John 6:1–15
1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 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?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11Jesus 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. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
15 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.
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The details of this text are so vivid and wonderful. Jesus and His disciples sit down near the shore of the Sea of Galilee. The Passover was near, so we know that it is a spring day and there was “much grass in the place” (v. 10). Everyone had been enjoying nice, sunny weather during this beautiful time of the year. We know that because Mark’s Gospel tells us that the grass was green (Mk. 6:39). As Jesus looks up, He sees a large crowd – five thousand men plus women and children – coming toward Him. And Jesus has this little conversation with Philip and Andrew while the crowd gathers around them.
“Philip, where are we going to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” But Philip balks at the suggestion. “Seven months’ worth of wages won’t buy enough for them to get even a little.” Andrew joins the conversation, “This kid has five loaves of barley bread and two fish, but big deal.”
So, Jesus has the people sit down, and the boy gives Jesus his little lunch. Jesus takes the loaves, gives thanks for them, and blesses them. Christ does the same with the fish. The other Gospels tell us that Jesus has the disciples distribute the food to the crowd (Mt. 14:19; Mk. 6:41; Lk. 9:16). John tells us that each person in the crowd is served, and everyone has as much bread and fish as they could eat. But neither John nor the other three Gospels, give us the details of exactly how this distribution took place. Where did the food come from? Of course, it came from Jesus. Of course, it was a miracle. But what did the miracle look like?
While Jesus was blessing the food, did the loaves and fish grow and expand and become a huge mountain of food, because that is what it would take to feed this massive crowd? Did the loaves keep multiplying so the people could see where there had been one loaf, but now there are two? Did the fish keep plopping down from the sky into the disciples’ hands as they walked through the crowd? The Scriptures don’t say.
Personally, I like to think – as some have suggested – that the disciples each go out with a basket that has some of the bread and fish inside (since we know they had twelve baskets). They walk around to the people and each person reaches in to take some of the food. And while it appears to each individual that they are depleting the amount of food in the basket, when the next person reaches in, there is still enough. And more than enough. Maybe each person was a little cautious at first and takes just a little bit, but then the disciples say, “If anyone wants more, let me know. I’ve still got some.” And they go around again.
It could be that each person took some food from the disciples, and as they take a bite every now and then, they look down and there is still more.
Maybe you have been to a camp or something where a large number of people are going to eat, and you see a sign that says, “Take all you want. Eat all you take.” Well, Jesus and the disciples didn’t have a sign like that. Because every last person in that crowd – again five thousand men plus women and children, so this is likely ten to twenty thousand people or more – everyone eats their fill. And, as the last man unbuckles his belt and as the stuffed women and children lick their fingers, Jesus sends the disciples out again. And they gather up the leftovers and fill those twelve baskets full of food.
This is a miracle, but this is also how God always works even today. Every day, you deplete things, which is something that you are probably more aware of today. You write a check or swipe your card, and you can look at your bank account and see that there is less. Think of your fridge, freezer, cupboards, and pantry. You prepare some food and eat it, and there is less then there was before.
We can see how we are consuming and depleting things, and it is easy to focus on that and worry. But what we can’t always see is how things are delivered and distributed to us.
Yes, we have jobs. We work and toil. Our paycheck is deposited, or the social security check, our tax return comes. And we notice that. But I hear people tell me of times when the logic of what they have and what is available to them simply doesn’t add up or make any sense. I have experienced this too.
In seminary, the fourth year of our learning was to do a pastoral internship, and my placement was in Salinas, CA. The congregation provided us with a place to live along with a monthly stipend that was generous, but it was the seminary’s intent that we interns would have just enough to get by. We were out in California when gas prices were extremely high (it was almost $5/gallon for a long time). During that time, we were still paying my student loans, and we had our second child. My car was broken into. All sorts of things happened that were crazy expensive. But when it was time to move back to Minnesota, my loan was completely paid off. I had purchased a new laptop to use for work. We had been blessed to be able to travel to beautiful places like Yosemite. I was able to go to a couple baseball games in Oakland and San Francisco. And just before we left California, we looked at our bank account, and had more, significantly more, in our account than when we moved there.
Yes, we had been given gifts from the members out there, and we accounted for that. But the math didn’t work. And I know how to use a calculator! There was no reason or explanation for how greatly we had been blessed except – the Lord had provided. God provided more than we could make sense or logic of.
