Plenty Plus Twelve

John 6:1-15

Why do you trust in Jesus?

Earlier this year a Gallup Poll was released and found that, for the first time since they began polling in 1937, American “church” attendance (Churches, Mosques, and Synagogues) dropped below 50%. Many Christians have responded to this by crying their woes and reminiscing back to the “good ole days” of the church in America. But what if the “good ole days” were only a mirage? What if we are simply beginning to see a clearer and clearer picture of the truth of the hearts of people? What if millions of professing Christians have been deceived into thinking that they love Jesus when, in reality, they actually only love the benefits that He gives. This ought to make us ask ourselves that very important question… what do I trust Jesus?

Many people were following Jesus

Jesus, who was in Jerusalem at the end of chapter 5, is now in Galilee

A large crowd is following Him

They saw the signs that He was doing

He was healing many sick people

Two probable reasons:

They were enamored with His powerful works

They wanted to associate themselves with Him because He was able to heal and perform powerful works

It was at the time of the Passover celebration

This was the second of three

The first was the occasion in which Jesus declared that he is the temple that must be destroyed

The third Passover is the one at which He is crucified

This middle Passover is used by Jesus to proclaim that He is the Bread of Life

This morning’s passage is going to set us up for this proclamation later in the chapter

Jesus tests Philip

He looks out at the large number of people coming to Him

Jesus uses this as an opportunity to test Philip

He asks Philip where they are to buy bread for these people

He is not actually wondering what store to go to but wants to set up the test

Andrew speaks up and says that there is a boy with 5 loaves and 2 fish

He points this out, yet he says that it is not enough

Jesus acts

He tells His disciples to have the people sit down

There are 5,000 men

This description is focused on the men in the group, not the entire group

There could very well be up to 20,000 people including women and children in the crowd

Jesus takes the 5 loaves and 2 fish and distributes them to the people

They had all that they wanted

They were full

The leftovers are gathered

He commands His disciples to gather up the leftover pieces of bread

They gather them up, and there are 12 baskets full

All 4 Gospels have the account of this miracle

All 4 Gospels include this detail of the 12 baskets

The 12 baskets are symbolic

They represent Jesus’ sufficiency for the Jews

He is not only the Son of God and the Savior of the world but He is also the One who is fully sufficient to meet the need of the Jews through His coming death and resurrection

Despite the miraculous sign and symbol, the Jews only see Him as the prophet

Deuteronomy 18:15- “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—

They might even have seen Him as the Prophet Messiah, which He was

but do not see Him as the Savior who saves men from sin

They see Him, at best, as an earthly savior to reestablish Israel in power and prosperity and to cast off the rule of the Romans

They are about to take Jesus by force to make Him king over them

They don’t care about who He is

They only care about what He can do for them

So why do you trust Jesus?

Do you trust Him to give you the things that you want most?

Do you trust Him to make your life better?

Do you trust Him to keep you out of Hell?

Or do you trust Him because He is the glorious Savior who is everything to you?

Colossians 3:4- When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.