Sermon Tone Analysis

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.