John 6.1-40
I did a poll at church yesterday morning where I had folks raise their hand. No, this wasn't at the invitation, so I was unable to say "I see that hand." It was in the beginning of the message concerning our passage. Jesus feeding the 5,000 is the only miracle that appears in all four Gospels and it is commonly taught in our children's Sunday school. So, I asked our church to raise their hand if they had heard this passage taught in Sunday School, Children's Church, or other children's program. We had 92 in service yesterday (PTL!!) and 92 hands were raised. So, I asked another question. "How many of you have heard this story taught in a children's setting multiple times? Perhaps even 10 or more times?" I didn't get an accurate count, but I would venture to say that at least 75 or 80 hands went up.
It is is an easy passage for us to reference. We can look at it and come to the conclusion that if we give even the slightest amount to Jesus, He can bless it and multiply it beyond measure. Or we can say that Jesus obviously wants us to be filled because he gives in abundance. Perhaps even we can use it to challenge faith and point to the 12 left over baskets that stood for the doubt of the 12 disciples. Even in the verses that follow, we point to Christ on the raging sea and say that Jesus has the power over all the storms in our lives. I am not saying that these things are not in the text or that they are invalid claims. I am saying that if we stop there, that we miss why Jesus broke the bread and fish and why God, of all things He could have chosen to include in His Holy Scripture, gave us this narrative. Simple truths are good, but some times we reduce Scripture to Aesop's fables and get a good story that makes us feel better, which is exactly the point that Jesus makes in John 6.
We must not miss that John is careful to point out that this event takes place as the Passover is approaching, for in the Passover we see the greatest provision God made for His people. Further, we see the abundance of life sustaining food God provides in the manna sent from heaven (which is the topic of discussion between Jesus and the Jews later in the passage). And we cannot divorce the breaking of the loaves and fish from the discussion that happens on the next day, for in that discussion (v. 22-59) we see the great implications of what takes place on that Galilean hillside. Before we get to the discussion, here are a few observations from the first 15 verses of our passage.
John tells us of the great crowd that was following Jesus because of the signs they had seen. And why not? You and I congregate to Cirque Du Soleil, Benny Hinn meetings, concerts, Barnum and Bailey's, or the football game. We want to see the show (and yes, Benny Hinn is just a show). But, Jesus presents the problem. The problem that he has already answered (v. 6). He asks where they should get enough food to feed all the people. Matthew's Gospel tells us that there were 5,000 men, not counting the women and children (14.21). Conservative (21st century standard) estimates would place the number around 20,000. Let's not forget, having tons of kids was a good thing in those days (as it should be...Psalm 127.3) and they didn't have birth control mechanisms, so many families were 8-10 kids...let's just say the number is really 55-60,000 people. You have to have a pretty good food supply to feed these folks.
We get three solutions to the problem. Philip gives solution 1. I think Philip has an accounting degree because he is looking at the financial burden this would create and crunches some numbers rather quickly. Jesus, if we work for 200 days (8 months) we would only have enough money to buy each person a pack of Lance crackers. He responds to his leader, "It is hopeless." Then there is the ever responsible Andrew who operates on available resources. As a good friend of mine says, "Don't just talk about it, be about it." He comes up with 5 stale pieces of bread and two sardines that were to be a boy's lunch. And he, like Philip, responds to Jesus, "It is hopeless." See what's going on here? Responding to things on the purely physical level is not enough. It will never be enough. Jesus wasn't concerned just with the physical. He saw to the deeper level, these people needed to know the truth of who God is and what God was doing in their midst. Which, btw, any "missions" done without the Gospel or the need of Christ addressed, is not "missions", but a self-appeasing work of charity. Jesus cares about the physical, but He did not leave the glory of heaven and die on a cross so that you and I could have a better physical reality (did you catch that, American pop-theology?)
