Please remain standing out of respect for God's Word and turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John chapter 6. John chapter 6 and the first 15 verses. John chapter 6 verses 1 through 15, and this is God's Holy Word. After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. Then a great multitude followed him, because they saw his signs which he performed on those who were deceased. And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread that these may eat? But this he said to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon's brother, said to him, there is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many? Then Jesus said, make the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the man sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down, and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, he said to his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost. Therefore they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, This is truly the prophet who is to come into the world. Therefore, when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he departed again to the mountain by himself, alone. Congregation, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen. Please be seated. Beloved congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, In all those years when I taught economics at the university and other places, the first thing that I explain, and by way of a didactic analysis, as they call it, I have to explain the reason for economics. I have to explain to students why should they go to great lengths to understand the economic science, or in other words, why do we need economics? What is its purpose? If you want to teach people something, you first have to sell it. You have to convince them why this is important for them. And once I have dealt with this question, I've thrown out the question, and all kinds of ideas are floating back, I move on to explain to the students that the reason for the existence of an economic science is the reality of what is called scarcity. Scarcity means that of most things, we do not have as much as we want to or as we would like to have. Just think of your paycheck. It's never as much as we would like it to be. Or think of time. Moms, homemakers, 24 hours are surely not enough in one day, it seems. And time is just another resource that is scarce. In other words, and summarily, we can say that usually our demand for things or for most things outstrips their supply. And that's why we need economics, as it is the science of how to use these scarce resources most profitably for most people. But let us now, on a biblical level, ask the question, why there even is something like scarcity? And the solution and the answer for our question we find in Genesis chapter 3. After the fall, God pronounced His judgment on the serpent, on Eve, and on Adam, to whom He says, Cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life, Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. And you shall eat the herb of the field, In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, Till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For dust you are, and to dust you shall return. Now, apart from the whole judgment for the fall being pronounced on the serpent, on Eve and on Adam, here we have also, as one ramification of the fall, the end of abundance and the beginning of scarcity. This is utterly important for us. Otherwise, as it happens so often, we miss the whole point of this text. Because before the fall, man wasn't lacking anything. They didn't have to economize. They didn't have to worry about having enough. There was abundance. And in the backdrop of this, we have to understand that this morning, our passage deals with this very issue of scarcity, as we see even the apostles struggling with it. And we will witness another great sign that will point to the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Jesus and His disciples are in Galilee. And we are probably in the month of April in the year of 29 AD, short before the Passover, as we learned from verse 4. This is the end of Jesus' 18-month long so-called or called Great Galilean ministry, which began after His encounter with the Samaritan woman when He went to Galilee. Most events of this Great Galilean ministry are not recorded in the Gospel of John. But the miracle that we are going to look at this morning is actually the only miracle, the only sign of the Lord Jesus Christ that is represented and described in all four Gospels. Now it says that Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. Now we read this and we think, interesting, and we move on. But there's a reason for this. We are in the area of Bethsaida in Galilee and the disciples have just returned from a missionary tour. They were wiped out. They were tired. They were drained. Jesus had just learned of the death of John the Baptist. And because of all this commotion, He was seeking a quiet environment for them to rest. In the parallel passage in Mark chapter 6, He tells the disciples, come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while. For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. I'm very, very thankful for these three words. Rest a while. I know many of you can relate, but it's especially a problem in the ministry, because every time you rest, you have a bad conscience, because there's a world that needs to be saved, there's a congregation that needs to be tended to, there are people with problems, with prayer requests, there's much studying to do, two sermons to prepare, two worship services to lay out, and every time you rest, you think, actually, I shouldn't, I shouldn't, I shouldn't. Yes, you should. Because if he burned out, he helped nobody. And here we have it even in the Scriptures. He says, come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while. Jesus is a wise leader. He's a wise rabbi. And his yoke is light. And He makes sure that His disciples rest, resting not by watching TV, resting not by going to an amusement park, but resting in His presence, coming down, slowing down, tending to their souls. But the next time, the next thing we read in our passage, sadly, is in John, that a great multitude followed Him. because they saw his signs which he performed on those who were deceased. So they wanted to rest, but the people don't give him peace, and therefore there's