JOHN 6:1-7 | HE ALREADY KNOWS
Notes
Transcript
TEXT: JOHN 6:1-7 | HE ALREADY KNOWS
TEXT: JOHN 6:1-7 | HE ALREADY KNOWS
EXPLANATION: We’ve reached one of the most familiar stories in the Gospels.
In fact, the event we are about to walk through is the only miracle that is recorded in all four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and here in John
Jesus finished the evidentiary claims and defenses in chapter 5, proving that He is God in flesh.
Now as we come to chapter 6, Jesus and His disciples have crossed the sea of Galilee and they find there way up a mountain where He and His disciples are seated, likely resting.
Jesus looks out from there place on the side of this mountain and there is a great multitude of people that are making their way toward Him.
Now, when we say a multitude, we have a rough idea of just how many people this would have been.
A few verses later, we will find there were 5000 men, plus women and children.
This crowd could have been as many as 10,000 - 20,000 or more!
The Bible tells us they had followed Jesus across the sea because they had seen the miracles that Jesus did when he healed the diseased.
What multitude did Jesus heal that would lead to that many people following Jesus?
You’ll remember back at the beginning of chapter 5, as Jesus made His way to the pool of Bethesda where he found a man who told Jesus he had no man to help him into the water when the water was stirred by some angel to receive miraculous healing.
And on that day, that man met someone far greater than some water stirring angel.
He met the Water of Life.
With just a spoken word, Jesus healed the man and then took up his bed and walked away, no doubt going around and telling everyone what had happened.
The Bible tells us that the people who were coming to Jesus on this day were because of the healing miracles Jesus had done on them that were diseased.
APPLICATION: This isn’t the point of the message, but if we could side track for just a moment, think of the impact that man’s voice had made.
These was a multitude that was following Jesus because Jesus had healed a man in Bethesda and he told people about what Jesus had done for Him.
Friend, who have you told about what Jesus has done for you?
Where is your multitude?
It is the responsibility of every Christian to go and tell about what Jesus has done for you!
When is the last time you had a conversation with someone where you talked about how God has saved your or changed your life?
When is the last time you had a conversation that started with, “Man, I’ll tell you, God is so good!”
For that great of a crowd to show up looking for Jesus, this guy had to have really been selling how good Jesus is…
But here’s the thing, no matter how good he could have said Jesus was… it still would have fallen short!
ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever had someone talk something up about how great it was only to be disappointed?
Or maybe someone talked it up and then you found out they undersold how great it was!
EXAMPLE: We went to Fogo De Chow at my brother’s recommendations.
It lived up to the hype!
APPLICATION: You know, no matter how good this man had made Jesus sound, it still would have fallen short, because Jesus is even better!
Friend, you cannot oversell Jesus, He’s even better.
So, where is your crowd?
Where is the multitude coming to Jesus because of you and I?
I think we’ve got some work to do!
If you are here this morning, and you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, can I tell you, He is so good.
And He wants to have a relationship with you.
That relationship begins when you trust in Christ as your Savior!
You see we are all sinners and we need to be saved from our sin.
Not just because our sin makes us feel guilty, but because there are consequences for our sins.
The Bible talks about a very real lake of fire that all those who have sinned are destined to spend eternity in when they die.
And the only escape is through Jesus Christ.
You see the Bible says, the wages of sin is death
So Jesus went and died on the cross for you.
And we saw a couple weeks ago that His death was a sufficient payment for your sins because He was God in flesh.
When He cried out on the cross, “It is finish” He had completed the payment for your sins.
Now the responsibility is up to you.
Because God’s Word says eternal life is “the gift of God”
And a gift isn’t something that can be forced on you… it’s something you have to choose to receive.
If you have never received God’s gift by trusting in Jesus Christ as your Savior, won’t you receive Him today?
May there be a multitude the comes to Christ to discover that Jesus is so good… better than I could ever describe.
EXPLANATION: Now the multitude has arrived, and before Jesus performs the miracle everyone remembers, there's a conversation almost everyone forgets—and in that conversation is a truth that will carry every one of us through the hardest days of our lives.
