Fed and Nourished for Now and Eternity

John 6:1–40 ESV

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 worth of bread would not be enough 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. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. 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 work 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.”

Scripture: John 6:1-40

Sermon Title: Fed and Nourished for Now and Eternity

            This morning we will be looking at the only miracle besides the resurrection that is recorded in all four of the gospels--Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the 5,000.  The count of 5,000 that most people have in mind is of men, so likely with women and children present as well, that number is speculated to jump well over ten thousand people total, some scholars even estimating closer to twenty thousand.  For a point of reference, the Dakota Dome can seat 10,000, so we are talking a sold out capacity, and potentially up to a matching crowd standing outside.  All of those people were not only present on the hillside, but they also received a meal from Jesus without spending any of their own money or energy. Our focus this morning will be considering wants, the wants of this crowd in response to seeing Jesus and our own wants about him. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, a part of our identity as people, as created beings is that we want things.  When Adam and Eve were living and working in the garden with one another and all of God’s creatures, they had choices that needed to be acted upon, and God gave them the ability to choose what they wanted; that is what usually gets referred to as true free will.  Before man and woman were tempted by the serpent to want the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, there was want.  God gave our first parents the ability to want and choose good things that honored him, but he also gave them the ability to want and choose disobedience. 

When Adam and Eve chose to sin, putting their wants ahead of God’s wants and commands, sin laid a curse over free will; no longer do we have free will, rather we are corrupted in such a way that if it is up to us, we will never truly want or choose that which is good.  Our wants can only always be selfish.  It is only by the Spirit’s power we can want or do anything considered good.  All to say, want existed before sin—but it was corrupted by the Fall; it has both holy and sinful forms. 

With that in mind, let’s step back into the text.  We find Jesus and his disciples going to the north shore of the Sea of Galilee.  As Jesus did, regularly throughout his ministry, he tried to get away for some time of rest, time to be with his disciples.  But the crowds could not get enough; they had seen him perform miraculous signs, and John tells us, a great crowd had come to where they were going to be.  The Jesus movement is in full effect up here in the sticks far away from Jerusalem.    If we read this in harmony with the other gospels, we find that these people were not just arriving for the 5pm supper club, but they had actually been here for most of the day.  Jesus had looked on them with great compassion; he had willingly taught and healed among them.  Being around Jesus was not something these people wanted to leave; this crowd wanted to watch and participate for as long as they could. 

John brings us to dinnertime though, and Jesus had no intention of sending these people home hungry.  To paraphrase his exchange with Philip, Jesus asked, “Where will we order take-out from?”  Philip’s response is the equivalent of, “You can’t be serious, Teacher.”  He proposed that it would take 8 months pay.  Each of you can figure out what that would be for your salary, but let’s use a pastor’s average salary in the Midwest; we are talking around $32,000, give or take a bit.  Philip was shocked; he did not have that kind of money ready to go.  But then Andrew chirped in about this kid who had five small loaves of bread and two small fish; “How far will they go?”  Jesus, of course, made that boy’s meal feed him and everyone who was there. 

The first thing that we want to dig into with our text is the effect Jesus’ multiplying action has on the crowd.  Verses 14 and 15 tell us, “After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’  Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”  Many of these people had come, according to John, because they had seen earlier miracles.  Now they have watched him heal people all day long, but it is this dinner that really caused them to take notice.  It was no secret that something special had happened with this food.  The crowd knew that Jesus did not have large tubs of bread and fish behind a rock, he did not order take-out; no, clearly Jesus had performed a miracle. This was the icing on the cake that this man was “the Prophet.”  He was the one that was foretold since the time of Moses; they needed to listen to him because he had commands from God. 

Jesus sensed what was buzzing through this crowd, and he left that place.  He is the Prophet, though, so why would he do that?  The crowd knew about Jesus before, but it seems like this one day encounter really sealed it for them.  They wanted to make this man their king.  It was how strong and fast that conviction came, which illuminated something else for Jesus; this was a crowd that could be swayed.  The conviction this crowd had was an enthusiastic but shallow conviction.  They wanted to see and experience things out of the ordinary.  This crowd got what they wanted in Jesus; he even showed them that not only could he heal one at a time, but he could multiply a single meal to feed as many as necessary and have leftovers.  These people had been fed on what Jesus gave them immediately, and now they looked for more.  What they consumed from Jesus, felt nourishing and prompted them to act, but would it last?  We see this crowd had wants and agendas, but Jesus did not come to fulfill those things, so he leaves.

Now Jesus had interrupted his schedule to show compassion to these people, but after that day, he crossed over the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum.  But the crowd was not satisfied; when they woke up the next morning, maybe thinking, “Jesus is our guy.  He disappeared last night, but he will be back.”  After some searching, they realized somehow Jesus was no longer with him, but they would not give up until they found him and when they do, Jesus, the compassionate healer and miracle worker the day before, does not mince words with them. 

In verses 26 and 27, we read Jesus telling them, “You are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.  Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”  If you have your Bibles open still, look at verse 2.  According to John, the reason the crowd followed Jesus was, “because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.”  Look at verse 14, the reason for wanting to make him their king came, “after the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did.”  But in verse 26, Jesus confronted the crowd, saying, “You are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs.”  It seems like we have conflicting things going on here.  But Jesus’ rebuke and teaching is giving us two different levels of seeing; the second thing to grapple with in this text is the difference between observation and true sight.