not much rest for them. So they all run after them. The whole crowd was following them wherever they went. But do not let this picture fool you. These were not people who rejoiced in the coming of the long-awaited Messiah and who wanted to repent and find forgiveness for their sins. No, far from it. It says they came because they saw His signs, which He performed on those who were deceased. Or in other words, these people wanted healing for their bodies and not for their souls. Isn't that what we often see in churches in our culture? That people come to churches for all kinds of reasons other than bowing their knees before the Lord Jesus Christ and worshiping the triune God in Him? Don't they come for all kinds of reasons like gaining respectability in a certain community or pleasing or appeasing their own parents or grandparents or to get some ethics for their children or even to be entertained or to receive material or any other help. There are a thousand reasons why people come to church other than Jesus Christ. And much of the contemporary church, I'm sad to say, delivers and supplies exactly what is being demanded. One commentator writes, the church is no longer seen as the palace of the king of kings, nor as the world's law center and mercy seat. It is a sociological center instead ministering to human needs by a variety of sociological and psychological means. The church works to make people feel at home rather than in the presence of the King by His grace." End of quote. Our beloved, this is the kind of multitude that followed Jesus, they ran all the way around the lake to get to Him in the hope to be healed or in the hopes to see a miracle or a spectacle. I just don't want you to think that He was readily received in Galilee. Remember what Jesus said in chapter 4, verse 44, that the prophet has no honor in his own country. And that was the truth. So Jesus walks up a mountain with His disciples, perhaps still to get away from the crowds, but to no avail. The crowds follow Him again. And then Jesus gets up, not to avoid them, but to turn to them. And it says in Matthew's account, In chapter 14, verse 14, and he was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick. I think this is scandalous. This is absolutely scandalous. We just heard why they followed Him, not to repent for their sins and to turn to Jesus in order to receive forgiveness for their sins, but to be healed in their bodies and to see miracles and other spectacles. That was their motive. Man, wouldn't that be a time to preach fire from heaven? But Jesus was moved with compassion for them and He healed their sick. And we have to pause here. It would be very wrong to just move on because this is the Savior that we have. This is the God that we have. In Colossians chapter 2, verse 9, we read, for in Him dwells the whole fullness of the Godhead bodily. So you cannot even say, well, that's Jesus, but what about the Father? Father is the harsh one, isn't he? That's just Jesus, I'm afraid of the Father. No, you can't be if you want to be doctrinally true to the Scriptures. For in Him, Christ dwells, the whole fullness of the Godhead bodily. This compassion that you see in the Lord Jesus Christ here and on many other places, His kindness, His warmth, His patience is the kindness, the patience and the warmth of both the Father and the Holy Spirit as well. Because in Him dwells the whole fullness of the Godhead bodily. Pause again with me. We live in a day and age when you just have to look for a few minutes on Facebook among even Reformed Christians and you see all the anger, the lack of patience, the hatred that we have among each other even. And here you have a situation where people follow Jesus Christ for all the wrong reasons. Pause a moment. Pause a moment and ask yourself, what are the most orthodox of us? What would they say to them? What would they say to this crowd before they knew that Jesus had compassion? All these angry young men who know everything and have no patience. What would they say? Away with you, you scoundrels. You're here for all the wrong reasons. You must bow your knees before the Lord Jesus Christ. Get lost! Now listen to what Jesus says, what He does. He was moved with compassion for them. And I ask all these young and older angry Reformed, how is it with your compassion? How is it with your patience? How is it with your warmth? Because I tell you right here and now, you can be 100% orthodox and be straight on your way to hell. You know, I don't play games with doctrine, but I also don't play games with the Christian life. If all you have is a literal orthodoxy, if all you have is cognitive orthodoxy, no patience, no warmth, no love, no compassion, you are none of Christ. Hear this, all you young men on Facebook, whoever happened to listen to this sermon, listen to this. How is it with your Christian life? How is it with your compassion? How is it with your kindness? Who you butcher each other on Facebook every day, all day long. Who look down on those who have slower understanding or not as much inside of you. Who have no compassion and no patience. Listen to Jesus Christ. He was moved with compassion for them and He healed their sick. That is Reformed theology applied. So many Christians. live without realizing this compassion of God. Those who are impatient and unkind with others, but also those who are impatient and unkind with themselves. So many live constantly fearing God in a very unhealthy way, not seeing how compassionate it is. They almost are tortured by their thoughts of almost seeing our Lord as a trickster. Yeah, who tells them all right to come, who tells them all right that he will cast out no one who comes to them, but when they come, it was all a joke. I didn't mean you, I meant everybody else. Because you're really not good enough, you're really not kind enough, you're really not godly enough, your faith is really not great enough. Is that the kind of God that you see here? The one who has a crowd following Him, who did not care about Him at all, but only for the spectacles that He produced. And He has compassion on them. Do you really think He will be a trickster to you who you want to be one of His very own? Is that the God who you see in the Scriptures? Are you one of these? Do you have a wrong view of God? Because this is a wrong view of God. He's a God who wants to save. He's a God who wants to love. He's a God who