This conversation is one that will offer hope to each and every person here today.
So for a few moments, let’s look at this conversation and learn some powerful lessons for our lives!
V.5-6a, A REAL TEST
V.5-6a, A REAL TEST
When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
And this he said to prove him:
EXPLANATION: Jesus looked out and He saw this multitude coming, and right away He realized there was a very real problem… we don’t have food for these people to eat.
Don’t forget they had climbed a mountain to reach Jesus… and now they are tired and hungry… and there was no McDonalds in sight.
No Chick-fil-a, No Chipotle!
While it may come across as a joke, the truth is, the Bible approaches this from a serious problem.
Mark’s Gospel gives insight that this was later in the day, so they had likely traveled a great distance and hadn’t had any food.
Not only that, we find out from Mark and Luke that this was a desert place, away from villages or opportunity for supplies.
The disciples actually recommend that Jesus send the people away rather than teach them, because there was a danger that some of those people might not make it back for food if they lingered longer.
And don’t look at this through our 21st century eyes… where you have a fridge at home and plenty of food to eat.
These people likely had one good meal a day, at best in most scenarios, and with the effort of climbing this mountain without any food, it’s likely that some of their very lives were likely in danger.
This wan’t just some minor inconvenience or some staged event… this was a real problem for real people…
APPLICATION: Do you ever have problems in your life?
I mean we all run into little things every day…
Out of toothpaste
Low on gas in your gas tank
Someone isn’t kind when they were speaking to you.
I mean they are definitely problems… but they may fall more in the realm of an inconvenience or a disappointment.
And the truth is, spiritual people are good at making problems small and viewing them that way.
Have you ever known someone that was really good at making small problems big?
I mean it doesn’t get much bigger than when you lose cell phone reception and can’t get it back right?
But then there are times in life, where it’s more than that…
It’s a phone call with life altering news
It’s a doctor appointment that changes everything
It’s a relationship that seems beyond repair
It’s a Real Problem… A Real Test.
ILLUSTRATION: Abraham was 75 years old when God came to him and told him that he was going to have a son.
Now if you were told that news at 75 years old, I don’t know how happy you would be, but for Abraham, this was amazing and exciting news!
He was finally going to have a son to carry on his legacy
But even more important, God told him that He was going to make Abraham a great nation and his family would be as the stars of the sky and the sand of the shore!
The excitement and relief he must have experience after years of being unable to have children, finally their prayers would be answered…
There was just one thing… that child wouldn’t be born for another 25 years.
There’s a lot of life that happens over 25 years.
You know we give Abraham and Sarah a hard time because they tried to take things into their own hands.
But if you had to wait for 25 years to receive the answer to your testing and your problems, you would probably try to figure something else out too!
Friend, this was a real test… it was a real problem
We have the completed Word of God and can see the whole story, but as Abraham and Sarah were walking through it… they didn’t have the rest of the Bible.
In fact… they didn’t have a Bible at all!
They just had the promise of God
God spoke to Abraham in chapter 12 and gave him the promise… and then he reconfirms his covenant in chapter 15 when Abraham is 86 years old, roughly 11 years later.
And then the next time God speaks to Abraham is 13 years later in chapter 17 when Abraham was 99 years old.
13 Years of silence.
13 years of waiting on God.
APPLICATION: Sometimes in the Christian life, we will face real problems… real trials… real tests.
Yet man is born unto trouble, As the sparks fly upward.
Man that is born of a woman Is of few days, and full of trouble.
Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
And on this day on that mountainside, Jesus brought to their attention a Real Test
V.5, A TAILORED TEST
V.5, A TAILORED TEST
When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
EXPLANATION: Now don’t miss this… Jesus didn’t ask the questions of what they were going to do to all of the disciples.
Jesus asked this question to Philip.
Why Philip?
Philip was from Bethsaida and knew this terrain… he knew these markets.
This was Philips home field.
This is where Philip was comfortable… where he would normally have the answer.
And Philip knew the math of what it would take to feed this group.
