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Well, I thank you all for being here this afternoon. Hopefully it'll be a time of encouragement. If you would, please open your Bibles to John 6. We will be going through verses 1 through 15, specifically looking at the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. So if you would, John 6, and we'll be going through verses 1 through 15. After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now, the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little, and of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they for so many? Jesus said, have the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about 5,000 in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world, perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king. Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. Let us pray. Oh God, we thank you for your abundant provision in your lives. We ask that you be with us and help us to trust in the one you have sent, in the Lord who has died and rose again on our behalf, who is the bread of life. And we come before you knowing that you are our greatest need, knowing that you are our all in all. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. And so here we have the well-known miracle of Jesus miraculously providing bread and fish for this great crowd before him. Beyond the resurrection of Christ, this is the only miracle that is throughout all the Gospels testified to. In some sense, it could be said that it is because it greatly displays his divine power, especially in the midst of such a great, vast multitude. And to witness him creating so much food, so much provision, This must have been remarkable to the people who were not only there, but also the people who received this gospel living during the time that Christ had ministered. And so having this eyewitness testimony in the Gospel of John, we must not neglect to see that Jesus here is proving himself to be God. Being able to make bread and fish from thin air, multiplying what this little boy had, he shows himself to be God in human flesh. If you'll turn with me to John chapter 20, He, John the Apostle, expressly points to this reality. Going to verse 30 in chapter 20. John writes, now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. This Jesus is the one who in the beginning was with God, not only that he was God himself, He is the one through whom all life has come, who has life in himself. And this Jesus, who is God, came in human flesh and dwelt among us. And John and those with him saw this glory, this glory of the Son of the Father, who is full of grace and truth. Having this unique authority and unparalleled power, Jesus manifested his own divine glory and made known the reality that he is indeed God, that he is God incarnate. And so from the outset, I want you to understand the point of Jesus doing this miracle, of John providing it in his gospel, and it is this, that Jesus did not come merely to give physical bread, but to have others like us believe in him as the spiritual bread of life. Again, he did not come merely to give physical bread, but for us to believe in him as the spiritual bread of life. In other words, he did not merely come to take care of our spiritual needs, but came to divinely care for our spiritual needs. And you might be wondering, why am I making this emphasis? Does this account here not testify to his compassion? Does it not testify to God's sovereign care for us so that we might not be anxious? Does it not motivate us to provide food for others who are in need? Does it not demonstrate Jesus's desire that through our words and deeds, we might love others as well? And I would say yes, undoubtedly. This is what is conveyed in the text, but there's more than that. He is not only just a provider of physical things, but he himself is God incarnate who came to save sinners. He came not only for deliverance from physical danger, but also for deliverance from our spiritual depravity. If it was the case that he just came for physical needs, he would have at this time became the king of the Jews, allowed the Jews to appoint him as a king. He would have established an everlasting reign of righteousness here on earth at that present time. And he would have ended all sin, sorrow, and starvation at that point, providing an infinite amount of bread for everyone, making sure that there is no more need for hunger, for taking the means to get this physical bread for us. But yet this is not the case. He himself came with divine authority, claiming that it is through him we have eternal life. Right before this passage, if you look at John 5, real quickly at verses 25 through 29 as he's talking with the Jews who are at the temple after healing someone at the pool of Bethsaida. Jesus says, truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, So he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. And do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life. and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. And we see that he claims equality with God. This is why the Jews persecuted him. This is why the people ultimately caused him to be risen onto the cross to die there. He not only broke their Sabbath religious restrictions, but also claimed equality with God the Father, demonstrating that he himself is God, not only through his words, but also his deeds. And so the point here is that to trust in him, we might spiritually live, even though we might physically die. And so to lay out where we'll be going from here, as we go before this passage, I want to demonstrate first that we see that there are seemingly impossible circumstances which rise up. Two, that we see God's abundant provision for his people. And three, we see that the priority is for saving faith in Christ, again, First, that there are seemingly impossible circumstances which arise, and two, that God abundantly provides for us, yet three, that God's primary concern, Christ's primary concern is union with him, saving faith in him. Before getting to these points, let's look at the context of the passage itself. I'll go through verses one through four again. of our passage which reads, after this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee which is the Sea of Tiberias and a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on a sick. Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. And so in this context, based on John's reference of the Passover, this would be in the middle of Jesus's ministry. In John 2 we read of a Passover as he goes to the wedding in Cana and in John 13 we read that there's another Passover that is taking place as he has this last Passover meal with his disciples, as he's betrayed, as he is arrested and dies on the cross. And here we have the second Passover in the midst. And we have this gap between chapters five and chapter six. Previous to this, he had gone to Samaria. He had gone to Canaan and Capernaum in the region of Galilee, the north region of Israel. He had gone to Jerusalem, to the temple. And yet here we read that he was at the Sea of Galilee. And so in light of that, we see that he shifted from being in Jerusalem to now in this northern region of Israel. And so we see that between this time period and before that as well, Jesus was performing many signs and miracles to demonstrate his unique authority. Just in the Gospel of John previous to this, he miraculously turned water into wine. He healed, by his word, a Roman official's son who was on the verge of death. And in chapter five we read that he healed a lame man who was not able to walk and told him to take up his mat and walk. at the pool of Bethsaida. But beyond this also we read in the other Gospels that he was healing various diseases, that he was casting out demons, that he was raising even up the dead. And in verse two we read here, this was the reasons why this large crowd was following him. They saw that he was continually doing these signs to the weak, to the sick. And so whatever motivations they might have, They saw that he had power and were seeking to follow him in light of that. They ultimately, we will see, wanted to use Jesus for their own benefit. Most of them, not all of them, but most of them. And Jesus desired that they might have faith in him. And this is the context of this miracle. So then let's see the seemingly impossible circumstances of the text. Read with me verses five onward to 10. Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? He said this to test him for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? And Jesus said, have the people sit down. Have the people sit down, he said, and there was much grass in the place. And so the men sat down, about 5,000 in number. And so here is the large crowd, this 5,000 men. And to think of the amount of time and resources to feed this much men. Imagine just feeding the amount of effort we go through to feed 10 people. let alone 50 people, and yet here there's 5,000 people. And even more than that, the tension intensifies when we see that this 5,000 only includes the men that were there. If we go to Matthew, you don't have to go there, but he provides this detail that there was about 5,000 men who ate of the loaves, besides women and children. These men had brought women and children as they were going to Galilee during the Passover, near the time of the Passover. And if we imagine that each man brought one wife and at least two kids, that would put the number more along the lines of 20,000 people, not just 5,000 that we see of the men, but 20,000. And to think, how could we even allow, how could we provide the means of feeding these people, this vast crowd of people. I know I myself would be dismayed at seeing this, and we can see this in the answer Philip gives. And can you imagine being asked, having this great crowd standing before you, where shall we buy bread that these people may eat? Where would we go at a moment's notice? How could we provide such a great amount of bread in such a short period of time? And Jesus, he knew that he himself would have to miraculously provide this bread for the people to eat. He asked the question so that Philip might be tested and so that he might know his heart, Jesus knowing Philip's heart. And so we have Philip's dismayed answer here. 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. He became exasperated at the idea of feeding this many people. He calculated a denarii in that time would be about a day's worth of work. That wage that you would get for working a full day, that's the amount you would get. And so he's saying 200 days worth of money, eight months of work, of wages, would not be enough for these men, these women, these children to even have a little bit of bread. To not even have enough for each person to have just a small broken off piece of bread from a loaf. Imagine the wealth that it would take to have everyone have a full loaf for themselves. To imagine paying for that much bread. It's beyond our imagination how much wealth in that time would be necessary. And in that time also, they did not have the refrigeration or the modern technology we have. They had to slowly leaven or unleaven the bread depending on the circumstances, slowly bake it and let it rise or not rise if it's unleavened bread. and prepare it for just a few people. And imagine that on a grand scale such as this. It goes beyond belief. And we, if we were put in that circumstances, would probably also be dismayed. And we see also that Andrew himself is dismayed as he says, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? What a measly amount of food for such a numerous amount of people. What are these five loaves and two fish for over 5,000, for over 20,000 people? And this, as we investigate further, is even less satisfactory than we might think, less sufficient for their needs. We see that this here is barley bread. This was poor man's bread. It wasn't the fancy white bread or wheat bread or rye bread that we might be able to get today. This was poor man's bread, less fine grain that was massed together to create just an alright amount of bread. And the two fish that these people had would not have been a normal sized fish like a salmon or a trout or a perch that you might find in a river or a lake. These would have been small in size, maybe about the size of an anchovy or a sardine, very small, just to flavor the bread that they had, not necessarily to satisfy their bellies. So even then, whether it's buying that amount of bread or fish or just what they already had on hand, it was out of the question to try and feed these people. And applying this to our own lives, we recognize how overwhelming situations just seem to overwhelm us, surround us, cause us to shrink at the expectancy to come at it, to press on, and it brings us to draw near to God. We must trust in the one who's able to provide the bread, who's able to provide for our needs rather than necessarily what we already have or possess or