Grumbling in the Presence of the Bread of Heaven
On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labour for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”[1]
Can you remember the last time you worshipped? I am not asking you about the last time you were in church or attending a service called worship. I want you to think back to a time when you truly worshipped. I mean, you knew the Living Christ was present, walking about in the presence of His holy people. At such a time you could scarcely breathe, the presence of the Risen Son of God was that real and that evident. Chances are that those who have truly worshipped—their spirits consumed with zeal and joy—will never truly be content to ever again simply participate in a rite.
The grave danger to people who have never worshipped is that they may become content with the boring routine of mere ritual. They accept that external effort somehow pleases God. The grave danger to people who have truly worshipped is that when the worship experience fades they will attempt to substitute excitement for worship. Worship takes work, and true worship is always susceptible to dilution through human effort to generate excitement. In order to explain what I mean I want you to consider an incident from the life of the Master as He walked and worked among the people of Israel.
What Did the People Witness? Jesus had been Jesus in the presence of the people. They had worshipped, and they were filled with awe and joy, at what they had witnessed. After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 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?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii’s would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 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. 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. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
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 [John 6:1-15].
Jesus had healed a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years [John 5:1-9]. The Jewish leaders were incensed that He had the audacity to heal on the Sabbath. Jesus seized the opportunity arising from this confrontation to witness to His divine Sonship [John 5:19-29], presenting multiple testimonies to substantiate His claim. John the Baptist had testified of Him [John 5:33-35]. The works which Jesus was performing served to authenticate His claim [John 5:36]. The Father Himself had certified the Son at His baptism [John 5:37]. Finally, Jesus attested that anyone reading the Scriptures would discover that they also pointed to Him as the Son of God [John 5:39].
Now you have the background to understand why chapter six begins with the words, After this. The text informs us that a large crowd was following Him. He had performed a great miracle. What would you think if a man paralysed for thirty-eight years suddenly got up at the command of a preacher and walked? This was power, unprecedented power, convincing power that Jesus was who He claimed to be.
This sign in itself was astounding, but it was only the latest among several miraculous occurrences, including another spectacular healing. The son of a royal official had been healed in Capernaum, and Jesus had only spoken from a distance. He hadn’t even needed to be present. No laying on of hands, no waving his arms, no prayer—He simply said, Go, your son will live [John 5:50], and the child was healed.
The crowd had witnessed these miracles, or at least they were informed of them. Therefore, when he left Capernaum following his confrontation with the religious leaders the people naturally followed. Who knows what He might do next? Whatever was going to happen, they didn’t want to miss the excitement.
Jesus, together with His disciples seated themselves on a hillside. As they seated themselves, no doubt anticipating a measure of rest, they saw the crowd making its way toward them. John observes that the Passover was near, indicating that they should have been preparing for that feast. However, Jesus saw that the crowd moving resolutely in His direction was unprepared for a trip back to town. They had no food. Therefore, the Master asked Philip where they could buy bread to feed the crowd. Philip made a quick calculation and realised that not even $27,000[2] would suffice to feed that crowd.
Andrew informed the Master that a lad present had a lunch, which his mother had likely packed (No, you can’t just go off without lunch. Here, I’ll quickly pack something so that you won’t be hungry.) The lad had five barley loaves and two small fish. Having informed the Master that the lad had this lunch, Andrew nevertheless wondered what good that food would do for such a massive crowd. There were at least five thousand men[3], to say nothing of the women and children. There were perhaps so many as twenty thousand people, and almost certainly no less than twelve thousand present at that time. All were organised in fifties and hundreds and ordered to recline[4] on the green grass[5].