wants to have compassion. And here you are saying, yes, I want to be a Christian, but I'm not sure if God has really forgiven me. You have it black on white, what kind of a God we have. He is compassionate. Psalm 103, verses 13 and 14. As a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. For he knows our frame. He remembers that we are dust. That's the God we have. As a father pities his children. Fathers, pause for a moment. And your little ones look up to you. They want to be picked up. They want to be comforted. Do you walk just off and say, I got better things to do? Well, if you do shame on you, but God is nothing like that. He has pity on his children. And I've told you this before. Appeal to God's pity in your prayers. When you're suffering, when the circumstances, the current providences seem to be dark and painful, appeal to God's pity. Don't be too proud. Oh Lord, for pity's sake. You know that I'm dust. I do it and I'm the minister. You can do it as well. I do it all the time. Have mercy, have pity. And He does. He does, He has pity on His children. We can clearly see God's compassion in our text. These people came for all kinds of strange reasons. Most of them, if not all of them were even unbelievers and yet He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick. Go figure, how do you resolve that? Dear brother, dear sister, if God has so much compassion for these truly scoundrels, most of them were ignorant or unbelievers, how much more compassion will He have for you, you who are called by His name? Our God is compassionate and He is kind. He is the one who says in Matthew 11, come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Does that sound to you like a savior who's trying to trick you into thinking you have salvation, and at the end, he is having a good laugh that you don't have? See, this kind of view of God is sinful. He's nothing like that. He is a willing savior. He's a willing forgiver. He's a willing Lord. Beloved, rest in him for he is indeed compassionate. So Jesus heals and he also teaches the multitudes and as the day is nearing its end, the question arises, what all these people are supposed to eat? And the Lord turns to Philip and asks him, where are we to buy bread so that these may eat? Now you can ask yourself, why in the world is he asking this question? And I cannot give you the answer why exactly he asked Philip and not another disciple. It is not being revealed to us. It could be because Philip originates from that area. Or it could be that he was standing next to the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't know. And it is not important, because if it was important, it would be revealed to us. What is important, though, is the reason why Jesus asked the question that He asked. It says that He said this to test Him, for He Himself knew what He would do. It's kind of funny when you go through the commentaries on this very verse, talking about Jesus testing Philip, how many commentaries just ignore it or just walk around it because it's a difficult thing to deal with the issue. Why does Jesus Christ, who is God and man, why does He test? What does it mean to test Philip? And it does deserve some attention. Let us first clarify that Jesus was not asking Philip because he didn't know what to do. Verse 6 tells us that he himself knew what he would do, but he asked Philip again to test him. Now, what's that supposed to mean? Does it mean that Christ didn't know what was in Philip, so he had to ask him to tickle it kind of out of him? That cannot be. As we know from chapter 2 that Christ knew all men and that He had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man. So that cannot be it either. He knows everything. He knows everything what is in man. He knew Nathanael when he was under the fig tree in chapter 1. He knew of the 5 husbands of the Samaritan woman in chapter 4. No, he had no need for anybody to tell him what Philip thought because he knew that as well. When it says that God tests somebody, when it says that Jesus tested Philip, it means that He made manifest. He showed Philip and us, because for us it is recorded, to see what was in Philip. It makes the heart, actions make the heart outwardly manifest. A man's actions manifest outwardly what he is in his heart. And sometimes we too are tested for God to show us and others in what state our heart is. The result may encourage or humble us, but when God tests us, whether it humbles or it encourages us, it is always good for us. Well, needless to say that Philip fails the test miserably as he comes to the conclusion that the situation was hopeless. Verse 7, 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have even a little. So he fails, he's absolutely hopeless, and Andrew adds that there was also a young man who had five barley loaves and two small fish, but only to come to the same conclusion that the situation was hopeless. And we can see from the parallel passage in Matthew chapter six, verse 37, sorry, Mark six, 37, that the other disciples failed the test as well. As they suggested, shall we go and buy 200 denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat? That's almost a little cynical there. Shall we buy with the little money we have so at least everybody gets a bread crumb, Master? Is that what you want us to do? These were the same disciples who had seen Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana. They had seen the healing of the noble man's son. They had witnessed Jesus healing the demoniac at Capernaum. They were there when he cured Peter's mother-in-law, when he drove out the evil spirits, when he healed the sick. They were there. And yet none of them turns to Christ for help, but they also ably point out the hopelessness of the situation. Beloved, there are people in the church of Jesus Christ who always see hopelessness. They're always pessimistic as they are forgetting who their Lord is. And before you go in your mind and think who these people are by name, please keep also in mind that at times every one of us becomes such a person when we despair. When we feel hopeless, when we think that there is no way out and that it's all in vain, when we become cynical or overly critical, we all have it in us. We all have it in us with our old nature, this old sin of unbelief. But now, even God can't help or won't help. But we must not forget, beloved, who it is that we call Lord. He is the one who did all the miracles that we read about. He is the one through whom the world was created, the one who held you and carried you through from the moment from conception until this very moment and beyond. The one who heard every one of your cries. The one who chose to save you from before the beginning of the world. It is He to whom we pray. It is he to whom we have to turn. And it is he who will once again provide a solution for the perceived hopelessness of the situation there in Bethsaida. 