Jesus offers the true solution: a provision that only God could make. He has the people sit down, feeds them in abundance, and then picks up the leftovers that nothing would be lost. Or literally, perish (Greek word apolumai). This important to catch because it comes up later, but we will touch on that below. His concern is a total approach to the needs of the people, but they don't get it. They see the sign, but they misread it and try to force Him into a political realm that would benefit them. See, we often take God's provision and force our man-made system on it. We look at it from the physical and not the spiritual. Why? Because we don't know what it means to rely on God. We want things to function in our own system that we can control. Further, we trust in politics to fix what only God can fix. See the Jews? They tried to make Him a political power. They wanted politics to address their plight. Do we not do the same thing? Are we not looking to Nov. 6 to fix all of our woes whether it is for the Red or the Blue? I don't care which way you vote, neither man-made group is going to fix the problem of our country. Only the provision of God can do that. We need Jesus, not a President.
It is in this that Jesus makes two specific revelations about Himself that force us back to the point of feeding 60,000 people on a Galilean hillside. The first revelation is to His own disciples. Jesus goes to the mountain and the disciples head to Capernaum by sea. There is a storm and the boat gets to rocking, but they see something ghastly on the water approaching them. Jesus reveals Himself to them by saying, "Do not be afraid, I am." Most all translations erroneously smooth out the English to make it read "It is I" (NAS, ESV, HCSB, KJV, NIV, NKJV). It's not just that it was Jesus. This was God speaking. I AM is the covenant name of God given to Moses in the burning bush (Ex. 3) Yahweh. You want to know who broke the bread and fed the masses? God did. You want to know who it is that is walking on this sea in its rage and has now delivered you safely to the other side? God did. I AM. We do not get a Savior (Christ, Messiah) breaking bread and performing miracles if it is not God in the flesh (John 1.14). We do not rely on a feel good story from the New Testament, we rely on the God who IS providing what only He can provide through Jesus. This is a God thing, not just a simple, cute, Sunday school story. God, once again at work in our world.
Then Jesus gives this same message to the Jews in the synagogue at Capernaum. They get to the other side of the lake, find Jesus, and start in with the questions of physical reality. It mattered not what Jesus had just done, and Jesus confronts them with that. They were only there because Jesus fed them and made them feel good, not because they truly saw who He was and what He did. It's kind of like a stray cat. Put some food out on your back doorstep and it will keep coming back because you are feeding. Then miss a day or two and you will never see the cat again because it has found another place to get its fix. That is how most people in our church approach church. "I am in as long as it suits me and makes me feel good." Let me ask you something, is that your attitude? Do you have a real long term commitment to the church because of who Jesus is, or are you in and out as Jesus either "makes you feel good" or "lets you down"? They were concerned with the physical, but Jesus was pointing them to the spiritual. Three things we get out of verses 27-40:
-- The original message derived from the pulpit of the Hopewell Baptist Church in Anderson, SC. Our morning worship service is at 11 AM every Sunday. Please visit us at www.hbc1803.org for more details.
I did a poll at church yesterday morning where I had folks raise their hand. No, this wasn't at the invitation, so I was unable to say "I see that hand." It was in the beginning of the message concerning our passage. Jesus feeding the 5,000 is the only miracle that appears in all four Gospels and it is commonly taught in our children's Sunday school. So, I asked our church to raise their hand if they had heard this passage taught in Sunday School, Children's Church, or other children's program. We had 92 in service yesterday (PTL!!) and 92 hands were raised. So, I asked another question. "How many of you have heard this story taught in a children's setting multiple times? Perhaps even 10 or more times?" I didn't get an accurate count, but I would venture to say that at least 75 or 80 hands went up.
It is is an easy passage for us to reference. We can look at it and come to the conclusion that if we give even the slightest amount to Jesus, He can bless it and multiply it beyond measure. Or we can say that Jesus obviously wants us to be filled because he gives in abundance. Perhaps even we can use it to challenge faith and point to the 12 left over baskets that stood for the doubt of the 12 disciples. Even in the verses that follow, we point to Christ on the raging sea and say that Jesus has the power over all the storms in our lives. I am not saying that these things are not in the text or that they are invalid claims. I am saying that if we stop there, that we miss why Jesus broke the bread and fish and why God, of all things He could have chosen to include in His Holy Scripture, gave us this narrative. Simple truths are good, but some times we reduce Scripture to Aesop's fables and get a good story that makes us feel better, which is exactly the point that Jesus makes in John 6.