Jesus blessed the pita (which the loaves were) and His disciples distributed them. Then, He blessed the two fish, and His disciples began to distribute them. “If Jesus used the common form of Jewish thanksgiving, He said something like this: ‘Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who bringest forth bread from the earth.’ Jesus ‘blesses’ God, i.e. He thanks God; He does not ‘bless’ the food.”[6]
John emphasises the lavish supply of the Son of God when he notes that all present ate their fill. It was truly a southern soul-food meal consisting of fried fish on bread. The Master therefore ordered His disciples to gather up the leftovers and when they had completed the task, they discovered that they had twelve baskets of fragments from the five barley loaves. We are led to assume that all the fish were eaten, but those present that day had more than enough to eat since they had plenty of pieces of pita bread left over. John makes it clear (as does Mark) that a miracle had occurred. This was no mere symbolic act, but rather a full meal deal designed for those that were present.
Conferring among themselves, and in light of the fact that the disciples had just returned from going throughout the land with the message proclaiming the presence of the Messiah,[7] the crowd decides that Jesus must be the Prophet all Israel had anticipated.[8] That prophet was assumed to also serve as a king to rid the land of the hated Romans. The disciples, in their service to the Lord, had been so successful that Herod Antipas had even wondered if John the Baptist, whom he had beheaded, had come back to life.[9]
“The people were focused on food and victory—not on the divine self-disclosure mediated through the incarnate Son, not on the Son as the bread of life, not on a realistic assessment of their own need.”[10] Thus focused, the crowd fully intended to coerce Jesus into leading them against the Romans. The men are apparently prepared to serve as a partisan force to overthrow the Romans. Knowing their intent, Jesus withdraws and His disciples begin the crossing of the lake. At this time, we have the interlude, unwitnessed by the crowd, of Jesus walking on the water and being taken into the boat.
All this brings us at last to our text. The people, realising that Jesus is no longer on their side of the lake, seize the opportunity provided by the arrival of boats from Tiberas bearing others who had crossed the lake to hear the Judean Prophet. Searching diligently, they at last find Jesus who immediately exposes their motives. They were seeking food, but He cautioned them to seek the Bread of Heaven.
What Did the People Seek? Without question, the people who ate the pita and the fish were excited. It seemed as if the ancient prophecies were at last to be fulfilled. Moses had given the people of Israel manna in the desert, and here was a man who provided food in a desolate place. Surely, this was that Prophet whom Moses had foretold! In a real sense, the people had witnessed the presence of God—they had been blessed with a worship experience. However, they were so focused on what they wanted, on what they felt, that they missed the reality of what God had done in their very presence.
Christ the Lord had broken through the pedestrian, mundane routine of daily life. He had revealed His might and power, but they were so focused on the gift that they ignored the giver. They wanted to be fed, and even more, they longed for power over their enemies. Christ offered them life—real life—and power over their own wickedness. The people, however, could only see the physical and therefore missed the spiritual.
There is no question but that the crowd that had been fed were seeking Jesus. The text is quite clear that they were seeking Jesus. They went to Capernaum seeking Him. That trek alone required deliberate searching since He could have been anywhere. When they found Him, He acknowledged His awareness that they had been seeking Him. What is of importance to our consideration at this time is why the crowd should have been seeking Jesus. The Master exposes the unintentional duplicity of the crowd. Listen again to His words recorded in John 6:26. Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
If this open exposure of motive was insufficient to awaken them to the fact that they were in error, their own reaction to the call of the Master should have removed all doubt. Jesus calls them to faith in the One whom God sent [verse 29]. There can be no question but that the crowd clearly understood that He referred to Himself as the One whom God sent. Their response in asking for a sign demonstrates that fact. Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat ” [verses 30, 31].
Again, the people were looking back to Moses in the wilderness, knowing that He had promised that the Prophet would come. They had witnessed a great miracle, and they had drawn the conclusion that what they had witnessed was akin to the provision of manna during the wilderness wanderings. However, they made an exegetical error.
