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When Little is Enough
John 6:1-13
Have you ever noticed our fascination with food?
Charles Spence was a Baltimore Ravens season-ticket holder, and he thought taking his seven-year-old daughter to a game would be a good bonding experience.
But once there, she found the food vendors much more enticing than what was taking place on the field, so he bought her one kind of junk food after another.
As the fourth quarter began, the Ravens were far behind, and much of the crowd had already left.
One seat down, though, sat another season-ticket holder.
“I’m surprised you’re still here,” Spence said to him during a timeout.
“I can’t bear to leave yet,” the fan replied.
“I’ve got to see just how much one little girl can eat.”
Have you noticed that some people can really eat a lot?
It is also fascinating to observe the magnitude of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 for it causes it to be found in all four gospels.
In John’s Gospel there are some details that the other three left out.
It is an amazing story; so let’s watch it unfold.
In our text today, we will identify three movements that will enable us to understand the significance of this miracle.
\\ I.
The first movement is PURSUIT vs.1-2….
Have you ever been so tired that you are just not sure you can go on?
I think Jesus was at that point.
A woman was in the backyard hanging the laundry when an old, tired-looking dog wandered into the yard.
She could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home.
But when she walked into the house, the dog followed her, sauntered down the hall and fell asleep in a corner.
An hour later, he went to the door, and she let him out.
The next day he was back.
He resumed his position in the hallway and slept for an hour.
This continued for several weeks.
Curious, she pinned a note to his collar: \\ "Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."
The next day the dog arrived with a different note pinned to his collar: "He lives in a home with 10 children - he’s trying to catch up on his sleep."
Well, we know from the other texts… Jesus was looking for a break.
He wanted to get to a lonely place to get some rest.
They were all trying to get away.
People had been following them incessantly and though they tried to get away, they had been unsuccessful.
Jesus was looking for a break, but He did not get one.
The people kept coming.
It is here that the remarkable difference of Jesus shows up.
If it had been you or me, we would have sent the people away.
But not Jesus.
In Mark 6:34 we find, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
Jesus had compassion on a broken people.
John reveals the people’s motivation.
Jesus had been doing such great miracles, they kept following because they did not want to miss the tremendous excitement of the “signs.”
But Jesus sees their need.
They are broken.
They need help.
They need a Shepherd.
Which brings us to… \\ \\ 2. The second movement is PROBLEM vs.3-10…
John gives us a time framework when he mentions Passover.
What is interesting to note is that Passover is a time to be in Jerusalem, not Galilee.
Nevertheless, Galilee is where they are following Jesus.
It is in Galilee that the real Passover Lamb is.
And Jesus asks his disciples, and more specifically, Phillip, “Do we have enough for dinner?”
You see… \\ \\ A. It was time to assess the situation.
Now, if Jesus had asked us, we probably would have set up a committee to evaluate the situation.
We would study the situation, consider all the options, and then probably table it till the next meeting.
I like how Milton Berle describes committees.
He says… "A committee is a group of men who keep minutes and waste hours."
Well, it was time to assess anyway.
According to Jesus, these people needed to be fed.
So they estimated the count.
There were about 5000 men.
But there were more than that, because, no offense ladies, in that culture they only counted the men.
So it was likely to be more than twice that, so the problem was big.
The first option presented comes in Mark’s account 6:36 It is the idea of an unnamed disciple: “Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
But to Jesus…
B. Sending the people away seemed unrealistic
The disciples’ solution was to let them fend for themselves.
To Jesus, this was not an option.
The people might faint from hunger.
Plus, it was night and not a time for travel.
And where would they go?
There were no supermarkets or fast food restaurants around.
So Jesus does not allow for this option.
But Philip can’t see the solution… v. 7… The disciples thought the problem was… \\ C.
There was not enough money.
Philip gets out his calculator, make a few quick calculations and determines that it will take 200 days of wages to accomplish the task, that is, if they can even find enough food.
So, along comes Andrew with another solution… vs. 8-9… \\ Andrew brings this boy.
Can you hear the responses of the other disciples?
“Nice going, Andrew.”
“Great idea…real smart!” “That’s going to go real far!” “What are you thinking?”
Obviously, with what this little boy had there was not enough food for everybody.
So here is a little boy with a small lunch: two little fish and five barley cakes.
This was poor man’s food.
These fish were probably not big, maybe more like sardine size.
The barley bread was not in loaves like we think of it, but more likely flat like tortillas.
But the five loaves and two fish would be a perfect number for Jesus.
It would be all He needed if the boy was willing.
Some have jokingly said that the greater miracle in this story is not the feeding of the 5000, but that this young boy was willing to give up his food.
But the boy seems willing… v. 10… Jesus commands “Everybody take a seat.”
This may have been an interesting command.
We know from the other texts, that they were to sit down in groups of 50.
It was dinnertime.
But this must have been troubling to those nearby.
Sit down to eat? Eat what?
The disciples must have been thinking, “We are not going to get very far on this boy’s lunch.”
\\ But Jesus does have the solution.
\\ \\ 3. The third movement is PROVISION vs.11-13...
Jesus performs a miracle.
But note how He does it.
There is no razzmatazz.
\\ There is no special pleading.
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