We must not miss that John is careful to point out that this event takes place as the Passover is approaching, for in the Passover we see the greatest provision God made for His people. Further, we see the abundance of life sustaining food God provides in the manna sent from heaven (which is the topic of discussion between Jesus and the Jews later in the passage). And we cannot divorce the breaking of the loaves and fish from the discussion that happens on the next day, for in that discussion (v. 22-59) we see the great implications of what takes place on that Galilean hillside. Before we get to the discussion, here are a few observations from the first 15 verses of our passage.
John tells us of the great crowd that was following Jesus because of the signs they had seen. And why not? You and I congregate to Cirque Du Soleil, Benny Hinn meetings, concerts, Barnum and Bailey's, or the football game. We want to see the show (and yes, Benny Hinn is just a show). But, Jesus presents the problem. The problem that he has already answered (v. 6). He asks where they should get enough food to feed all the people. Matthew's Gospel tells us that there were 5,000 men, not counting the women and children (14.21). Conservative (21st century standard) estimates would place the number around 20,000. Let's not forget, having tons of kids was a good thing in those days (as it should be...Psalm 127.3) and they didn't have birth control mechanisms, so many families were 8-10 kids...let's just say the number is really 55-60,000 people. You have to have a pretty good food supply to feed these folks.
We get three solutions to the problem. Philip gives solution 1. I think Philip has an accounting degree because he is looking at the financial burden this would create and crunches some numbers rather quickly. Jesus, if we work for 200 days (8 months) we would only have enough money to buy each person a pack of Lance crackers. He responds to his leader, "It is hopeless." Then there is the ever responsible Andrew who operates on available resources. As a good friend of mine says, "Don't just talk about it, be about it." He comes up with 5 stale pieces of bread and two sardines that were to be a boy's lunch. And he, like Philip, responds to Jesus, "It is hopeless." See what's going on here? Responding to things on the purely physical level is not enough. It will never be enough. Jesus wasn't concerned just with the physical. He saw to the deeper level, these people needed to know the truth of who God is and what God was doing in their midst. Which, btw, any "missions" done without the Gospel or the need of Christ addressed, is not "missions", but a self-appeasing work of charity. Jesus cares about the physical, but He did not leave the glory of heaven and die on a cross so that you and I could have a better physical reality (did you catch that, American pop-theology?)
Jesus offers the true solution: a provision that only God could make. He has the people sit down, feeds them in abundance, and then picks up the leftovers that nothing would be lost. Or literally, perish (Greek word apolumai). This important to catch because it comes up later, but we will touch on that below. His concern is a total approach to the needs of the people, but they don't get it. They see the sign, but they misread it and try to force Him into a political realm that would benefit them. See, we often take God's provision and force our man-made system on it. We look at it from the physical and not the spiritual. Why? Because we don't know what it means to rely on God. We want things to function in our own system that we can control. Further, we trust in politics to fix what only God can fix. See the Jews? They tried to make Him a political power. They wanted politics to address their plight. Do we not do the same thing? Are we not looking to Nov. 6 to fix all of our woes whether it is for the Red or the Blue? I don't care which way you vote, neither man-made group is going to fix the problem of our country. Only the provision of God can do that. We need Jesus, not a President.
It is in this that Jesus makes two specific revelations about Himself that force us back to the point of feeding 60,000 people on a Galilean hillside. The first revelation is to His own disciples. Jesus goes to the mountain and the disciples head to Capernaum by sea. There is a storm and the boat gets to rocking, but they see something ghastly on the water approaching them. Jesus reveals Himself to them by saying, "Do not be afraid, I am." Most all translations erroneously smooth out the English to make it read "It is I" (NAS, ESV, HCSB, KJV, NIV, NKJV). It's not just that it was Jesus. This was God speaking. I AM is the covenant name of God given to Moses in the burning bush (Ex. 3) Yahweh. You want to know who broke the bread and fed the masses? God did. You want to know who it is that is walking on this sea in its rage and has now delivered you safely to the other side? God did. I AM. We do not get a Savior (Christ, Messiah) breaking bread and performing miracles if it is not God in the flesh (John 1.14). We do not rely on a feel good story from the New Testament, we rely on the God who IS providing what only He can provide through Jesus. This is a God thing, not just a simple, cute, Sunday school story. God, once again at work in our world.
