I Can See Clearly Now

1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 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?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 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. 11 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. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15 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.

Get On the Bus

John 6:1–15 ESV1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 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?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 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. 11 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. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15 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.

Get Into the Word

John wants us to know it’s Passover. He wants us to understand that Jesus has come to this place in ministry because Passover is near. As he gathers with this crowd, keep Passover in the back of your mind. Let it be a backdrop on which John is painting the image he wants his readers to see.

Passover celebrated the freeing of the God’s people from the Egyptian rule… from slavery. God had sent Moses to Pharoah, the leader of Egypt, with the simple message to let His people go… and he sent that message repeatedly. When Pharoah refused, God began his plan. You see, God’s will is going to play out one way or another.

God told the people of Israel to take a lamb, wipe the blood over their doorposts, and on the given night death would visit the homes of everyone except for the people who had the blood of the lamb over their doorpost. The firstborn of everything else died. And the agony for the Egyptian Pharoah led him to set the Hebrew children free. And God told his freed children to never forget this story. He told them to remember it with a celebration called “Passover”. A week long remembrance of what God had done for them.

John wants us to keep this story of the Passover in the backdrop of his gospel. We know that because he has mentioned passover 10 times in his gospel. And the parallel he wants us to see is in the person of Jesus. That’s why it begins early on with John the Baptist pointing to Jesus and declaring, “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.”

It is on this backdrop that John begins to paint his picture.

It is with the following words that he starts his gospel:

John 6:1–4 ESV

John is interested in seeing how his disciples react to this crowd. They’ve travelled across the sea of Galilee, the day is getting late, and Jesus recognizes that they are probably hungry. He wants to see how his disciples can get involved in the ministry to this crowd. What would be their response to the masses that have gathered that are hungry?

So he speaks to Philip:

John 6:5 ESV

5 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?”

Now be sure you know- Jesus already was aware of the issue: hungry people. Not only that- Jesus was already aware of what was going to happen by the time this event was over But Jesus is concerned not only with the hungry crowd- Jesus is concerned with how his disciples will respond to the hungry crowd.

Have you ever been out at Christmas with the bell ringers? How do you respond to them? I have noticed something, and I may have it all wrong, but I rang those bells before. In other communities I’ve served, I’ve been asked to ring those bells. And when I was ringing the bell, I noticed that the Presbyterians were not as generous as the Methodists. It’s true. But then, I had a theory. Perhaps the methodists were more generous because it was their pastor standing at the IGA ringing the bell. In the particular community I served, there were three other seminary students who were also ringing the bell. We would gather once a month, and I ran my theory by them. They decided to watch. And guess what? When the Presbyterian guy was ringing the bell, the Presbyterians stopped more often. When the Methodist guys were ringing, the Methodist people stopped more often..... and it actually came down to particular congregations being more likely to stop and give based upon if it was their pastor ringing the bell. I could’ve cared less.

But I think Jesus cared in this story… How, Philip, are you going to handle the service, or the ministry, to this crowd of people?

John 6:6 ESV

6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

John wants to reassure us that Jesus is not surprised by this. He knew what he would do. He knew that the boy was there with the 5 loaves and the 2 fish, he knew what Philip;’s response was going to be.... but He was in teaching mode here. This was an opportunity to show Philip how God responds to hunger, how god responds to unexpected needs. He wants Philip to think through the possibilities and come up with a God answer to this issue.

John 6:7 ESV

7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”

Philip’s reply is really quite practical; and rather uncreative. 200 denari wouldn’t be enough bread. A denari would have been a days wages; 200 days of working would not have provided enough money to purchase one meal for this crowd. That is what Jesus is saying. And please look closely at what he is really saying; if we bought all the bread we could with 200 denari, we would have just a little for everyone… not enough. We could ration out the bread and each person would get enough, but when we had all eaten no one would have been content… no one would have had enough.

How do you respond to the needs that God places in your path? You see, Philip looked at what he didn’t have instead of what he did have. There is a great need and he looks in his mental purse and realizes that his own resources, even the resources of Jesus and the twelve and possibly the women who were travelling with them were not enough. Instead of seeing the opportunity he saw the problem; instead of recognizing the one who had the answer he recognized the 5000 that were the problem. Philip was shortsighted, faithless, unwilling and irresponsible with the most important part of the story… the opportunity that God had placed in front of him.