our own efforts. We might not face the intimidating task of providing for such thousands of people with little to none resources at hand, and yet we often find ourselves facing very insurmountable hardships. And so we must not trust in ourselves, but have faith in God that it is trusting in him rather than any amassed amount of wealth or any amount of food that we might be able to obtain This is what we need to put our trust in, in God. We cannot allow ourselves to just have faith in the things he provides, but go beyond that to see that we must have faith in him. Let me put it this way. Undoubtedly, we are to continually pray to God, give us this day our daily bread. It is only through him that we're able to get the food and nourishment for our physical needs. But that must never be our peace, our solace, or contentment, the bread itself. And we must definitely never demand God, give us this day our daily bread. We must humbly come before him. He graciously delivers us from our burdens and he mercifully rescues us from depths of despair. He is not some kind of benefactor who prioritizes happiness in this world. He seeks something further. He is not some kind of wish fulfiller. He is a holy and righteous God who seeks our sanctification for our salvation. And so even if we might suffer and lose what we may have, he works all things together for his people toward good. So rather than trust our stuff, we must trust in him. And so we see that he abundantly cares for people's needs. And this is powerfully demonstrated in this multiplication of the breads and loaves. Read with me. Verses 11 to 13. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. And this is astounding. He had compassion on these people who were like sheep without a shepherd. He multiplied the bread and fish, seemingly from nothing, from this five loaves and two fish that this little boy had. He created it out of thin air as he gave thanks to God. He created it out of thin air. He not only added to the bread and fish, but multiplied it greatly so that they might have this food abundantly, not just to satisfy a temporary hunger that lasts only an hour or two, but that they might have their fill of these loaves, that they might have it so abundantly. He made as much as they desired. He let them eat to the point that they were satisfied, filled up full from these bread and fish that he miraculously created. He did not have to depend upon disciples or other people secretly providing bread from somewhere. In a sense, humanly speaking, just providing bread that was already there to this. No, this was a miraculous demonstration of creative power in this miracle. And how great it is to see this. that what would have taken maybe an entire man's wealth, an entire city's wealth, he just did at that moment by his creative power, demonstrating he is God, that he has power, that he abundantly cares for us. And not only that, he made enough bread that there is an excess, a super abounding amount of fragments gathered into these baskets. Not wanting any of the food to go to waste, to rot away, to decay, we see here that he had his disciples gather 12 whole baskets full of fragments from what all the other people had ate. Not only creating loaf upon loaf upon loaf, fish upon fish upon fish for these people, there is an abounding amount of bread to go into 12 entire baskets. And so here we see his care for humanity with unparalleled power, with steadfast compassion and great abundance. He cared for these people's needs as they came to him seeking to follow him. They were hungry and so he provided the means for them to eat. In light of such love, we can have confidence in His abundant provision. Even though Christ came primarily for our spiritual needs, He does definitely care for us in our physical needs. He makes it so that we have enough food for ourselves, enough food to feed those close to us. And even beyond that, He often grants us enough food, enough provision to help others, to spur us to love others through generosity, through this abundance that he might grant us we're able to give to others who might not have the ability to provide for themselves. And so we ought to thank God, praise God, serve God in light of this reality that he cares for us and is abundantly providing for us according to his will. And have you not perceived this in your own life? Have you not experienced this while living in the world? As God works in our lives, as we come more and more to see his care for us, his power, his love, we understand that he abundantly cares for us with such grace. Even though we might find ourselves in burdensome trials and difficult circumstances, and sometimes perhaps a sense of poverty where we are in great need of food, of water, of whatever need, we have contentment in that this God cares for us and strengthens us. So whether we have an overwhelming and overflowing amount of wealth or just a minuscule amount to get through the day, He is sufficient to meet our needs. Yet, we cannot stop there. We cannot have our hope just in that reality. We must not forget that He, Christ, God the Father, the Holy Spirit, desires us to trust in this Trinity for the satisfaction of our spiritual needs, not just our physical needs, our spiritual needs. That's why He came into the world. That's why He demonstrated this power whatever physical need we might have, God is our greatest, our highest, our unending need. Without him we are nothing. We need salvation from him. It is not just starvation that we're in need of deliverance from, but spiritual sin in our lives that we need rescue from. And we need this abiding relationship with God. With man, everything is impossible, but with him, with God, all things are possible. These things far outweigh our need for any material provision. In some sense, I would rather have all the physical bread in this world taken away from me. I would rather starve to death than be separated from God, than trust in Jesus for the wrong reasons, than follow him just so that we might manipulate him. He came as the gracious bread of life, and so we are to seek him, to follow him, in hopes of receiving spiritual life, eternal life through him. If you'll look with me at verses 14 to 15, it's very clear. We see that these people following Jesus as he performed miracles did not necessarily have saving faith in him as he desired. Verse 14, when the people saw that the sign that he had done They said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. They failed to