us that Jesus is God; while at the same time reminding us that He didn’t come here for our entertainment nor to prove Himself by doing incredible tricks or amazing feats.  What Jesus did in this passage of Scripture was to show compassion and grace to this crowd.  Interestingly, this is the only miracle which Jesus performed that is found in all four of the Gospels.

The world would want us to believe that if the church would provide for everyone’s physical problems, just help them to receive their desired riches, and fulfill people’s fantasies, they would experience peace. That is a lie!

People do not need physical or economic equality.  It is a spiritual awakening that this world needs. 

It is not about being fulfilled.  It is about the lost finally being filled full of the Holy Spirit through a new birth in Jesus Christ.  

It is not about satisfaction and pleasure here on this earth.  It is about salvation and peace here and for eternity through Jesus Christ.

It is not about having the American Dream.  It is about experiencing Heavenly Desires because Jesus has shown us what is truly real and important.

As believers, We must present the Gospel of Grace through Jesus and not the gospel of groceries and jewels.

The Large Following - 6.1-4

After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias).  A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.  Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples.  Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.

We’re not sure how long a time period elapsed between Jesus’ conversation with the two-faced religious leaders and now.  Depending on which feast is described in chapter 5, the time difference would be between 6-12 months.  Regardless, the Bible states that it was after these things.  We can assume that Jesus was continuing to be busy doing His Father’s Work.  As a result, we can also conjecture that those following after Jesus, as a result of Jesus doing all that He did, was increasing greatly, as well.  

Jesus had chosen to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  Most likely, He would have gone to the eastern side of this lake.  According to Mark 6, they went across in a boat. This would make sense, since, on the eastern side, there were less people and it would probably be much quieter.  To understand why this was necessary, we can look at the other Gospels.  According to Mark 6, as well as Matthew 11 and 14, a great deal of activity had been occurring.  The 12 disciples had finished going out by twos and proclaiming the Good News.  Jesus had been continuing to minister.  Plus, they had just heard the news of John the Baptist’s death.  After all of this, there needed to be a time of regrouping and refreshing.  

Interestingly, the Bible says that a large crowd followed Him.  According to Mark 6, the crowd, apparently, had gone around on foot.  It wasn’t just a few interested individuals.  It was a large group.  What was it that caused such a large following?  From what John writes, it appears that these people wanted to see more of what Jesus would do.  They had observed Him healing many people and were drawn to Him.  It almost appears that there was no desire to show Him love or seek the reason as to why He came.  It’s almost like they were groupies following a rock star.  It appears, as it often does today, that it wasn’t about the spiritual benefits, but only about the physical; that which was popular; that which met their felt needs.  

My friends, everything Jesus did was done with intentionality and purposefulness.  He went up with His disciples on the mountain and they gathered on the ground there with Him.  He was not going to be forced to deal with the crowd yet.  He was focused on those to whom He was investing His life.  

John also identifies the time frame.  He lets us know that the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.  This is helpful to us, as it shows that there would have been a large crowd there that may have come from far away and were there because of the Passover.  In addition, we remember that the Passover was a reminder to the people of God’s deliverance out of an oppressive pagan nation and leader.  It is possible, especially from what we read at the end of this passage, that the people were looking to be set free again from an oppressive situation under the Romans.

A Little Food - 6.5-9

Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?”  This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.  Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive 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 fish, but what are these for so many people?”

What an interesting place to put therefore.  As Jesus looks out to the large crowd approaching, you can just imagine the disciples following His look, while seeing this large group of people coming, as well.  The other Gospels state that after the people had arrived, Jesus did some healing and taught them about the Kingdom of God.  

Matthew 14 gives us a bit more information, where we see the disciples encouraging Jesus to send the people away.  They even suggest that these people should leave and go buy themselves some food.  Then Jesus asks Philip, rather than the whole group of disciples, an interesting question.  This is interesting to me on several counts.  One is that Jesus already knew what He was planning to do.  He was merely testing Philip.  The reality is that this has nothing to do with food; rather, it is an opportunity to strengthen the disciples faith and see Jesus as God, once again.  

Another thing that stands out to me is that the question assumes that it is the responsibility of Jesus and the disciples to take care of the food situation for this crowd.  The question isn’t even about Himself or the disciples; it’s about taking care of this large crowd.  Jesus approached this from a totally different perspective than the disciples had.  

Philip answered in a very logical and thoughtful manner.  He explained that if there were 200 denarii to purchase bread, it wouldn’t even be enough to give everyone a small portion. Sounds like how you and I might answer.  We present the hopelessness of the situation by sharing the facts, as we know them.  In fact, in order to show the impossibility of the situation, scholars suggest that the amount of money quoted by Philip was about 7 month’s wages.  I like how Gerald Borchert describes this:  rather than focusing on Jesus, Philip’s mental computer began to work like a cash register, and all he could think about was the total cash that would be needed to provide just a little bread for each person.

For some reason, Andrew then enters the conversation.  He explained that there was some food that a youngster brought.  Interestingly, he didn’t stop with that information.  He goes on and tries to diffuse that option by suggesting that even what this young boy had wouldn’t make a dent in such a large crowd. 