Jesus shocked those who sought Him and found Him in Capernaum that day. Contrariwise to the assertions of the crowd, Moses was not the one who had fed the people in the wilderness! God had provided for His people [verse 32]! The Word teaches that God provided not only food, but He also kept their clothing from wearing out and protected them from their enemies. God had even provided water in the barren land. The people of Israel were fully provided for through the riches of God’s goodness and grace.
The focus of the crowd that had had been fed on the other side of the Sea of Galilee was on earthly provision instead of being centred on God’s grace and goodness. Grasp this essential element of the interaction or risk missing the essence of the exchange between Jesus and the crowd. The people had great excitement, and because they were so consumed by their excitement they missed the experience of worship. God came near, and they failed to see Him because they were so focused on what they might receive. The desire of the crowd overwhelmed their need. Having been fed, the people wanted more of the same bread and fish. Actually, they wanted even more than that—they wanted a king who would oust the hated Romans and lead them to national prominence.
Over the years I have observed a striking truth concerning what some have misconstrued as worship. The greater the excitement generated in a religious service, the greater the excitement demanded at future services in order to maintain the attention of worshippers. The vast majority of those attending the services of an evangelical church in our day would be offended were they asked to wait quietly on the Lord and were they required to seek Him in quietness and trust.[11]
Excitement generates an insatiable appetite for still greater excitement. If during a service, something miraculous occurs, succeeding services will demand even greater miracles. If speech is restored to one who cannot speak, then sight must be restored in the next service or it is thought to have been a failure. If a lame person walks in a service, then the dead must be raised in the next. If the music moves us to tears in a service, it must move us to laughter or dance in the next.
Man is so constituted that that which excites and inflames passion, incites still greater desire for passion during succeeding events. If excitement is mistaken for worship, greater excitement still will be required to maintain interest in the future. Consequently, those who are so deceived into thinking that excitement is worship discover to their dismay that they cannot be satisfied. There is a dreadful turnover of worshippers among those churches that depend upon human excitement. Though they grow large, they do so at the expense of treating many searchers as disposable.
Superficially, the people were seeking food and a great leader. Though they were unaware of their deepest longing, they were actually crying out for God to be in their midst. Had they known God intimately, they would have been content with the fact that He had given them strength and skill to earn a living and to provide for their daily needs. This is the essence of that portion of the Model Prayer that looks to our Heavenly Father and asks for daily bread.[12] Had the people known God intimately, they would have been at peace knowing that nothing happened in their lives without His divine permission. Surely there were some within that crowd that had heard the Master on another day when He taught that we were not to be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. After all, as Jesus said, sufficient for the day is its own trouble [Matthew 6:25, 34].
Something like that occurs in much of modern worship. I don’t mean to contrast styles of worship; I am only speaking of worship as we experience it in this day. The great swelling tones of a powerful pipe organ can stimulate excitement as much as can the throbbing rhythm of a great, driving bass guitar. A massive choir with skilful voices blended to sing a grand swelling anthem can generate as much excitement as can the multiplied voices of a great assembly lost in the music of praise. The swelling rhetoric of a great speaker can be every bit as exciting as can the shouts of joy that accompany the attestation of freedom. What is at issue is not the style of worship, but whether those who worship ever realise the presence of Christ.
The response of people to the presence of the Lord reveals what they seek. Perhaps too many contemporary worshippers don’t even know what they are seeking, and therefore they are misled and increasingly disappointed, or hopefully they are surprised by the presence of the Living Son of God and thus they are drawn into true worship. That brings me to the pointed application of the message.
What Do You Look for in Worship? So the Jews grumbled about Him. The crowd sought excitement and thus they missed a marvellous opportunity to worship. Their expectations unmet, they grumbled. Specifically, they grumbled about Him. I can only imagine how their complaints were framed. Perhaps they complained that He didn’t really look messianic. Perhaps they tried to compare Him to their mental image of what they imagined Moses to have been. Perhaps they complained that He ignored their felt needs. Whatever the form of complaint, they focused their disappointment on Jesus.