5,000, and that's only the man. So we're probably talking 15,000 or 20,000 and hardly any food or money, and the Lord makes them all sit down. Have you ever thought about this? They're hungry. They haven't eaten in a long time. The question has come up what they should eat, and everybody wants to go, go, go, go, go get. And he says, sit down. He sits them down instead of sending them all out in the surrounding villages to get food. And then he gives thanks. And then he distributes the food. And not only was it enough for all of them, but what started with five bally loaves and two small fish, of that 12 baskets remain as leftovers. Beloved, this happens when you lift up your head from the problems, from the bread, from the fish, from the dollars and from men up to our Lord, because then things start to happen and problems are being solved. So often, beloved, we allow numbers or circumstances to rob us of our hope, but that must not be. For the Lord our God is almighty at all times. One of the greatest theological mistakes that we're making is that we believe that the God that we read about in the Bible is a different God than today. And we have basically begun to abuse the doctrine of cessationism in believing that God doesn't do anything anymore because the canon of Scripture is complete. God will not listen to prayers anymore. How you come to that conclusion, I don't know. He's still the same. He's still as compassionate. He's still as willing to help. And we think we are presumptuous when we ask for great things and we don't do it. And because we don't do it, we don't see it. And because we don't see it, our faith is small and we don't pray for big things. God, in his kindness, sometimes forces us into circumstances where there's nothing left, when you are at the end of your rope. That's why God brings you there to show you that he alone can bring you out, and that you have to expect great things. Think back in your life. You've all been, especially the grown-ups among us, you have been in situations where you thought, I don't know how I'll ever get out of this. I don't know how my family's going to survive this. I don't know if I ever will recover. And here we are, smiling, hearing the word of God. Praise be to the Lord, for he is good. One more point in passing. Do you see Christ's patience with his disciples? I mean, sometimes I think these must be the dumbest people on the face of the earth. After all they had seen. After all they had witnessed the Lord Jesus Christ doing, and they still don't get it really who He is. Do you see how kind He is with them? And how patient He is? And then look how impatient we are sometimes. and how little patience we expect from the Lord towards us. So often we think, now he's done with me. Now he's gonna destroy me. Now I know that I'm an unbeliever. It's basically an insult to his name. He's as patient to you as he is to those disciples. He's the same Lord to you. So brother or sister, don't grow weary when you're going through tests and trials. They are part of the Christian life. He is very patient with you. And here comes the point of the whole text. I haven't even made it yet. I've only built up to come to this point that we must not miss, which is so often missed, because I have began by explaining to you the loss of abundance and the beginning of scarcity through the fall. Scarcity is a reality of life. We have realized that. We have most things that we like, we have not as much as we want. So we have begun by explaining that. Do you know what happens in this text? For a moment, scarcity is suspended. For a moment, this major ramification of the fall which was caused by the sin of man was suspended and we get a glimpse of abundance again as it was before the fall and as it will be in heaven. Who is the only one who can suspend the ramifications of the fall, even eradicate them, even for a moment? It is God alone, Jesus Christ. And once again, we see the thrust of the whole text, the purpose of the gospel of John, the whole goal of our life. so that we may believe that Jesus Christ is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in His name." This text has written Christ is God all over it. He suspends the ramification of the fall for a few moments. If that doesn't show the deity of Christ, what does, I ask you? What a majestic, what a wonderful text this is. Gives us a glimpse of heaven again. A glimpse of a situation where sin does not stand between us and God. And who does it? The Lord Jesus Christ, who is God. Glory be to His name. It is He, the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives us this prophetic glimpse of how it will be when we follow Him. He is the one to follow back to a better garden of Eden, far away from sin, far away from scarcity, far away from separation from God's favor, but with abundance, with all that we need. And here we get a glimpse of that. And John once again shows us who Jesus Christ is, God, the second person of the Trinity, the eternal Son of God. And our faith is strengthened. Praise be to God. Amen and amen. Let us pray. O Lord, our Lord, How majestic is your name in all the earth. How wonderful are the precepts and the descriptions of your word. How great do you show us your glory, your kindness, your patience, your justice. How wonderfully you reveal yourself in your word. O Lord, forgive us that we're sometimes so slow to understand, like the disciples. And thank you that you have so much patience with us. Oh Lord, continue to have patience with all of us. Continue to show your kindness and show it especially to those who are downcast today. Those who are sad or confused. Those who bear great burdens. You know their hearts, you know their burdens. And give encouragement to those who are timid. O Lord, have mercy upon your people, for we ask it in that great and glorious name of Jesus Christ our God. And all of God's people say.