When John wrote that the people followed him and labeled his as the Prophet because of what they saw, we are talking about the sight that we as humans who have eyesight can see what is in front of us.  These people saw what Jesus was doing in the same way that you see me preaching.  They were good at observing his actions, even recognizing the extraordinary nature of many of the things he did.  But to paraphrase Jesus’ rebuke, he said, “You just want me to feed you again, you came all this way just to get a free meal.  You are looking for me for the wrong reasons.  The right reason to look for me involves truly seeing and working for food that remains; this is the food that leads to eternal life which only the Son of Man can give you.”

A few moments ago we noted that the miracles had an effect on this crowd; observing Jesus caused them to act and treat him differently.  However, that does not mean that they had true sight.  What they were in search of was his ability to give them, to show them, to feed them with what they wanted.  The people did a really good job of observing the miracles, but for them they were just attractions.  Boys and girls, the way the crowd looked at Jesus was like a circus performer or magician; they wanted to see his show.  While they knew that he was supposed to be very important, they did not really understand what he was there for.  His healing could be encouraging and restorative to all who he came into contact with, let’s not pass that by, but the crowds needed to have true vision and clarity to actually see the long-awaited Messiah.  He had been sent from God, but he was not going to fit their mold or expectations.  True sight, for them and for all who can encounter Jesus, involves not simply sight, but the even greater commitment of belief.  Jesus taught them and teaches us that he is not just someone to be watched or favorited or even to enjoy what he offers right now, but you have to believe in him and consume what he really offers as the bread of life.

“What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?  What will you do?”  Jesus was full of truth as we see in the content of his messages, but he also was clearly full of grace as we see testimony of in his willingness to continue teaching these people.  Jesus had turned water to wine, he had healed people who were sick and diseased and possessed and unclean throughout the region and in their own midst.  He has fed them all.  Still they ask for another sign!  Not just any sign, but they hint that as the Israelites received bread from heaven, they would not mind something from heaven as well. 

Jesus, full of grace and truth, tells them in verse 35, “I am the true bread of life,” which just before that he tells them that they need true bread from heaven.  “He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.  But as I told you, you have seen me and still do not believe.  All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  For I have come down not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.  For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Those are words of life.  If there is anything worth putting everything into, not just your eyes that can observe, your ears that can hear, your mind that processes information, but putting all of your trust and hope in Someone, this is it!  Jesus told these people, “Feed on me!  You can see, but I want you believe.  I will not turn you away.”  He is not going to force people into believing in him, but rather he will receive those the Father gives him.  They had seen him do miracles, they had eaten and been nourished by the bread that he multiplied, but would they also see him as the bread of life?  Would they truly see the Son of God? 

We see what the crowd wanted of Jesus, but the question for us gathered here is what are our wants of Jesus?  When we read God’s word, we see that a Savior was prophesied in the Old Testament and that prophesy was fulfilled in the birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus, what do we do with that as believers?

Do we want Jesus as a celebrity?  These crowds saw what Jesus did, and it attracted them to him.  Religions around the world credit Jesus as a prophet, a teacher, and a really good man.  Is our following of Jesus shaped by how we would treat and expect to be treated by the nicest actor or actress, the kindest athlete or author?  Is what we want out of Jesus just his popularity, his pomp, and nothing else?

Do we want Jesus as our servant?  Scripture speaks to him being both Lord and servant, but do we really want him just to serve our desires.  He is the one that we can call on in any situation, and expect him to come clean up the mess or take care of the hard parts of life so that we can have it pretty easy.  Is what we want out of Jesus just his ability to take care of all our troubles with low commitment on our part?

Do we want Jesus as our devotions?  Do we just want to compartmentalize Jesus?  We pull him out not only when we face struggles and difficulties, but also when we spend time in the Word and in prayer, but then he goes right back in the box.  We want Jesus to save our lives, and purify us from sin, but we are not ready to think about what that means for how we address our work, our political views, our beliefs about helping others, or our business ethics?  Is what we want out of Jesus just for him to fit the patterns and views that we already have?

Or do we want Jesus not according to our want but according to his will and our need?  Do we want to take the Bible seriously—where we encounter how God has revealed himself and what he calls his people to?  Are we a people, are you and I among those who hear these words of life, these words of Jesus offering himself to us, and know that when it comes to him it is not just want, but we need him?  Christ has given us his Spirit to be a comforter and advocate, so that we can be assured that what is testified and promised here is true.  When struggles come up in life we know that we have a Savior who experienced trial and temptation and torture, even unto death.  When God called his people to orient every part of their being around him and his commands for them, Jesus does not abolish that, he fulfills it, and calls for his church to orient their lives around the kingdom and the values of holiness and love. 

If we want a Jesus who will not just meet our desires for comfort but who will completely claim us, transform us, and give all that we need to feed and nourish us in this life and in the life to come, know that this is the Jesus who we have encountered today.  As he showed himself to the crowds, the leaders, and even the children in our text, he still shows himself to us today, and he offers to you the same bread of life, bread from heaven, that does not run out and is able to truly satisfy all your needs and wants.  Brothers and sisters, come now to see, believe, and eat from this bread.  Amen.