Something akin to that happens too frequently in our day. There are individuals who float from church to church like a butterfly trapped in an air current. These individuals are found first here, and then there, always on an endless quest for the most exciting service. Others try to stick it out, but they quit attending the worship, and then they try it again, only to quit at another point. They involve themselves and quit, and involve themselves again and quit, never quite able to make a long-term commitment.
Perhaps we can forgive children who seek what is most exciting. Usually they want to be with their friends and since they have made no strong commitment to Christ and His people, their peers determine where they want to be on any given Sunday. However, what can we say about individuals who profess to be mature and who are nevertheless incapable of seeing Christ at work in their midst?
I marvel at the thought of people who have never led a soul to Christ who yet look for something more exciting. Those who have made the effort to prayerfully win another to faith in the Living Christ have discovered that there is nothing more exciting than being used of God to give life. Yet, there are grumblers who complain that the church never does anything, or there is no program designed for them, or the pastor fails to feed them. I only ask this of such grumblers. Is Christ here? Have souls been saved within this congregation? Are believers being built up in the Faith? Is it possible that grumblers suffer from spiritual myopia and fail to see the Risen Son of God walking among us?
I have heard at various times people grumble because the worship somehow fails to meet expectations. I fear that often we have become so dependent upon modern electronic devices that we no longer think we need the presence of the Spirit of God. Worship consists of more than merely singing praise choruses. All of life is an act of worship—if we can only realise that truth.
The work you perform in your home can be an act of worship. The labour of your hands, though it consists of shaping wood or metal or giving form to ideas, can be an act of worship. The presence of Christ can overwhelm as we pray, if our heart seeks Him and not merely the gifts that He may bring. As Scripture is read, whether silently or aloud, God can reveal Himself, if our heart is open to discovering Him. In fact, I say, woe to the one who reads the pages of Scripture and fails to hear the voice of Christ. Woe to that one who prays and never knows that prayer is heard, much less answered.
Do not misunderstand. I love to sing. I love almost every form of music. I am convinced that God has gifted men and women to create music that will glorify Him. However, if I were deaf and could never hear a tone, I would not be restricted in worship. If tomorrow I lost my voice and I were to never sing another song, I would nevertheless worship the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me. I am responsible to seek Christ and as He reveals Himself to me, to worship Him.
This raises the issue of what constitutes worship? What is worship? You may wish to write this down. Worship is the natural response of the observant heart to the presence of God. When Jesus came walking on the water toward the disciples and Peter tried to walk to Him, the disciples were awed and the Word of God states that they worshipped Him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God” [Matthew 14: 33]. Elsewhere, we are informed that the disciples worshipped the Risen Saviour.[13] That man who was certified as blind from birth, the one whose sight Jesus restored when he washed off the mud Jesus made with spittle and dirt, worshipped when he discovered that it was Jesus who had given Him sight.[14]
Worship is to hold God in awe—to be overwhelmed by a sense of godly fear, even dread, realising the presence of One who can only be described as “Other.”
Worship is to marvel in the presence of God as I recount His mercies and the goodness that He reveals toward me day-by-day. Those who worship will find themselves amazed, astonished and lost in rapt wonder as they recall the goodness that God demonstrates toward His creation, and especially toward His beloved people.
Worship is to be so fascinated with the character of God that I cannot turn my mind from thinking of Him and His character. Obviously, such worship demands that I both know God and recognise the facets of His Person.
Worship is to love God so deeply that I no longer focus on my desires, but rather I think only of what will please Him. Such response expects that I am free from condemnation and brought into the love of the Father for His own dear child.
Worship does not require a particular state of mind. Certainly we can rejoice before the Lord, but remember that even after Satan had deprived Job of his property and his children, Job fell on the ground and worshipped [Job 1:20, 21].