After all, if one presents enough information that it simply can’t be done, then maybe we can just get rid of what we see as the problem.  Seems like they, (we could put ourselves in this camp), forgot to go to the Creator of all that there is and see what He can do.  How like so many of us as individuals and churches!  We either give up or try to figure something out using earthbound wisdom and thinking.  Instead, we ought to trust God to provide what is needed in that moment.

Leftovers after a Filling Meal - 6.10-13

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.  When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.”  So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

At this point, we can probably assume that the boy may have been present when Andrew mentioned the loaves and fish.  You probably picked up on that when you were reading or listening to this.  

Instead of Jesus throwing His hands up in frustration or just running roughshod over the disicples, He gives instructions for His disciples to follow.  Don’t we learn best when we’re part of the process? 

Jesus gives instructions for His disciples to tell the people to have a seat on the grass.  I like that.  Even though their faith was weak or nearly non-existent, they still obeyed.  What a lesson for you and me.  There are times when our faith is nowhere to be found.  However, God’s Word continues to instruct us by His Holy Spirit.  We simply must obey.  We obey regardless of our understanding.  We obey regardless of it making any sense or not.  We obey regardless of what others may think or say.  Then . . . watch out!  Jesus is going to do something incredible!

In case you’re wondering how large a crowd this was, John states that there were five thousand men.  This is not even taking into consideration families which include women and children.  We would be hard-pressed to even guess how many people were present.  Most scholars suggest that the number of people was between 15 - 20 thousand.  Minimally, it was at least 5,000 people.  

When everyone was seated, Jesus, who was most likely higher than everyone else from what we read earlier, gave thanks.  To whom did Jesus give thanks?  My guess, is that He first thanked the young boy privately.  However, publicly, we can assume He gave thanks to His heavenly Father, as was His practice in multiple other places in the Gospels.  

After giving thanks, he made sure everyone who was seated in that place received bread and fish.  Again, we read from the other Gospels, that Jesus used the disciples to take the food from Him and distribute it to the people.  From what we read, it seems that the bread and fish just kept going.  It wasn’t like someone backed a couple of semi-trailers up there and unloaded all this food.  Yet, this wasn’t a little pittance; it was as much as they wanted.  How do we know it was as much as they wanted?  John’s comments show that the people were satisfied and filled.  Are we certain that nobody went away hungry?  I’m going out on a limb and say yes, since the disciples gathered up the leftovers and filled twelve baskets with it.  Also, when God does a miracle, it is always a complete miracle.  The word for lost is the same word that is used in John 17, when Jesus prayed and spoke of none being lost.  It would seem that in the context of dealing with spiritual over physical, this would make more sense.  Jesus’ concern is always with the eternal situation with the soul over the temporary situation of the stomach.

A Liege by Force - 6.14-15

Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him King, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.

As a result of all this, the people recognized another miracle. They experienced a bonafide miracle and sign that Jesus was God.   He simply fed the people.  But their response was somewhat mixed.  They saw Him as the Prophet.  I find it fascinating that they didn’t recognize Him as God and Messiah.  They probably saw in Him a little bit of Moses.  Moses led the people out of slavery.  Moses also instructed them on the manna that came from God.  

Then Jesus, knowing or perceiving their thoughts, sees that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king.  Sadly, they were not much different than so many people today.  Their focus was on themselves.  Food and health seemed to be the focus, as they had observed all the physical healing and now the provision of food.  Just think of it; if this Jesus would be king, there would never be any lack for food or good health.  

Of course, He knew and we know that this was not His time, nor was it God’s plan.  So, Jesus left everyone and went to the mountain again.  Jesus knew full well why He had come into this world.  He knew exactly what the Father’s plans were since before the beginning of time.  Not one person or group of people could change His purpose. 

Reflections

What are some of the things we can learn from this passage? Let’s start by asking some questions.

Are you concerned with the things of this world?  Are you occupied with the physical and emotional aspects of this life?  Maybe the focus should be on whether or not we are eating and digesting God’s Word.  Maybe the question of what’s for supper should be reworded to something like What from the Bible are you chewing on?

The Gospel message is all about Jesus coming to bring us eternal life; shalom in every possible meaning of the word.  Christian, please understand that though Jesus can deal with some of these other things, if He chooses; yet they have nothing to do with eternal life.  Remember that the rain falls on the just and the unjust.  People still get sick and die.  Relationships still get destroyed.  People still have bad days. And this among Christians!

When a person comes to Jesus Christ, it must always be on His terms.  To come to Jesus in hopes of restoring a relationship with someone else is not the Gospel.  To come to Jesus to experience physical healing is not the Gospel.  To come to Jesus to be successful or wealthy is not the Gospel. To come to Jesus to experience happiness is not the Gospel. 

What this is the Gospel, then? The Gospel is God’s grace and mercy expressed through Jesus Christ to an undeserving person like you and I.  It is to be forgiven for all my sins and to be given eternal life, being made a child of God.  It is to experience peace and joy and love.  It is to follow Him in absolute obedience and love.  It is to share with others the love of Christ so they will be given the chance to make their own choice.

We must present the Gospel of Grace through Jesus and not the gospel of groceries and jewels.