What We Miss, When We Get in the Lord's Way John 6:1-14

In verse 1 you read these words...”After these things...” When I see these words, I ask, “After what things?” Obviously, after the healing of the cripple man at Bethesda and a very one-sided confrontation between Jesus and the religious leaders, but what else? Read verse 2...

Two words “great” and “multitude”.

Great = the size of the crowd - as in it was a larger than expected gathering

Multitude = focuses is on the people specifically

This is important because Jesus never sees the number, but the need!

Notice if you will the phrase in verse John 6:2 the reason they followed Jesus

John 6:2 (KJV 1900)

And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

Let me give the rundown, in John 5 There was only one miracle recorded by John, that is the healing of the cripple man by the pool at Bethesda. Let me now enlighten you, John is picky about what he records in his gospel. In fact, between chapters 5 and 6 an entire year of the Jesus’ ministry has passed! The point of John’s gospel is not what he is led by the Spirit to leave out, but rather what he is led by the Spirit to include.

By the time he wrote his gospel there were already three excellent God-inspired biographies of Jesus written by Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Let us now focus on an event which all three writers recorded for us: The feeding of the five thousand. Read with me for context beginning in verse 1...

This is true of all believers, far too often we focus on the situation and not enough on the Savior!

There are two scenarios I want to present today. Scenario one is what we experience when our focus is on our situation. When this happens you see..

The Insufficiency of Your Ability vv. 1-9

There was a multitude of need surrounding the disciples. We don’t see this in John’s gospel, but if you will compare his word with that of the other gospel writers you will notice that Jesus began this teaching time early in the morning, then as Matthew tells us “When evening was come” and Mark explains that the “day was now far spent” Luke describes the scene this way, “the day began to wear away”. Long story short - Jesus was a long winded preacher!

I want you to consider this crowd of people gathered to hear what He has to say as He preaches to them. Imagine how tired and hungry they must have been. Imagine how tired and hungry Jesus must have been. He did not take a break at all that day, and when evening was coming, it was at that point that He turns to Phillip and asks, “Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat?”

It is one thing to walk with Jesus and see His miracles, it is another thing when Jesus looks to you, points out the situation, and says, “What are you going to do about this?” Church there will come a time in your life when you will face a situation and God will ask you, “What are you going to do about this?” There stood His disciples, looking at the crowd, and what do they see?

The Need was Too Great vv. 1-7

Jesus and Philip saw the same thing!

There was a great company that had gathered to see and hear what Jesus had to say

This crowd of people was even bigger than usual because we read in verse 4 that the “passover…was nigh.”

People were coming from all over the region, not to see Jesus, but to keep this feast

Let it be known though that the reputation of Jesus was such that He was well known throughout their lands

It was no accident, no random choice that Jesus asked this question of Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread...”

Philip was a local

Luke 9 tells they were near to Bethsaida, which happens to be Philip's hometown!

If anyone was going to know where the best place to buy food was, it was a local!

Philip’s eyes, however, were on his situation!

Look at his answer in verse 7!

Philip was blown away!

“Two hundred pennyworth” would equal about 2/3rd’s of a worker’s yearly income

Even if they devoted that amount, it would not be nearly enough to provide enough food to satisfy the needs.

In other words - “Jesus, the need is just too great for me! I can’t do it!”

Has God ever brought you to such a place in your life?

Has there ever been a time when God was testing your faith, to stretch it and you said to Him, “Its too much Lord! I can’t do it!”

Church, let this be an encouragement to you!

Even His disciples struggled with their faith, and Jesus was standing right in front of them!

Jesus and His disciples were standing on the mountainside looking at the same situation. Philip saw that the need was too great, and Andrew saw that...

The Means was Too Small vv. 8-9

There were thousands of starving people around them - that is a real need.

They had no money to provide food to fee them - that is a real problem.

In verse 9 we see a small boy with five loaves and two fishes - that is a real lunch!

Andrew found this boy, and brought him to Jesus

He told Him what they had

Then he asked, “How can this solve this great problem?”

It was beyond Andrews comprehension, he didn’t understand how this small offering could possibly be used for any good.

Have you ever been there?

If you haven't been in Philips situation, maybe you’ve been in Andrews

God is asking something great of you, and you bring all you have to Him, and it just doesn’t seem like its enough!

After all God has done for you, let me tell you, your absolute best is not nearly good enough!

I’m just glad that all God is asking for us to give Him our best and to trust Him for the rest!

When we rely on ourselves, our answer is the same as the Disciples was in Mark - “…send them away...”

How many times have you been in a trial and cried out to God “Lord, take this away from me!”

Church, listen to me, you need to go through the trial because God is doing it for your good!

If God pulled you out of the trial before it was over, you would never grow!

The next time you are facing difficulty, instead of complaining and giving up, try praising God in advance for what He is going to do!

Listen to me church, when you focus on your situation and not on the Savior the need will always be too great, and the means will always be too small. That is what happens when we do not have our eyes on the Lord. Every problem is too big, and nothing we do will change it.