200 Denarius wasn’t enough to feed the crowd (which was about 8 month’s wages)
This test landed exactly where Philip was strongest and therefore most tempted to trust his own thinking to get them out of the problem.
The beginning of V.6 tells us why it was directed at Philip:
And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
The Word of God tells us this was a “proving” moment for Philip.
It was a test tailored to Philip!
ILLUSTRATION: Abraham and Sarah did have a child.
He was a miracle child named Isaac.
God had done the impossible and blessed them beyond what they could have imagined.
That’s why Genesis 22 must have come as such a shock to Abraham.
Now, I know most in the room have read this story before, but will you approach this like it was the very first time for a moment.
And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
The word used for “tempt” carries with it the same idea as the word in the our passage in John 6, when Jesus was proving Philip.
It was a proving and a testing to grow and strengthen
Now, if you’ve never seen this before and you’re shocked by what God is telling Abraham, then you have a small taste of what Abraham must have felt.
God had promised this child to him, and now God was going to take him away… how could this be part of God’s plan?
They make their way up the mountain, Isaac walking alongside his father.
On their way up Isaac asks his dad a questions:
And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
When they reach the top of the mountain, Abraham builds the altar and then ties his only son Isaac onto that altar.
He lifts the knife and take his son’s life
And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
You talk about a moment that would have put you on the edge of your seat…
Abraham is about to sacrifice his son at God’s command!
When the angel of the Lord cries out and stops the hand of Abraham… if there was ever a case for immediate obedience, I think Isaac was grateful his dad listened to God on that day.
Now, we don’t have anywhere in the passage where Abraham questioned what God was doing.
In fact the only behind the scenes insight we have into the situation is all the way over in Hebrews 11:17-19
By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure.
The Bible tells us that Abraham was going to obey God completely.
This was a test that was tailor made for Abraham.
It was an opportunity for Abraham to be proven.
APPLICATION: You see as Christians, it’s easy to say we love God
When life is going well and everything is smooth sailing, it’s easy to say “God is good” and to have a smile on our face.
But what happens when the waves come crashing down and you can’t see the light?
What happens in the moments that we face the proving ground?
You see, the truth is life is full of Real Tests that are Tailored Tests…
But don’t miss this last part… they are also
V.6a, A LOVING TEST
V.6a, A LOVING TEST
And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
EXPLANATION: Jesus could have asked any of the disciples what they should do in this situation.
He could have asked Thomas, and Thomas would have answered “I doubt there’s anything we could do.”
He could have asked Peter and Peter would have responded with “just step out of the way Jesus, I’ll handle this situation”
He could have asked Judas, but Judas would have taken up an offering to buy the food and then kept it himself.
But Jesus asked Philip.
And Jesus gave this question to Philip to be recorded in the Holy Scriptures.
You see Jesus could have given this proving opportunity to anyone… but Jesus gave it to Philip.
This test wasn’t to humiliate Philip.
It was an opportunity for Philip to discover the insufficiency of his ability to solve the problem… and to discover God’s power to do more than Philip could have ever imagined.
And in what should be one of the most encouraging part of the passage to us… Philip failed the test… He tried to figure it out on his own at first.
But as we will see in the coming weeks, Jesus didn’t cast him aside… He still allowed Philip to carry a basket and experience the miracle.
You see, Jesus loved Philip so much that He presented Philip with an impossible problem, so that Philip could experience God’s impossible solving power!
APPLICATION: Friend, could it be that God loves you so much, that He has placed you in an impossible situation, so that you can experience that God of the impossible like few other have.
I mean don’t you wish you could have been on that sea shore and watched the waters part after the children of Israel had been running around in panic?
Don’t you wish you could see the look on Abraham’s face when he obeyed God completely and watched God provide the lamb for them to sacrifice together?
Don’t you wish you could see Shadrach, Meschach, and Abednego walk out of the fiery furnace
Or watch Daniel lifted out of the lion’s den
To watch God work through the impossible situation that was tailor made with a specific purpose… To give those people an opportunity to see God Work and experience God’s power like few others ever have!
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.