The word there for “enough” actually carries the meaning of contentment. To be ok with what you have. To have sufficiency in either quality or quantity. What Philip is saying here is that there is not enough bread to make this crowd sufficiently content. They will still be hungry.

John 6:8–9 ESV

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

You know, Andrew makes things a little better. He sees the positive in the boy’s lunch: five flat barley cakes (barley was the cheapest of the grains) and 2 small fish(probably salted fish).

But then Andrew asks the question… “what are they for so many?” Andrew is not asking a serious question as in , “Jesus, how far can 5 loaves and 2 fish go?” No, he’s rhetorically answering his own question. “Jesus, we have 5 flat cakes and 2 small fish. That is nothing with a crowd like this.”

Where Philip fails to see the opportunity that Christ had placed before him, Andrew only sees the scarcity of available responses to the opportunity God has placed before them. And when that happens, most of us are just like Andrew and like Philip… why bother? Why even try? There’s not enough therefore the opportunity becomes a deal breaker.

We will have to travel on without them, perhaps. Even though they were on the right track, they were following Jesus maybe they are just too big of a load for us to carry. Let’s send them back and we will continue on with Jesus.

We will have to let them die here of starvation, perhaps. We really like the crowd, we just don’t like the added mess they bring. You know, we like the attention our movement is getting… but they need to step aside and let us do our thing. They can watch from a distance, but let’s not really take any responsibility for actually feeding them or caring for them. After all, if we care for them there will be less for us.

Maybe our best response is to apologize and go back about our own business. We like giving lip service to Jesus. He’s done many things, many signs… and we enjoy that. But you see, He’s called us and really not you. To God be the glory, great things he has done… just not for everyone, you see. You’re separate from us and not everybody gets to follow Jesus… some of us have to be spectators, not players....

Or maybe we will just let them figure it out on their own. We just crossed a lake with plenty of fish. They can get their nets, or borrow some… and they can do what most hungry people have to do. They can teach themselves to fish. Because, Jesus, you know. If you give them a fish, they will eat for today. But if you let them learn to fish, well Jesus, they will eat for a lifetime.

But Jesus says, “They’re hungry now”. There’s a need now. There’s children, and women, and 5000 men right there. And you want them to go to fishing school but they are ready for Red Lobster. Now what are you going to do about this?

And Philip and Andrew are at a loss for a real answer to the very real question: A legitimate opportunity for ministry to someone other than yourselves has just walked into your life- what are you going to do about it?

John 6:10–11 ESV

10 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. 11 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.

So Jesus has the people sit down. then He has the fish distributed and the bread.

2 key concepts for this story. Jesus divides it up, he gives it away, he distributes the food.

Secondly, the crowd had as much as they had a desire for. They received as much as they wanted.

John 6:12–13 ESV

12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

And when they had eaten their fill… they were satisfied.... they enjoyed. One of the most important things we can see in this story is that Jesus is able to satisfy anyone’s need- if we let him.

Jesus said, “gather up the leftover fragments., that nothing be lost.”

Leftovers. Who wants them, right? In this case, the best way of understanding this word is the “superabundance”. Now we know that “superabundance” is not an unrealistic term. Because they started with five cakes and 2 fish. And they gathered up 12 baskets full after the 5000 ate! This is new math. So “superabundance” is neither a stretch of the imagination nor an impossibility.

Those baskets were full of fragments. Not crumbs. The typical or average size piece of bread that had been given to everybody.

AndJesus says, “Pick it all up” so that none is lost. Lost. Useless. Less than what it was made for , not usable, done.

Get to the Bottom Line:

Our Weakness Is His Strength

You see. Neither Philip’s scarcity mentality or Andrew’s shortage of abilities could feed the gang that had gathered that day. Only Jesus could do that.

Get to Life:

Philip and Andrew were looking in their human toolbox to solve a supernatural problem.

Philip saw the 5000 as a burden and his resources as insufficient.

Have you ever been in the position Philip is in? An opportunity to serve Jesus is placed in your pathway. Jesus speaks, seeing the opportunity, and asks you in that still small voice: They are hungry, where can you buy bread? And our scarcity mentality kicks into gear.

We don’t even begin to answer the question, “Where can we buy bread?” We begin to look in our pockets and our bank accounts and determine that even if we could find a 7Eleven, we can’t do anything about this issue because our bank account is already overdrawn.

