FEEDING FIVE THOUSAND
John 6:1-15
The afflicted shall eat and be
satisfied;
Those who seek Him will praise
the LORD.
Let your heart live forever!
(Psalm 22:26).
Of all the miracles performed by Jesus aside from His
resurrection, there is only one that is recorded in all four of the gospel
accounts. It is the miracle of the
feeding of the five thousand. This was
an especially significant miracle. It
was significant because, or all the miracles that Jesus performed, this one
involved the most participants and had the most eye witnesses. Of all His miracles, this one had the most
in volume. The only other miracle that
ever came close was the turning of the water into wine. Perhaps it is significant that these two
emblems, the bread and the wine, are used in the Lord’s Supper. It is on the aftermath of this miracle that
John records the words of Jesus:
53 Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly,
I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood,
you have no life in yourselves. 54
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him
up on the last day. 55 For My flesh
is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56
He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.” (John
6:53-56).
This suggests that the miracle of the feeding of the five
thousand, while a historical fact and a faith-producing miracle, can also be
further seen as a type and a picture of the salvation into which we have
entered. In the same way that He
produced food for the people to nourish themselves, so also His salvation gives
to us spiritual nourishment.
It is interesting to note the location for this
miracle. It took place in a time of
retreat; a time when Jesus was seeking to get away from it all.
RETREAT TO A LONELY PLACE
After these things Jesus went away
to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). (John 6:1).
John’s focus up to this point has been primarily upon the
ministry of Jesus in Judea. He has
mentioned Galilee on several occasions, but little space has thus far been
given to the Galilean ministry. That
changes as we come to this chapter. As
we read of His ministry in Galilee, we must remember that Jesus had already
experienced considerable ministry in this area. He had gone from Nazareth to Cana and then down to Capernaum on
the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
The towns in this area had seen lepers cleansed and blind given sight. They had seen lame walk and deaf regain
their hearing. The number of His
disciples had grown to a core group of twelve men as the multitudes came to
hear Him preach.
It is at this time that Jesus takes His disciples away from
the crowds and the multitudes to a “lonely place.” Why did Jesus pick this time to leave? We would have thought this to be a prime opportunity to build His
church. His ministry is
increasing. He is big news. His teachings have made the front page of
the Herodian Herald. This would seem a
good time to start a new building program and to expand His ministry even further. Instead, we see Jesus pulling back from
ministry.
Why did Jesus pick this time to leave? I believe there are several reasons for this
timely retreat.
1. Jesus is putting Himself out of Herod’s
reach and from the prying eyes of His enemies.
Herod has already put John into prison and ultimately to death. It will be this same Herod who will sit in
judgment of Jesus on the day of His crucifixion. The time of Jesus has not yet come to go to the cross and Jesus
will not permit an untimely confrontation to take place between Himself and Herod
Antipas.
2. Jesus wishes to be alone for a
time. His cousin, John, has been
murdered. They are the same age. They share the same ministry. Of all His physical relatives, none has ever
understood Him and shared His vision and His ministry the way John has
done. John has believed in Jesus even
when the brothers of Jesus did not believe.
They have been linked together in a common bond from birth and before.
Now John is gone. His execution seems almost pointless. And so, it is natural to see Jesus taking
time to express His grief.
3. A third reason for this retreat is
described in Mark’s account. It is for
the sake of the disciples of Jesus: And
the apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that
they had done and taught. 31 And He
said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a lonely place and rest a
while." (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not
even have time to eat). (Mark 6:30-31).
This was to be a time of refreshing
for the disciples. They have been under
the pressure of constant ministry and they need time to recharge.
Have you ever faced the problem of
burn-out? What do you do when you
cannot do anymore? Sometimes you need
to get away so that you can recharge.
You need to go to a lonely place.
You will find Jesus waiting for you there.
SETTING FOR A SUPPER
2 And a great multitude was following Him,
because they were seeing the signs which He was performing on those who were
sick. 3 And Jesus went up on the
mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. (John
6:2-4).
It was one thing for Jesus and His disciples to make plans
to get away from the multitudes. It was
quite another thing for those plans to be put into effect. They got away from the crowds, but the
crowds did not get away from them.
1. The Following Multitude: And a great multitude was following Him
(6:2).
What attracted the multitude? Was it the sinless character of Jesus? Was it the depth of His teaching? Was it His call to repentance? I do not think so. I think that most of these people were attracted by the
miracles. The passage tells us
this. It says they were following because
they were seeing the signs which He was performing on those who were sick
(6:2).