Here’s the point: God does let us see how we use His resources and deplete them. But He doesn’talways let us see how He gives and distributes them.
Now, a lot could be said here about how you give to the church. And if things were different in our country and world right now, I would take the opportunity of this text to do so. But I don’t want to put any unneeded pressure on you. Even though this is being video-recorded, I am not some TV preacher asking for seed money for a Learjet or something ridiculous like that. But know that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7), and He will not let you go hungry or lose your house because you give money to support the work of His church.
Instead today, I’d like to encourage you. You might find it easy to act like Philip or Andrew did in this text. Philip is looking to money as the solution to the problem of feeding the crowd, and he concludes that they don’t have enough. And even if they did have enough, there’s no store that would be able to supply food for a crowd this size. And Andrew mockingly looks to how little they have out there in the wilderness.
The problem with both of them is not that they didn’t know Jesus or that they didn’t trust Him. They have left everything to follow Jesus and be His disciples. Their real problem is that they are sinners, just like you and me. Their problem is that they acted the same way that we often act even though we know the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. And because they are sinners, they, just like us, give in to the temptation to focus on various idols instead of focusing on the gracious giving of God.
And even still, Jesus provides for them. He provides what they could not buy, bake, grow, earn, or deserve. He provides them this meal and enough to last for days afterward. But most importantly, Jesus lavishly pours out on His sinful disciples His mercy and grace. We see it here as He doesn’t scold them for their sin. It will happen again. In fact, after this Jesus will feed another crowd – four thousand that time (Mk. 8:1-10). And right after that the disciples are with Jesus in a boat, and they realize they only have one loaf of bread, and they will worry again (Mk. 8:14-21). And still loving Jesus goes to the cross to shed His blood for them and for you.
Dear saints, Jesus still provides for you. May we be wise with the temporal, First Article gifts He freely gives. And may we be confident with the eternal gifts of His mercy and grace which cannot be taken away no matter what may come. Amen.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
5 When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him, 6 “Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly.” 7 And he said to him, “I will come and heal him.” 8 But the centurion replied, “Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 10 When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. 11 I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, 12 while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 13 And to the centurion Jesus said, “Go; let it be done for you as you have believed.” And the servant was healed at that very moment.
“Centurion” was his title and meant he was a commander over one-hundred soldiers. Centurions wore impressive armor including a helmet with all the feathers sticking out of the top, a shiny breastplate, a metal skirt, and a huge shield. Like a leper, a centurion’s command was also obeyed, but not to avoid becoming one of them. A centurion could say, “Go,” and the soldier would go. “Destroy,” and they would destroy. “Kill,” and they would kill.
Repent, but do not despair. Jesus, God in the flesh, comes down from the mountain in order to save us. He is a God of mercy and grace. He comes to make the unworthy worthy and the unholy sacred. Jesus willingly approaches the untouchable leper to touch and heal. And Christ has compassion upon a centurion who appeared to have everything, but in reality, had nothing.
I just have to run faster than you.” Well, guess what. When the bear of God’s Law is finished eating the guy who is slower to obey than you, it picks up your scent and resumes its pursuit of you because its appetite is never satisfied by eating up sinners.
There’s a better way to understand these verses, and to get at that understanding, I’m going to connect this text to our theme for the year – “Sacred.” In Lev. 19:2, God speaks to His people, Israel, and says, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” And Peter repeats those words for us Christians in 1 Pet. 1:16. In English, this sounds like a command because of the word ‘shall.’ But in both Hebrew and Greek it isn’t a command/imperative. A better translation for both is, “You will be holy.”
likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice,
While death may come suddenly and abruptly here, those who die in the faith are not surprise arrivals in heaven. The company in heaven is not startled or shocked by those who show up at the doors of glory. The gates are open, and the believers who arrive there have been anticipated and are welcomed into the great multitude to be with the Lamb who shepherds them. Their arrival into glory is no shock to the residents of heaven. It is perfectly ordinary and on time.
Because of this, we can have joy in the midst of sorrow. Here and now, as we are gathered together in God’s house and are invited to God’s table, we come to what is described in Hebrews 12(:22-24). This very morning in a small church on the north end of East Grand Forks, MN, we have come, “to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.”