Please don’t hear me talking about money this morning. I’m talking about ministry opportunities that we know need solved, and we look at our own abilities and capabilities and say “We can’t do this.” We know that those who work with a ministry are worn out and exhausted, and in many instances we can do something about that circumstance by simply raising our hand or offering to help- but we don’t.

The Excuses We Use:

Because that’s not my ministry.

I don’t have that skill set.

God hasn’t spoken to me about that yet.

I’m going to pray about it.

And we are just like Philip. The opportunity has presented itself and we’ve decided rather than risk the sure nickel we have in our pocket we determine that the nickel stays put because it’s a sure thing. And people go hungry, and Christ isn’t glorified, and the worst part of all... we continue to live as if Jesus depends on us instead of the other way around.

God is not concerned with how much education you have or what skill set you’ve developed, he’s not worried about the checking account or the effect on the bottom line… Jesus is worried about hungry people, people without Christ, without hope, without home, without Him.

And He longs for us to look at those opportunities through His eyes and not see the money in our accounts or the skills and abilities we have developed. He wants us to see through His eyes that the opportunity He has presented is not of temporary and passing importance but eternal and spiritual consequence. And rather than counting our ability He wants to know if we have any availability- to see the situation through His eyes and His lens. To see that when He looks at the situation He doesn’t see money or skill or color- but he sees people.

Friends, there are needs that God has set before us. And He wants to know how we will respond. Years ago, I heard a preacher say that he had good news and bad news for his congregation. The good news was that God had all the money he needed. The congregation sighed relief. The bad news is that it’s in your pockets.

That’s how this is today, church. God has placed ministry opportunities in my life, and in your life, and in our corporate life as a part of the body of Christ- but he now wants us to know that in order to meet those needs He wants us to do what only He can do. And to trust Him that He will- through us.

God wants us to do what only He can do.

Philip looked at this need and He missed the people element, He missed the God element… Philip saw scarcity and impossibility where God saw people and Jesus.

Andrew saw the 5000 as an opportunity but his resources as limited.

There’s a difference between Philip and Andrew. Philip saw his resources as insufficient, where Andrew saw them as limited.

You see, when we view our resources as limited, we see our God as limited too.

Let me point something out to you- When Jesus told Philip that the crowd was hungry and they needed to find bread to feed them, He wasn’t excluding Philip and Andrew. They were hungry too. They had walked as far and rowed as long to get to the where they were. They were as hungry if not more hungry than anyone else in that crowd.

Do you think Jesus fed the 5000 and told his disciples to wait until later? Do you think that Jesus told Philip and Andrew, “Well, boys, you can go fish right after we feed this crowd?” No. Didn’t happen. They were all fed. The twelve included.

But we get that mindset, don’t we? I can’t help here because if I do there will be nothing left for me. So I’m going to limit myself on the basis of my own need, and in the process I’m going to limit God on the basis of my own need. It’s ludicrous- but we act like Andrew all day long and twice on Sunday.

God can’t do it because I don’t have enough.

Imagine the lunacy of this statement: God can’t do it because I don’t have enough. Do you hear how ludicrous that statement is? God can’t do it because I don’t have enough.

We limit God when we misunderstand how he’s abundantly blessed us already.

We limit God.

But look at this story one more time. John 6:12

John 6:12 ESV

12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”

Eaten their fill. They not only had their hunger met, they were satisfied. They enjoyed it. And they gathered up the leftover fragments, the abundance; actually the superabundance. From 5 small loaves, 12 baskets were gathered.

12 baskets. 12 disciples. I hope you see, the abundance of the baskets were for the disciples. The words “leftover” and “fragments” really need to be cut open this morning.

“leftover” actually means more than the abundance- the superabundance.

“fragment”, similarly, needs explained. It is an unfortunate word. When you think of fragment, you think of bits or crumbs, at least I do. And that is so far from what is actually being said here. “Fragment” implies the same amount you would have seen Jesus and the disciples dividing up to give to the people. Take a roll, split it in two, pass it down the line and it continues to grow. Not crumbs, a normal amount. And 12 baskets full were gathered.

12 baskets 12 disciples. Most of whom were just like Philip and Andrew-who couldn’t see how to feed the 5000 based on their own abilities and wherewithal, but who learned that if you place what you have in the master’s hand it will come back exponentially. You must see this morning, church, that while the 5000 were blessed by the miraculous provision of food- those who distributed it, who were about the ministry that Jesus called them to-were blessed far more.

12 baskets. 12 disciples. And it leads me back to Passover. Remember, the canvas on which John is painting this story? Passover.