There is a lesson here. It is that when you are only impressed by
the dramatic, then when the drama stops, you will cease to be impressed. Jesus is going to do a miracle today and
people will flock to Him. He will do no
miracles tomorrow and only the Twelve will remain.
What is it that drew you to
Jesus? Was it the superficial? If it is and if that is all that continues
to appeal to you, then it will not last and neither will you.
2. The Proximity of the Passover: Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews,
was at hand (6:4).
John is careful to tell us that this miracle was
performed on the occasion of a coming Passover. When the Jews were preparing to observe a historic feast, Jesus
provided them with a miraculous feast.
We are told this for a reason.
We are meant to see a similarity between these events and the events of
the first Passover.
|
The Passover |
The Bread of Life |
|
Instituted by Moses |
Jesus is a greater than Moses |
|
Involved the eating of a meal and a supernatural
deliverance |
Produces a supernatural meal in the feeing of the 5000 |
|
The Israelites are led through the Red Sea |
Jesus delivers His disciples from a storm on the Sea of
Galilee |
|
The Lord sustains Israel with manna in the wilderness |
Jesus is the bread of life who sustains those who believe
in Him. |
Notice that Jesus goes up on the
mountain. I do not know which
mountain is in view. The fact that He
goes from this mountain to the Sea of Galilee on that very evening suggests
that it is one of the hills that surrounds that lake.
|
There
is a great deal within this chapter that is designed to make us compare Jesus
with Moses. |
What was the purpose of going atop
such a hill? We are not told, but it
seems to me to be reminiscent of Moses going atop Mount Sinai to receive the
law from God. Jesus could have made it
easy for the people. He could have gone
into their villages and towns. Instead,
we read of him going out to a high place so that, if they were going to hear
Him and see Him, they would also have to make such a journey.
God does that with us. He takes us out of our comfort zone and He
calls us to a journey. It is a journey
of faith. It involves following Him and
it involves hearing His instructions, even when they seem impossible to keep.
AN IMPOSSIBLE REQUEST
Jesus
therefore lifting up His eyes, and seeing that a great multitude was coming to
Him, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?"
6 And this He was saying to test
him; for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. (John 6:5-6).
Imagine the scene.
Jesus and His disciples have left the seaside city of Capernaum and have
made their way eastward into the domain of Philip in the hilly region known
today as the Golan Heights. A crowd
soon gathers.
If you read this and think of it in terms of a Sunday
picnic, then you have missed the point.
It would be better to liken this to the scene of a rock concert where
the organizers are told that there are no toilet facilities. There are thousands of people who have
come. They have left the comfort of
their homes and they have traveled from far and wide to see Jesus. It is at such a time that Jesus asks a
question. He directs this question to
Philip.
You remember Philip.
His conversion is described in the first chapter of John. He is the one who met Jesus and who
immediately went and found Nathanael and proclaimed to him that they had found
the One of whom Moses and the prophets wrote (John 1:45). Philip had brought Nathanael to meet
Jesus. When we come to John 12:21, we
will again see Philip and he will be doing the same thing -- he will be
bringing people to meet Jesus.
Jesus asks Philip a question. It is a test question.
Jesus is testing Philip. Jesus
already knows the answer to the question.
He understands that this situation has taken place exactly for this
purpose. He knows that Philip does not
know this. The test is not of Philip’s
knowledge. The test is of Philip’s
faith. More specifically, the test is
designed to help Philip grow his faith.
This is noteworthy because the problem itself does not seem
to be a very spiritual problem. It
appears to be a very practical problem.
Jesus asks, “Where are we to buy bread to feed the multitude? Is there a local MacDonalds where we can
pick up some fast food?” There is a
lesson here. It is that practical
problems often have spiritual ramifications.
Notice also that there is a presupposition of responsibility
undertaken by Jesus. By His question,
He is assuming a responsibility for the welfare of the multitude. If I had been Philip, I might have been
tempted to ask, “Why is it our job to feed all of these people? We did not ask them to come. We were trying to get away from it all and
these freeloaders showed up on our doorstep.
Why should we worry about whether or not they eat?” The question is the same one that Cain asked
when he queried, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
The truth is that you really ARE your brother’s keeper. If Jesus is concerned about feeding hungry
people, then perhaps we ought to be concerned about it, too.
AN ADMISSION OF
HELPLESSNESS
Philip
answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for
them, for everyone to receive a little." (John 6:7).
