John 6:1-21

MPS

Prayer:

Problems then:

Death, abandonment, need, fear

in the wilderness the people thought they would starve to death, they would die from the waters, they would die of thirst

YHWY faithfully and mightily provided for them and protected them

Jesus faithfully and mightily provided for the crowds and the disciples

problems now:

needs, fears

Solution:

(needs) Satisfied in Jesus

(Fear) Deliverance “do not be afraid”

Intro:

Good morning

Welcome to guests

Gospel of John- Come and See

Fake MPS: Jesus is God… I already used that on week 1

“The word became flesh and dwelt among us...”

every single week I struggle to come up with a main point that isn’t “Jesus is God”

its so difficult! Every page, every recorded account is aimed in that direction

Jesus is God

especially clear in this story

Real MPS: “Jesus is the Great I Am”

feeding of the thousands appears in all the “Synoptic” Gospels- meaning the jewish authored Gospels.

there are 4 Gospel: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John

Luke was written by a non jewish man who was a highly educated greek historian paid to record the story of Jesus and his followers for a curious benefactor.

The only Gospel this miracle doesn’t appear is luke. The non-jewish authored Gospel. Why is that?

Why would the feeding of thousands be dear to a Hebrew mind and heart and yet foreign to a Greek mind?

Culture. different experiences, different stories.

Just as Hercules was unknown to the hebrews

So Moses was largely a stranger to greeks

but he was the most foundational prophet of the Hebrew people

Authored the first 5 books of the bible

Every Hebrew knew Moses’ and the law of Moses down to the letter

literally- memorized by the age of 10

this was their education system,

their school curriculum

how kids learned to read, write, think and function within society

Greeks had schools of philosophy

Hebrews had the Torah

Which means if we (as westerners) want to understand the meaning of this miracle to the Hebrew mind, we knew to think through the lens of the Hebrew story

Setting the scene: Passover,

v4 “Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand”

P1: Fear, need, testing (6:1-4)

Exodus

Passover

Marked the beginning of the Exodus from Egypt

The passover, the crossing of the sea, 40 years in the wilderness then the entering of the promised land

Foundational story

a day of liberation from slavery

The time when the Hebrew slaves left Egypt in masses

they followed Moses towards freedom

to the point of no return

no turning back

crossing the Red sea on foot and then entering the wilderness

no grocery stores. How do you feed several million people?

Let alone thousands?

here they are, far from home, hungry, too far to turn back now, camped next to the sea.

what will the people eat?

what will they drink?

Where will they go?

Wilderness (exodus 16)

The people grumble and Moses seeks the Lord

The Lord hears the “grumbling of the people”

Okay, here’s the plan- I’m going to feed these people

so Moses says to Aaron and all the people, “come near the Lord has heard your grumbling”

The Lord provides miraculous bread from heaven (Manna)

and meat (quail) in the evening

from nothing, enough for everyone

he instructs them to leave any leftovers or scraps for the next day. Eat it all, eat your fill. Lick your plate clean.

Trust the Lord will provide tomorrow

the only day to pick up extra manna from the ground and store leftovers was on Friday, the day before the Sabbath day of rest.

Exodus: “whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”

God satisfied their tummies

beyond that, every need

not even their sandals or clothes wore out

Deut 29:5

Testing

Needs

fears

P2: Jesus satisfies our needs (6:5-15)

Feeding the 5000

These crowds have been following Jesus to the point of no return.

other gospels explain:

the people had been walking with Jesus for 3 days

they were out of provisions, stranded on the edge of the Sea (not Red Sea, Sea of Gallilee)

and Jesus feared they would faint or die if they tried to make the return journey to their homes without food

3 day hike without food- many of these people are following Jesus because their sick and he’s the miracle worker

combination for disaster

Just as it was for the millions of Israelites who, after the Passover, found themselves stranded on the far shore of the Red Sea with only wilderness on every side.

The Lord hears the “grumbling of the people”

Jesus hears the grumbling tummies of the crowd

Moses says to Aaron, “come near the Lord has heard your grumbling”

Jesus calls his disciples close to him on the mountain, “Let’s feed these people”

Jesus tests his disciples (v6)

God tests the people

disciples contrasted with the boy

childlike faith

Jesus sits them down on grass, pastures, like sheep

Jesus provides the bread from heaven

God miraculously provides manna

and fish as God provides quail

from 5 loaves and 2 fish, a meal for thousands

Jesus satisfies the hunger of the people

“all were satisfied”

God satisfies the hunger of the people

Jesus’ disciples pick up leftovers

v12 “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”

just as the Israelites were called to Gather up all the leftover before the sabbath

John: Jesus Christ Is God A Hopeless Situation: A Hungry Multitude (6:1–9)

John mentions that the bread is barley, which was the grain of the poor. The fish were probably very small. Before we are too hard on the disciples we should realize that we are not that much different from them. We see the need, evaluate our resources, determine that we don’t have the resources necessary to meet the need, and so we do nothing. Often Jesus wants us to give all that we have and trust Him to use our meager resources to do more than we could imagine. When it is done this way Jesus gets the glory because it is evident that He does it.

Jesus hears the grumble

Jesus provides miraculously

Jesus satisfies the hungry, the needy

The point: Jesus is God

Need

Satisfied

When the people saw, they believe Jesus is The Prophet.

The prophet is a way of saying, the Prophet Moses promised us

(Deuteronomy 18:15)

Want to make him king

Doesn’t Jesus want be king? Isn’t he king?

not like other kings

Cross before the throne

before he would ask his people to lay their lives down for him

he would lay his life down for them

before asking to be served, he came to serve

“Jesus withdrew again”

not yet. I got more to do for my people.

Transition: What a crazy day for the disciples. probably have no idea what they just experienced

eager to get the heck out of there and back to civilization

hop in a boat- don’t even wait up for Jesus,

(ever get up, put your coat on a walk out the door to give the signal- lets go, we’re done here.)

figure they’ll see him in another boat just behind them

but they don’t. they’re long day isn’t over- not even close

P3: Jesus settles our fears (6:16-21)

trapped in a storm, lost fighting for their lives

going under

significance of water and seas

Entering the promised Land

crossing water into the wilderness (Red sea)

crossing water from the wilderness into the promised land (Jordan River)

Walking on water

not through, over

“It is I do not be afraid”

Ego Emi - It is I, It is I

sounds a lot like God’s name

Moses, the burning bush

I am I am

Yhwhy

“The Great I Am”

Fear

Stilled

The God who provides bread from heaven to millions for decades

The God who parts the water, stops the waters and walks on the waters

is sitting in your boat, looking at you eye to eye, face to face

Do not be afraid. I’m here.

God came to us. God came for us. God is with us now.