12 baskets. 12 disciples. 12 sons of Israel. 12 tribes. Maybe I think too much. Maybe not.

You see Passover is recorded in Exodus 12-14, but the story begins long before that. In the life of a man named Moses. Moses born and placed in a river. Moses raised in the Pharoah’s house, removed from his people. Moses who flees to the desert of Midian, to live for 40 years- removed by both time and space from the people of Israel. That Moses.

Moses/Passover/crossing sea

God Sees People

Exodus 2:25 ESV

25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

God is Concerned about People

The one God speaks to Moses in the desert after 40 years and says, “I’m concerned about my people”, is the same God who said to Philip, “I think they might be hungry, where can we get bread?”

Exodus 3:7 ESV

7 Then the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings,

God Knows People Suffer

It’s the God who speaks to Moses and says, I’ve seen the affliction of my people” and the same God who said to Philip, “I think they might be hungry.”

Exodus 3:8 ESV

8 and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.

God Owns The Abundance and The Superabundance

It’s the same God who speaks to Moses and says, “I’m going to take them to a land of abundance”, that says to Philip and Andrew, “Make them sit down and divide these loaves and fish.”

Exodus 3:10 ESV

10 Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

God Sends People to Help People

The God who sent Moses to Pharoah is the same God that sends Philip and Andrew to feed the crowd. He’s the same God that calls you and I to see the opportunities he places before us.

Exodus 3:11 ESV

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?”

When We Fail To See God’s Abundance We Look to Our own Deficiencies.

The same Spirit of insufficiency that rested in Moses rested in Philip when he said, “Lord, if we had 200 denarii it would not be enough”., And it’s the same spirit of insufficiency that tells us our numbers are too small, our abilities are too weak, and our God is too little.

Exodus 4:10 ESV

10 But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.”

When We Fail to See God’s Capability We Focus On Our Own Disability

The same spirit of limited ability that told Moses he couldn’t speak is the same spirit of limitedness that tells Andrew 5 fish and 2 loaves are insufficient in the hands of a creating and abundantly giving God. It’s the same spirit that tells us that our resources aren’t enough and our God is not able to fulfil.

Exodus 4:13 ESV

13 But he said, “Oh, my Lord, please send someone else.”

When We Ignore Ministry Opportunities we Fail to See God’s Provision.

The same spirit of ignorance that told Moses to turn his head and plead for another emissary is the same spirit that told Philip and Andrew to send the people back across the sea to fish for themselves or buy their own food. It’s the same spirit that tells us to look the other way and ignore the gracious opportunity that Jesus has placed before us and wants us to fulfil

Exodus 2:25 ESV

25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

God Knows People.

You see, this God of Israel looked at his people and did not see insufficiency, or barrenness, or inability, or lack of education, or infirmity, or poverty, or anything else. This God of Israel saw people. He saw people.

And this God created the Passover to let them know that he knew. God provided Passover to show That He cared. God provided Passover to show That He was with them. God provided Passover to show That He’s protecting them. God provided Passover to show That He’d provide for them.

And he chose to do it through the most unlikely of people- one Moses, born in the bulrushes, raised in the enemy’s home, a murderer in his own right, and an exile from his people in a desert land- that’s who God chose to lead his people out of their bondage in Egypt.

And on this day, on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus looked on his people again, and they were hungry. And he didn’t see insufficiency, he didn’t see lack of ability. He saw people, and he asked his disciples to see them the way that he did And to do something about it.

God Blesses the Vessel that Provides for His People

And so on the canvas of Passover, Jesus provides for these people after they’d crossed the water. On the canvas of Passover, he gives them enough food to be filled. And from the fragments that were left over he blesses the vessel that he used to carry out his ministry to the people that were in need.

And it was at Passover that Jesus would meet the greatest need that all of humanity has ever had or will ever have.

John 18:39 ESV

39 But you have a custom that I should release one man for you at the Passover. So do you want me to release to you the King of the Jews?”

It was at Passover that Jesus died. Interestingly, it was not Barabbas that went free at the trial of Jesus. No, it was all of us. One free innocent man suffered for all captive guilty people when Jesus went to the cross.

Jesus saw the 5000 as people, created in the image of God, that he would die for.

Jesus saw their need, and he met it.

Jesus calls us, even as He called Moses, to bring people to freedom. To show the Passover of Christ one person at atime, one need at a time.