A denarius was a small silver coin. Its name literally meant “a ten piece.” It took ten copper coins to make a single
denarius. This was the typical wage for
a common laborer. I don’t know that
Philip had a background in accounting, but he does a quick head count and does
some quick multiplication and he can see that this is not going to work. Even if they had the money (which they do
not), they cannot run down to the local Burger King and order 5,000
hamburgers. It will not be enough.
Philip has been placed into an impossible situation. He is brought to despair so that he can see
the inadequacy of his own resources. He
does the same thing with us. Why? Because until you come to the place where
you recognize your own powerlessness, you cannot be a channel of the power of
the Lord.
I did not say that.
The Bible did. This was the same
thing Paul learned when he went to the Lord and asked that his thorn in the
flesh be removed. The Lord refused,
telling him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in
weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Paul could not have accomplished the things he did if he was depending
upon his own strength and power. It is
only as he trusted in the Lord that he became a channel of the power of
God. Have you come to the point of
recognizing your own spiritual helplessness?
AN AVAILABLE RESOURCE
One
of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 9 "There is a lad here who has five barley
loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?" (John 6:8-9).
From Philip, we move to Andrew. Andrew was the brother of Simon Peter. We saw him introduced in the first chapter of John when he
brought his brother to Jesus. Everyone
has heard of Peter and it seems likely that Andrew lived in the shadow of his
brother. Yet there is something
wonderfully compelling about Andrew. If
Philip served as the accountant for the disciples, Andrew seems to have served
as their minister of outreach. Every
time we see Andrew, he is bringing someone to Jesus.
• In
John 1 he brings his brother Simon to the Lord.
• Here
he brings a young boy to Jesus.
• In
John 12 he will be seen bringing some Greeks to Jesus.
Not everyone can be a Peter. Not everyone will be a spokesman, having just the right words to
say all the time. If you cannot be a
Peter, then be an Andrew. Determine
that you will always be available to bring someone to Jesus.
Andrew does this. He
brings this boy to Jesus. The Lord has
been discussing the problem of food with Philip and as Andrew looks about to
see what can be done about it, he comes up with a partial answer. It is a young boy with his lunch bag.
1. Five barley loaves.
These were bagels without the holes
in the middle. They were not even whole
wheat bread. They were made of
barley. They were made of the cheapest
available ingredients.
2. Two fish.
The usual word for “fish” is icquV. This is not the word that is used here. Instead we are told that he had two oyaria. This refers to small fish about the size of sardines. They had likely been cooked and dried. They would be used as a paste to spread over the bread to make a poor boy’s fish sandwich.
There is something unsaid here that I think is clearly
implied. It is that this boy gave his
lunch to Jesus. Andrew did not wrestle
it away from him. He came
willingly. He would have been as hungry
as the rest of the multitude. The only
difference between himself and them is that he had planned ahead for his
need. He was willing to part with his
lunch and give it to Jesus.
There are several lessons we can
learn from this unknown boy. The first
is that the greatest accomplishments in life are often the result of the
surrender of the least gifted people.
This boy was not a great person by any standards of the day. He did not have a seminary education. There was no long string of degrees behind
his name. He did not even have a great
deal of food. But what he had, he was
willing to give to Jesus.
This brings us to a second
lesson. It is that when you give up
what you have for Jesus and it is not enough, He makes up the difference. The spiritual gifts and abilities that you
have are the ones you were supposed to have.
If they are not sufficient for the task you have, then you have not been
called to complete that task. This boy
did not have enough to feed every hungry person in Palestine. That is okay because he was not called to do
that.
A third lesson is seen in the
observation that this boy got so much more than he ever would have had he kept
his lunch to himself. He gave it up to
Jesus. He lost control over it. From a human standpoint, he ran the risk of
going hungry. In the end, he got to eat
much more than he ever would have eaten if he had held onto his lunch.
That is the pattern for all
spiritual life. It is the pattern for
our very salvation. If you hold onto
control and seek to be saved through your own efforts, you will ultimately lose
your life. But if you relinquish
control and entrust yourself to Christ, admitting your own helplessness, you
will find that He is the one who saves the helpless.
THE MIRACULOUS FEEDING
Jesus
said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the
place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 Jesus therefore took the loaves; and having
given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the
fish as much as they wanted. (John 6:10-11).
The miracle is presented in all of its basic
simplicity. The heavens did not
open. Trumpets did not sound. There were no angels doing crash dives
dropping bread into the laps of the people.