She prays because she remembers that the God of Israel promised to deliver His people from the devil, which is why she addresses Jesus as the Son of David – to remind Him of His promises. And she remembers that she doesn’t deserve Jesus’ help because of her sins, so her prayer is, “Have mercy on me.”
Boone, and all of you, be bold in your prayers. Even when it seems that God is distant and ignoring you, He hears you. He loves you. Jesus has died and risen for you and is even now interceding for you before His Father in heaven (1 Jn. 2:1).
But Satan comes along and puts a question into the mind of the woman. “Did God actually say?” This is the one attack of the devil. He always is trying to get us to doubt the Word and promise of God. “Did God actually say, you should not eat of any tree in the garden?” And notice that the woman adds to God’s promise. She says, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, neither shall you touch it, less you die.’” God had never said anything about not touching the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (at least, it isn’t recorded for us). Satan is attacking God’s Word, but Adam and the woman have not fallen yet. The serpent sees his opening and tells an outright lie, “You will not surely die! For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
But even as God does this, we will see the horrific consequences that sin and evil has brought into God’s good creation. God calls to Adam, “Where are you?” God still wants to have fellowship with Adam and the woman even though they have sinned, broken His commandment, and lost their faith. But rather than confessing and repenting of his sin, Adam dodges the opportunity saying, “I hid from You because I was naked and afraid.” So, God gives Adam a second chance to repent, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”
gives her the name Eve. She wasn’t called this at any point before in Scripture. Adam gives her the name ‘Eve’ which means ‘life-giver.’ Here’s how we know faith is restored. Eve was already going to be the mother of everyone who would be born. But Adam, the father of faith, changes her name to Eve because she is the mother of all who would believe in the promised Seed who would crush the serpent’s head.
Imagine Matthew in this storm. Remember, Matthew – unlike Andrew and Peter and James and John – Matthew wasn’t a fisherman. He was a tax collector when Jesus called him to be a disciple (Mk. 2:14). Typically, he had hands stained from handling coins all day not clammy, saltwater-drenched hands. Matthew was used to sitting in a tax booth not on the rail of a boat bailing water so that it doesn’t sink. Matthew had seen Jesus rebuke demons, rebuke sickness, and rebuke the Pharisees and religious elite. But now, in the middle of a storm that threatened Matthew’s life, the Man who had called him saying, “Follow Me,”lay peacefully sleeping and undisturbed in the back of the boat on a cushion (Mk. 4:38).
f that storm, in the middle of the wind and the saves and terror, Jesus asked the disciples, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” This question from our Lord’s lips confronts us today. What are you afraid of? The devil may be behind the things you fear. Satan may want you to enter “emergency mode,” “crisis mode,” “God doesn’t care and is sleeping mode.” The devil wants nothing more than to rob you of the peace and security that comes from being a child of God. So repent. The devil is very cunning and dangerous, but he is also totally and completely predictable.
If you want to know what God thinks about you, you need look no further than the cross. While you were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for you (Ro. 5:6,8). If you are going through a storm of sickness, a storm of family strife, or whatever it might be, look at it through the lens of Christ crucified and risen for you. And know that God is in control and He will never leave you nor forsake you.
20 And behold, a woman who had suffered from a discharge of blood for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his garment, 21 for she said to herself, “If I only touch his garment, I will be made well.” 22 Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well.
He says to the mourners, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And the mourners laugh, mocking Jesus and His words.
He will raise you from the dead when He returns in glory. Even if you don’t get the things you want now, Christ will give you everything on the Last Day.
So, the picture is this: These Christians have crossed the finish line. But instead of going to the locker room and getting into an ice bath, they go into the stands to cheer us on as we run our race. And again, this is multitudes of people – more than you could count – people from every nation, tribe, people, and language (Rev. 7:9). Imagine the cheers, chants, clapping, and whooping encouraging you as you run.
So, maybe you are tired and struggling with quarrels in your family, and you want to quit running. But there is Abel cheering you on, “Keep going. I know it’s hard. My brother hated me for my faith in Jesus and killed me. But Christ was faithful to me and brought me to the end of my race. Keep going.”
Look to Jesus. Fix your eyes on Him. Look to Christ, the author, the founder, and the perfecter of your faith. For the joy what was set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
Pastorsamwise 
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