My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
God has a purpose in every one of his tailored testings that you will face!
And they are always from a place of love, to give you and I the opportunity to grow like never before!
ILLUSTRATION: As a new parent there are few things that are more exciting than when you child begins to walk.
Maybe you can remember it… maybe you have a video of it.
They start to pull themselves up on things and then immediately drop back down.
But then the day finally comes when they let go over your hand and take those first steps.
And then they fall back down.
You cheer and you clap!
Now you as a parent, are you cheering because they took the steps or because they fell?
You are cheering because they took those steps, and you know that they aren’t going to get it right on their first try, but you are rejoicing for the steps they took!
And then you help them up, and you encourage them to do it again!
WHY?
Because you love them and you don’t want them to crawl around on their hands and knees the rest of their life.
So you present them with a Real Challenge for them, something that at first may seem impossible, because they’ve never done it before!
But you tailor the situation to them because you want to see them succeed, even though you know they will fall along the way.
And you encourage them so they can knock out this learning to walk thing and move on to other challenges in life.
And you do it all because you love them!
APPLICATION: Friend, God allows you to walk through the tests of life, not because He’s cruel and wants you to fall.
It’s because He’s loving and wants you to grow!
You see, Jesus wanted Philips faith to grow on that day and to experience Christ and His power on a level none of the other disciples would experience on that day.
And as you walk through the tests in your life, it’s because God loves you and He wants to help you grow through the things you are facing.
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
EXPLANATION: Philip is standing there doing frantic math—200 denarii, eight months' wages, and still not enough.
The crowd is growing.
Night is coming.
The weight of feeding thousands is pressing down on him.
And Philip is carrying it like it's his to solve.
The whole time Philip was trying to figure it out—Jesus already knew.
The answer was settled before the question was asked.
Read it slowly: John 6:6
And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
Jesus knew.
Not "would figure out."
Not "was hoping."
He Knew.
The bread was as good as broken before Philip ever did the math.
The solution was already in Christ's hands while Philip was panicking over the problem.
You see, Philip felt the weight of the burden… that was never really his to carry.
He thought it was up to him to solve the impossible problem.
It never was
The One Who asked the question already knew the answer
Philips job was never to solve the impossible… it was to trust the One for whom nothing is impossible.
ILLUSTRATION: A chair carries the weight so you don't have to.
When you sit in a chair, you're not holding yourself up—the chair is.
But an anxious person can sit in a sturdy chair and still tense every muscle as though they have to hold themselves up.
The chair was always going to hold them.
The worry and stress was wasted.
Philip was doing that—tensed up over a weight Christ was already carrying.
Trust is simply letting the chair hold you.
APPLICATION: What impossible weight are you carrying today?
A doctor diagnosis.
A wayward child
A broken relationship
Things just aren’t adding up
And you’ve been using Philips math, calculating, scheming, lying awake at night trying to solve your impossible situation.
Friend, what if the burden you are carrying was never yours to carry?
What if, while you’ve been doing the math, He already knew what He would do?
The same Jesus who already had the answer on the mountainside that day is the same Jesus who knows what He will do with the impossible things in your life.
Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times the things that are not yet done, Saying, My counsel shall stand, And I will do all my pleasure:
He isn’t asking you to solve it.
He’s asking you to trust Him!
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; And lean not unto thine own understanding.
The test is real—your problem is not imaginary, your pain is not pretend.
But the outcome is already secured—He already knows what He will do.
That's the love.
He doesn't spare you the test, because the test will grow you.
But He never leaves the outcome in doubt, because He already holds it.
The testing hand and the providing hand are the same hand—and it is a loving hand.
Friend, you cannot oversell the goodness of God!
The God who already knew what He would do on the hillside is the same God who already knew what He would do at Calvary.
Before you ever sinned, before you were ever born, He already knew what He would do—and He did it.
He went to the cross.
He already knew.
He always knew.
And He's still the God who knows exactly what He will do with you.
This morning, trust the loving hand that is walking with you through those impossible steps!
Friend, you don’t have enough for your impossible situation… but He does!
So choose to trust Him this morning!