Then Jesus gives this same message to the Jews in the synagogue at Capernaum. They get to the other side of the lake, find Jesus, and start in with the questions of physical reality. It mattered not what Jesus had just done, and Jesus confronts them with that. They were only there because Jesus fed them and made them feel good, not because they truly saw who He was and what He did. It's kind of like a stray cat. Put some food out on your back doorstep and it will keep coming back because you are feeding. Then miss a day or two and you will never see the cat again because it has found another place to get its fix. That is how most people in our church approach church. "I am in as long as it suits me and makes me feel good." Let me ask you something, is that your attitude? Do you have a real long term commitment to the church because of who Jesus is, or are you in and out as Jesus either "makes you feel good" or "lets you down"? They were concerned with the physical, but Jesus was pointing them to the spiritual. Three things we get out of verses 27-40:
- Physical needs are not enough. He challenges these men and women because they were working only for that which perishes. Here again is the word appolumai from earlier. See, Jesus is not just concerned with what will get us by in this life. Otherwise His words here are useless. He presses these men and women not to focus on that which will be destroyed in this life, but on that which is eternal and given of God. Only Christ can supply this. No amount of church attendance, Scripture memorization, hospital visits, tithe checks, invites for the pastor to join you for dinner, etc will supplant the requirement of God that all who come to Him come through Christ. We can work hard for 60 years and have a"good life" and plenty to eat, but that is not the bread that will gain us audience with our Creator God. It leads to a full tummy when we die, but an empty soul. Again, Jesus did not come and die just so we could have "our best life now". I don't care how many books Osteen and others write on it, it is an offense to the Cross of Christ to reduce His sacrifice to this physical world.
- God's provision is through belief in His Christ. The word "Christ" is the same word as the Hebrew "Messiah". We see in v. 29 that Jesus refers to Himself as the "sent one", that is, "the Christ." The Jews wanted to know what it was that God required of them so that they could work His works. Jesus' response is that they believe in the Christ. He is the provision of God. But, they question it with discussion about Moses and manna (remember, this is the Passover). And they ask Jesus for a sign. Duh! He already performed the sign, but they missed it. Rather than point back to the day before, Jesus points to the truth of how Moses supplied the manna...Moses didn't supply it, God did. And now, God has supplied something even greater...a bread that has come down from heaven to give life to the world. Why do we try to go beyond what God has provided? Why do we miss what He has done? Jesus tells us that it is simple belief in the provision of God, the One who is God incarnate, the One who has come down from heaven to give life. That is it!
- Jesus is the bread of life. The Jews ask for this life giving bread and Jesus says, "I AM the bread of life." I AM...the same words He used to identify Himself to the disciples on the sea. I AM...the covenant name of God. You want the bread that God has provided to give you life? Jesus is it!!!!!! Why did Jesus break the bread on the hillside? Because He is the provision of God. The loaves and fish did nothing but fill their stomachs, but Jesus fills their need of God. What was broken on that hill was nothing compared to the broken bread of Christ's body on the hill of the skull. But why? Look at verse 39. Jesus tells us that this was God's provision that those who come to Him in faith will not be lost. They will not perish (once again, appolumai). Jesus' concern is not that your fish sandwich does not spoil, but that you will not perish in an everlasting hell. That your soul will be saved. Let me tell you something, your job will not do this for you. Neither will your church attendance, your tithe, your family, your golf score. Nothing but the Lord Jesus Christ.
-- The original message derived from the pulpit of the Hopewell Baptist Church in Anderson, SC. Our morning worship service is at 11 AM every Sunday. Please visit us at www.hbc1803.org for more details.
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