We are not told how Jesus brought this miracle about. He simply began to give out food and there
was enough for all to eat.
At the same time, we cannot help but note that the miracle
was performed and the bread and fish were distributed through the agency of the
disciples. They are the ones who gave
the instructions for the people to be seated.
They evidently were the ones who were used to distribute the loaves and
the fish.
The Lord calls for our participation in His spiritual
work. It is not that we are so
capable. We are no more able to bring
about spiritual fruit than the disciples were able to conjure up bread and fish
out of thin air. But we are
nevertheless permitted to have a ministry in dispensing that which God has
supernaturally given.
THE MANY FRAGMENTS
And
when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the leftover
fragments that nothing may be lost." 13
And so they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the
five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. (John 6:12-13).
Why did Jesus order the fragments to be gathered up? Some have suggested that this is a lesson
that we should not waste that which God has given to us. I think the real reason was for the sake of
the disciples. How many baskets were
there? There were twelve. How many disciples were there? There were twelve.
Jesus had provided, not only for the multitude, but for His
disciples as well. They had wondered
where they would get enough to feed the multitude when they did not have enough
to feed themselves. They may have
thought, “If we give up that which has been given to us by this little boy,
then we will have to go hungry.”
Instead of going hungry, each disciple ended up with a load of food.
That is not all. The
next part of this chapter will see the disciples on the Sea of Galilee during a
storm. They will be afraid. The boat will be in danger of sinking. Jesus will not be with them, but something
else will be with them. Twelve baskets
of leftovers will be there as a reminder of the power and the provision of God.
The disciples are being taught a lesson. It is a lesson we also need to learn. It is that Jesus is sufficient for our
needs. It is one thing to believe in
Jesus for my eternal life, but have I also learned to trust Him to provide for
tomorrow’s lunch?
A story is told of the famous explorer missionary, Dr. David
Livingston. He is reported to have
suffered a medical condition in which he was required to drink goat’s
milk. The story goes that he was
praying one morning and he told the Lord, “Everything I have is yours, Lord.”
The Lord has a way of putting such a prayer to the test and
Livingston was visited that same week by a tribal chief and he noticed the
chief taking note of his goat. Desiring
to show God’s love in action, he took the goat and presented it to the
chief. In return, the chief presented
him with the wooden staff he had been carrying.
Later that day, Livingston confided in one of his friends,
“I don’t know why I was so reckless as to give away my goat. All I have to show for this is this
stick.” His friend replied, “You don’t
understand. That is not just a stick;
it is the tribal scepter. You no longer
just own one goat; you now own all the goats in the village.”
When we have given everything we have to the Lord, we find
that He has given us a scepter. We have
been walking around ever since, thinking it is just a stick.
REASON FOR A SECOND
RETREAT
When
therefore the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, "This
is of a truth the Prophet who is to come into the world." 15 Jesus therefore perceiving that they were
intending to come and take Him by force, to make Him king, withdrew again to
the mountain by Himself alone. (John 6:14-15).
Upon seeing the miracle of the multiplied bread and fish,
the reaction of the people is to recognize Jesus as “the Prophet.” This is a reference to the Old Testament
prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:15 that promised the coming of a prophet who would
be like Moses. These Jews come to the
conclusion that Jesus is the fulfillment of that prophecy. Were they right? Yes, they were. Jesus is
indeed the second Moses who brought, not the law, but grace and truth to men.
In light of that fact, it is quite startling to read of the
reaction of Jesus to the thoughts and intents of the crowd. He departed. He left the area. He
withdrew from the multitude.
Why is this? You
would have thought that He would take this opportunity to lead this new group
of converts into His teachings, helping them to grow in their understanding of
His kingdom. Instead, He leaves. Why does He leave them?
It is because they are not willing to accept Him on His
terms. They want to follow a Messiah
who will be a conquering king and who can give them free food on demand. When He tells them that He is the bread of
life and that they must come to Him to be forgiven, they will leave.
Jesus does not allow people to accept Him on their own
terms. You cannot think of Jesus in the
comfortable way in which you would like and then expect Him to fit into your
own privately conceived mold. You must
accept Him as He is.
They want to make Him a king by force of arms. They have missed the fact that He is already
the King of kings. You do not make
Jesus into a king; you can only recognize His kingship.
There is coming a day when Jesus will indeed be recognized
as King. When it happens, it will not
be by force of arms or at the hands of an unruly mob. His kingdom is not of this world and the citizens of His kingdom
are not of this world. You must come to
Him on His own terms and bow before Him.
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