What are you facing right now? What are you facing today? What trial are you in? What test is God putting you through? What challenge are you facing?

Does it feel overwhelming? Do you feel that you cannot handle it? If that is how you feel, then my friend, I promise you, your eyes are on the situation you are in, and not on the Savior!

On the mountain side in Bethsaida, Jesus looked to His disciples and said, “What are you going to do about this?”

Jesus is calling to you today and asking the same thing regarding your trial, what are you going to do? They should have looked Him!

When you focus on the situation you only see the insufficiency of your ability, but when you focus on the Savior, you see...

The All-Sufficiency of Power vv. 10-14

Instead of dreading the situation before us, we must train ourselves to focus on the Savior that empowers us! With our focus on Him we see...

The Omniscience of the Lord vv. 6, 10-11

When we don’t know the answer, we may rejoice in knowing God does!

v. 6…read with me...

The word “prove” here means to test, or examine

Jesus’ question to Philip was not asked in desperation - “Where in the world may we buy food Philip?”

The question was asked to test Philip’s faith!

I am glad today that Jesus never asks me a question to which He does not already know the answer!

When we don’t have the means to meet the need, we may rejoice in knowing God has us covered!

In the multitude, Andrew found a little boy willing to share his lunch with Jesus

He brought him to the Lord - I love that every time you see Andrew in Scripture, He is always bringing someone to Jesus!

This little boy had a simply lunch of five small barley loves - barley being the cheapest wheat available, this boy was most likely from a poor family

He came with two small fishes - similar to sardines - there is no way this meal was going to feet 5000, when it would barely fill the belly of the one who brought it

Here have all the makings of a miracle!

Church let me tell you, the one who made the fishes, can feed the masses!

No matter what situation you are facing, if you are willing to get your eyes on the Savior, you will never be disappointed!

Now we move from the omniscience of the Lord to...

The Omnipotence of the Lord vv. 12-13 -in the midst of their uncertainty we see...

Jesus speak v. 10...

“Make the men to sit down”

I cannot help but think of a correlation here between this event and Psalm 23 Where David wrote “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures”

In a few short passages Jesus will introduce Himself to the nation as the “Good Shepherd”

Here, however, He acts as the Good Shepherd, feeding His sheep, again, thinking back to Mark 6 and verse 34...

I am glad today to know Jesus as my Shepherd!

When you know Jesus as your Shepherd, you may not know how your life is going to turn out, but you know it is going to “work out:”

When you know the Good Shepherd, you may not know where your next meal is going to come from, you know you will be fed.

We see Jesus speak, next we see...

Jesus work vv. 11-13

He took the food and gave thanks for it

Did you ever consider that Jesus was hungry and tired too?

Here we have the God of glory, tired, hungry, in need of a meal and rest, but He never worked a miracle to satisfy His own needs.

Before He fed the multitude He thanked the Father for the food which was provided - demonstrating His humanity before He demonstrated His deity

Next he distributed the food to His disciples who in turn distributed it to the multitude

Here we see the miracle!

The crowd consisted of 5000 men, not counting the women and children

This crowd to which Philip declared 2/3rd’s an annual wage wouldn’t purchase enough food to even give them a little each.

This crowd to which Andrew declared the food available was barely enough to feed the young man who offered it!

This crowd, and all their need, was no trouble for Jesus!

Notice what verse 11 says there at the end, that the people took of the bread and the fishes, “…as much as they would”

This was no covered dish lunch where Jesus said, “Now everyone only take 1 piece of fish and two loaves of bread to make sure everyone has enough”

No sir! These people were hungry, and Jesus invited them to take as much as they wanted! and that’s not all!

There were leftovers! Read verse 12-13...

They ate until they were satisfied

There was food leftover!

Church, the lesson is simple:

When you find yourself in a trying situation, try focusing on the Savior instead of the circumstances.

Conclusion: When you focus on the Savior instead of your situation you find the following to be true:

No matter the need, God’s grace is always greater.

No matter you means, God will always make a way

Let’s bow our heads today....

With every head bowed, every eye closed, I am not going to call attention to you or embarrass you in any way, but I wonder if today you are going through a difficult situation and as a believer, you have gotten your attention off of the Savior and instead you are focused on your situation. Would you admit that today for the glory of God? Would you lift your hand and say “Preacher, that’s me. I’m going through a difficult time and all my focus has been on me and my situation.”

Today, child of God I want you to know that this altar is open and in just a moment I am going to invite you to come lay that burden down, to let go and let God as the saying goes, but before that, I wonder if you are here today you cannot say for certain that you have put your trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior?

Heads are bowed, eyes are closed no one is looking, let me ask, if today was your last day on earth, do you now for sure you’d be in heaven if you died, would raise your hand?

For those of you who could not raise your hand, I wonder if today the Spirit of God has spoken to you, and right here, right now, you know that you are not saved that you need to ask for forgiveness, would you raise that hand today? Be honest with God and honest with yourself. If that is you, won’t you come right now?