see the point of this miracle. They failed to see that he was the bread of life. They just saw him as a provider of physical bread. Seeing this abundance of food just powerfully come out from his word, from giving thanks to the Father. They wanted to have this spread forever, continually. That's why they were following him. We see that even though Jesus had compassion on the weak, they wanted to manipulate him into healing their afflictions continually. They wanted to use his insurmountable power to not only provide physical well-being in their lives, but to make them keen to deliver them from oppression under the Roman Empire. As they were celebrating the Passover, this great event where they remember what God had done in the land of Egypt, delivering them from the oppression of the pharaoh from the other Egyptians, they here wanted to make him king in hopes that through Christ's power, this Roman Empire might be desolated, decimated, and have an eternal, heavenly, earthly kingdom established here on earth as him as an appointed king by their force. And these people are so much like the people who proclaim a health and wealth and prosperity gospel. Today they thought that they could, through Christ's power, just have a multiplication of what they already have for their own well-being. And they hoped that they could bend Jesus to their own whim. And we must never fall to that temptation. How sad it is to see people seeking God for these purposes. They only saw him as a prophet rather than God incarnate. They said, this is the prophet coming into the world. in light of this miraculous feeding. And in a sense, they were drawing rightly from the Old Testament. You don't necessarily have to go there, but they were drawing from this idea in Deuteronomy 18, Moses writing after the exodus, writing after that time, and as they were preparing to go into the land that God had promised, we read in chapter 18 of Deuteronomy, The Lord your God will raise up for you, the Israelites, a prophet like me, Moses, from among you, from your brothers. It is to him you shall listen. And with God speaking, he says, I will raise up a prophet like you, like Moses, from among their brothers, and I, God, will put my words into his mouth, this prophet's mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. So rightfully, they saw that he had prophetic power, that he spoke with unique authority, but yet they failed to see the point, that there's more to this. Yes, we are to trust in him as we see our shortcomings, as we see our needs. Yet there is more than that. We must recognize that it is not our best life now we aim for. We strive with the prize, with the hope that we might be forever in communion with him, that we might be saved through what he has done. He is almighty God. And he is concerned with our eternal spiritual state rather than our temporary physical prosperity. Ultimately, yes, he cares for us now physically, but there is more to that. He seeks our eternal salvation as the one who provides eternal life for us. And if you don't believe me when I say this, then explain why he withdrew to the mountain. He knew the desires of their heart, that they were seeking to make him king for these motives. He knew that they wanted to seize him by force to make him king over them, hoping that he might be their liberator, their provider, just simply for their physical benefit. And he knew they were coming to him just because they ate their fill of the loaves. It wasn't that they were receiving spiritual life. They didn't understand that. They just were hoping that they might be physically satisfied, that they just might have their bellies full. And that is not why we trust in God. We're to seek eternal life through God. It is only through him that we can be saved. Not through any sense of our own efforts or through some physical prosperity, but through spiritual union with this one who came into the world. We know that we are to receive him by faith, that this one who Moses and the scriptures testified of, this one who through him we get eternal life, we're to trust in him as he draws us to him. We are to come to him. And ultimately we see that these ones following him did not have the word of God abiding in him, that they did not have faith in this one who came from the Father. And so he refused to comply with their demands. He refused to submit to their desires. He withdrew himself, knowing that these ones were not his own, even though they were like ones without a sheep. They did not trust him for the right reasons. He was at work bringing people to himself with the disciples and others, but yet these ones did not trust in him. And so we ourselves must seek to trust in him, to have faith in him in all things. He desires us to trust in him as the divine savior rather than just simply a helpful provider of things. It is not, we are not to seek some economic status. We are not to seek some religious merit of righteousness. We're to humbly come before Jesus, God incarnate, the gracious bread of life seeking eternal life through him. That is what we must do. That is what our aim should be. And may we seek this all the more joyfully. May we glorify him all the more diligently. May we trust in him all the more hopefully. We are faced with many, many impossible circumstances, and yet God provides for us, and we have great comfort in that. And because he came to be bread of life, Let us not trust in him just for physical bread. Let us not believe that he came merely for physical bread, but let us come to him in humble faithfulness, seeking spiritual provision from him, eternal life through him. Let us pray. Dear God, we are thankful for the opportunity to come to your word, and please help us to follow you faithfully for the right reasons. It is easy to just be overwhelmingly concerned with affairs in this world and just physical bread. with physical needs, but let us seek more than just your care and provision for that. Let us seek salvation through you, eternal life through you, depending upon you for all things. Let us have contentment in you, whether it is a need or an abundance. Let us have hope in you, the one who strengthens us. And please be with us always. and draw us to yourself. And in Jesus's name we pray, amen.
Jesus' Miraculous Feeding of the Five Thousand
Series John 6
Sermon ID | 611232013243283 |
Duration | 38:18 |
Date | |
Category | Sunday - PM |
Bible Text | John 6:1-15 |
Language | English |
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