If I walk away from the service thinking of where I will eat, of what I will order when I arrive at the restaurant, or what I shall do for the remainder of the afternoon, it is doubtful that I have worshipped. Is it because Christ was not present, or is it because I was not aware of His presence? He has said, I am with you always [Matthew 28:19]. Therefore, I must conclude that if I can leave the worship assembly without have lost myself in the depth of Christ’s love, it can only be because I was unaware of His presence. Christ was here, and I missed Him to my own detriment and loss.
If I leave the house of worship angry at some statement that the preacher made, it is probable that I failed to worship. If I decide to attend “worship” elsewhere because they have a better program, because they “minister” to my needs, or because they have a more exciting form of “worship,” it is not likely that I have worshipped or that I shall worship. My reasoning condemns me and exposes me as being focused on what is in the act for myself instead of seeking what I can give in the presence of the Living Christ.
Yet another question is whether I control worship or does God draw me into worship? Yes! This is not an either/or question, but it is rather a both/and issue. Those who prepare their hearts are usually the ones who worship. Those who come expecting to find the Lord are seldom disappointed. Those who want to be ministered to, seldom worship. What are you seeking as you come to church?
Throughout the week, if you recount the mercies of God, you are preparing for worship. If you invest time considering the love of God and responding to that love through intimate prayer to Him as your beloved Father, you are preparing for worship. If you invest time reading the Word, discovering the facets of God’s holy Being, you are preparing yourself for worship. If this is your practise throughout the week, you will likely rejoice in the presence of God week-by-week as you worship.
However, if church is simply your routine and you come expecting another to minister to you, you are probably more often disappointed than pleased. People living in disappointment are ripe to become grumblers, and if you haven’t already grumbled, you will probably begin to grumble and complain that the services don’t meet your needs or that the message is too long or the singing isn’t what you think it should be or someone failed to salute your flag or you will soon find another reason to grumble.
To such individuals, I speak the truth in love. Spend time with the Risen Christ and you will be delivered from your petulance. Focus on the love of Christ, and you will be able to worship even if the music if off-key, even if the sermon is too long, even if the children are too rowdy, because you will be in tune with the Lord of the church and not focused on your own wants.
Perhaps you need to consider whether you know the Lord. The passage I cite week-by-week does not consist of mere words. It is the very life of those who dare believe. Listen, weighing whether you have placed your trust in the Son of God. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” [Romans 10:9-13].
If you have yet to trust Christ as Master of your life, do so now. Don’t permit your own pride to condemn you, but instead seek Him and call on His Name so that He may give to you the joy of His presence. He is here and He now calls all who will come to receive His grace and to be born from above. Amen.
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[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Ó 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Two hundred denarii. One denarius was a day’s wage. At a salary of $40,000 per annum, two hundred denarii would be the equivalent of about $27,000.
[3] οἱ ἄνδρες τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὡς πεντακισχίλιοι emphasises that five thousand were adult males.
[4] Cf. Mark 6:39, 40
[5] Only Mark notes the detail that the grass was green.
[6] D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI 1991) 270
[7] See Mark 6:7-13
[8] Deuteronomy 18:15-19
[9] See Mark 6:14--29
[10] Carson, op. cit., 271
[11] See Isaiah 30:15
[12] e.g. Luke 11:3
[13] Cf. Matthew 28:9, 17; Luke 24:52
[14] John 9:35-38
[15] Two hundred denarii. One denarius was a day’s wage. At a salary of $40,000 per annum, two hundred denarii would be the equivalent of about $27,000.
[16] οἱ ἄνδρες τὸν ἀριθμὸν ὡς πεντακισχίλιοι emphasises that five thousand were adult males.
[17] Cf. Mark 6:39, 40
[18] Only Mark notes the detail that the grass was green.
[19] D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Eerdmans, Grand Rapids, MI 1991) 270
[20] Carson, op. cit., 271
[21] Cf. Matthew 28:9, 17; Luke 24:52
[22] John 9:35-38
