2/24: The Fourth Sign
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Scripture Reading
Scripture Reading
1 After this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias ). 2 And a huge crowd was following Him because they saw the signs that He was performing by healing the sick. 3 So Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with His disciples.
4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 5 Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” 6 He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do.
7 Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”
10 Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”
There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.
12 When they were full, He told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.
14 When the people saw the sign He had done, they said, “This really is the Prophet who was to come into the world!” 15 Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.
Intro
Intro
We come this morning to one of the more popular miracles that Jesus performs in his ministry. And as good studiers of God’s word we recall a very similar incident in the Old Testament that seems to actually be a foreshadowing of Jesus.
42 A man from Baal-shalishah came to the man of God with his sack full of 20 loaves of barley bread from the first bread of the harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people to eat.”
43 But Elisha’s attendant asked, “What? Am I to set 20 loaves before 100 men?”
“Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said, “for this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat, and they will have some left over.’ ” 44 So he gave it to them, and as the Lord had promised, they ate and had some left over.
And so already when we read of the problem, the tension, we know “oh yeah, this is going to turn out alright, because God is a God that provides to the uttermost!”
But it is possibly one of the most popular stories because it is one of the few stories that all four Gospels share in common. And to add to it’s uniqueness, this is the only miracle of Jesus performs, apart from the resurrection, that can be found in all four gospels. And really, we all know the story. Jesus is up on the mountain and he has compassion on the people and looks to feed. All that we know is that a young boy had five loaves and two fish. And a lot of focus is placed on the boy. He did not have much and in the same way you may not think that you have much, but give it to God and watch Him do something miraculous with it.
But this morning I want us to look at this text and focus on ourselves but see how it points us to who Christ is. Then, and only after, can we better understand what it is that it is trying to convey to us.
Body
Body
This miracle is truly an amazing miracle he performs. Can you imagine 5,000 men, not including women and children in that count all being fed by 5 loaves and 2 fish. Many scholars hold that the true count would have totaled nearly 20,000 people. To give you an idea of the scale, the Minute Maid Park, Houston Astros Stadium, can hold up to a little more than 41k people. So imagine the stadium half -full and everyone being fed from five loaves and two fish.
And it was not that they all liked a piece of bread and then passed it around. For we read in Matthew’s Gospel
20 Everyone ate and was filled. Then they picked up 12 baskets full of leftover pieces!
John reiterates that point that the people had all that they wanted. This is an extraordinary miracle. Not just by the fact that everyone is fed, but in the end we read that there were leftovers!
13 So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.
How is that even possible to start with food that would not even fill one basket, do you end up with 12 baskets left. Some have argued, even those who claim to be Christians, that this was not some sort of miracle. They try to reason or rationalize what had happened. Some opine that the people saw the graciousness and willingness to share of the small child that it brought about a great generosity among all who were in the crowd. And so everyone started to share with one another.
But we read clearly that this was not the case, the disciples distributed the food that Jesus had blessed and everyone had their fill.
One other interesting explanation that I have read was that the people were already there. And so Jesus went up to where all the people were and noticed the huge crowd of people around. Evidently, according to this one person, they were all there for a massive self-organized picnic. And Jesus’ question was merely rhetorical. The people already had food because they were just up there hanging out on the mountain.
But that was not the case. The people were looking for Jesus. Matthew’s Gospel reveals to us the purpose for why Jesus went up to the mountain. He was sad. He originally went to be alone.
13 When Jesus heard about it, He withdrew from there by boat to a remote place to be alone. When the crowds heard this, they followed Him on foot from the towns.
Under Freytag's pyramid, the plot of a story consists of five parts: exposition (originally called introduction), rising action (rise), climax, falling action (return or fall), and dénouement/resolution/revelation/catastrophe.
And that is where the story begins. The exposition or the introduction to the story.
What had he heard? That John the Baptist was dead. His dear friend, relative, and forerunner had finished his race and finished it well and faithfully. Jesus goes to be alone. But the crowds hear about his discrete movement and they follow him on foot from the towns. So that when he arrives, there they are. All of them with their sick and with their needy.
And this leads us to the rising action.
14 As He stepped ashore, He saw a huge crowd, felt compassion for them, and healed their sick.
And we see deeper into who Jesus is. He sees the desperate and the poor and the needy, yes. But more than that, he sees those who are in need of a savior. One who can provide for their deepest needs. And this act of service for the people really is a foreshadowing of what Jesus will do for them. Yes, he will provide for them physically here by healing them and feeding them. But beyond that, he is going to heal them and feed them in the deepest and ultimate sense as well. He will be the savior that they need beyond anything else that they can imagine.
Which leads us to the climax.
He asks Philip, testing his faith, where can we enough bread for all these people. Philip responds that it is not possible. It is way too expensive, not even 200 denarii would be enough to feed them. A denarii you will recall was representative of a day’s wage which could have fed about 3 people comfortably in those days. Makes sense though and so we see the huge amount of food that would be required, not even that much would allow them to even have a little bit. There is a lot of people here. Philip is essentially saying, it is an impossible task. It cannot be done.
And this question of Jesus was with a purpose. It was asked in order to show them the great work that he was about to do. What is impossible for man, is possible for God. He prays over the food and I want you to catch this, Jesus breaks the bread and Mark’s Gospel shows us how Jesus chose to work:
41 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to His disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.
Continuing in the Plot of the story, the come to the falling action.
He gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. When Jesus calls the disciples and at the resurrection, we read of how Jesus made the fish miraculously appear in the nets of the disciples. Additionally, in the Old Testament, we read of how God provides manna to appear in the morning and drove the quail to them so they could eat. Jesus, similarly, could have just made the food appear. That is definitely feasible, but he does not do that.
He chooses to use the disciples. Why? I think because it ultimately forces the disciples to recognize that this impossible task can only be accomplished by Him. They are distributing the food, they know that food is not appearing out of nowhere.
Secondly, they are distributing the food. That requires an act of faith. They knew that all they had were 5 loaves and two fish and yet there they go handing bread and fish to 10 people, 100 people, 1,000 people…5000…10,000…20,000 people. The disciples were put in a position of complete and total dependence on Jesus. Oh him to supply all of the food.
Conclusion
Conclusion
We need to be reminded of that a lot, I know I do. There is nothing too large for God. He can handle everything. I think a lot of times, we act as though we have faith that God can handle everyone else’s problems and not our own. As though God can and will provide for all the needs of His people, but when it comes to our needs, we stumble for some reason.
15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tested in every way as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.
He sympathizes with us and our weaknesses and knows what we have gone through. We can trust Him. Go to Him in boldness knowing that He wants to provide for our needs. He is not annoyed when we pray. It is not as though God is forced to listen to us when we pray, he desires us to pray all the more.
Finally, we end with the final part of a story. The resolution or catastrophe.
This miraculous event not only reminds us that Jesus can and will provide for us, but it also establishes that he is King. And unfortunately, the people confuse him for the wrong king. And so we are seeing that this is not a story with a happy ending.
15 Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He withdrew again to the mountain by Himself.
They sought to make him their earthly king, but what they really needed was a king! The promised king from the seed of David who would rule on the throne forever.
My hope and prayer is that this story continues and ends with a proper resolution. A happy ending. That as disciples of him we are reminded that he came not to rule on earth, but he rules from the heavens and that means we are to offer up our lives to him in obedience and sacrifice. Trusting that He wants to meet our needs and to lavish us with spiritual blessings. That is truly good news and that is what every one of us needs to be reminded of and encouraged with this morning. You serve a great God, let’s serve our king!