Tag Archives: Test

A Good Day – Sermon on Genesis 22:1-14 for the Fifth Sunday of Lent

Genesis 22:1-14

1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. 

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In most of our interactions with people, we typically give more weight to their commands than we do to their promises. In other words, we take commands seriously but promises, not so much. We’ve grown accustomed to people who over-promise but under-perform.

When your boss tells you he wants a certain task completed by the end of the day, that carries a lot of weight. But when your boss promises that he’ll consider your request for a new chair as soon as possible, you anticipate that there will be delays and excuses and figure you’ll probably have to ask several more times. Sadly, even children learn this. Parents will command their children to do certain things, but then when a child asks their parents to consider getting a puppy, a parent responds, “Sure, I’ll think about it,” but that may or may not happen.

The worst part of this is how it clouds how we consider God’s Word. God’s Word is consistent. His promises carry same weight as His commands. What God promises always happens. You can count on it. He is the Lord; He has spoken, and He will do it (Ezk. 24:14).

That helps us understand a little better what’s going on in this text. The biggest hurdle we have to understanding this text is the question, why is God commanding Abraham to do this? Why command the human sacrifice of Isaac? Last week we talked about the tests that God gives, and this is clearly a test. God is testing Abraham here, and this is probably the most difficult test recorded in Scripture. (Who knows? Maybe Job would argue with that statement.) 

The reason God tests always to strengthen faith. He doesn’t test you to see if you have enough willpower or inner strength. Instead, God tests faith to make it stronger. God’s tests increase steadfastness (Jam. 1:2-4), endurance, character, and hope (Ro. 5:3-5). One pastor put it nicely when he said that God gives tests to strengthen our “givable-to-ness.” His tests open us up so we can receive from God’s hands the abundance He wants to give us.

God had been making promises to Abraham for years prior to this. God called Abraham to leave his land and people (Gen. 12:1-3) so God could make a great nation out of him (Gen. 15:1-6). When Abraham was 99 years old, God promised to give Abraham a son through his wife Sarah – even though she was 90 and past the age of having children (Gen. 17:15-16). God kept giving promises. Just before this reading, God promised that Isaac would have children, and through Isaac’s children all the families of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 21:12, 18:18).

But now, God commands Abraham to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. God’s promise that Isaac would have children is in direct contradiction to God’s command that Isaac be sacrificed. So, what is Abraham to do? Should he believe God’s command or God’s promise? The answer is to believe both, and Abraham does. Hebrews 11:19 says, that Abraham believed that God would raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham believed God’s promises and commands – even when God’s promise and command appeared contradictory.

Now, to the text. God doesn’t just say, “Go sacrifice Isaac.” No. God lays it on thick. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love.” That, dear saints, is the first time the word ‘love’ is used in the Bible. “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains which I will show you.”

Abraham knew that all the animal sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed to the fact that God would accept the death of another in the place of the sinner. Abraham and all the believers in the Old Testament believed that those sacrifices were pointing forward to the Savior God had promised (Gen. 3:15) who would die in their place (Heb. 9:12).

This sacrifice (or ‘near sacrifice’) of Isaac might be the clearest portrayal of what God would do through Christ. The whole thing is parallel to what Jesus would do. Abraham is to offer his son, just like God the Father, is to offer up His beloved son, Jesus (Jn. 3:16). It takes three days for the thing to take place (Gen. 22:4; Lk. 24:46). Isaac, like Jesus, carries the wood to the place where he is to be the sacrifice (Gen. 22:6; Jn. 19:17). The ram that gets offered in place of Isaac is crowned with thorns (Gen. 22:13; Mt. 27:19). 

When Abraham sees that ram caught in the thicket by its horns, which doesn’t happen to rams, Abraham recognizes that ram is to be sacrificed instead of Isaac. God has put that ram there, and God will accept the death of that ram in the place of Isaac. But the ram is not the actual substitute. That ram points to Jesus as the sacrifice in place of Isaac and Abraham and the whole world and for you.

Through this whole thing, God is giving Abraham an insight into what God will go through when He offers up Jesus as the sacrifice for the sin of the world.

Dear saints, as we move into Holy Week, we’re going to hear a lot of sad things. Next week, Palm Sunday, we’ll hear the Passion of Christ from Matthew. We’ll hear about the betrayal, beating, whipping, crucifying, and dying of the eternal, beloved Son of God. There will be no substitute for Jesus. He will die, and this is serious and sad like this offering of Isaac was for Abraham. But notice how Jesus talks about all of this. When Jesus spoke of Abraham in our Gospel reading today, our Lord says, “Abraham saw my day and was glad” (Jn. 8:56). Abraham rejoiced.

Abraham saw what God would do in giving His only begotten Son on the cross, and he rejoiced. Dear saints, in the days that are coming up, you’ll hear all that Christ did. Yes, it’s sad and somber, but the greatest expression of faith is that you would be glad and happy about this. Receive it all with a thankful and joyful heart. God loves you, so He loves to do this for you.

Tenali, today you are Baptized. Jesus is the one who has taken your place. This is reason to rejoice all the days of your life. Live a life filled with rejoicing in the fact that Jesus is your substitute. Tenali, and all you saints, remember that Jesus endured all His suffering with joy. It was for the joy that was set before Him that Jesus endured the cross, despising the shame (Heb. 12:2).

Joy isn’t only for Easter. Joy is found in all Christ has done for you. You have a substitute. You have a Savior. Good Friday, a glad day, indeed. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Where – Sermon on John 6:1-15 for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

John 5:1-15

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?” 6He 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.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Maybe you’re like me and hate tests. I thought one of the greatest benefits of finishing my schooling was that I wouldn’t have to take any more tests. Ha! Kids, I’m sorry to burst your bubble, but if you think that the end of school means the end of tests, you’re wrong. Life is full of tests. Sure, those tests aren’t turned in to be corrected with a red pen, recorded in a book, and reflected on a report card. But there are plenty of tests throughout your life.

Specifically, God gives tests. Like it or not, God regularly gives you tests. 1 Peter 4:12 says that you should not be surprised when fiery trials come to test you. Next week, we’ll consider Gen. 22:1-14 where God tells Abraham to take his beloved son, Isaac, and offer him as a burnt offering. When Heb. 11:17 comments on that event, it says that God was testing Abraham.

Listen to these verses from James 1 because they beautifully and clearly tell us what God is doing when He gives us these tests. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (Jam. 1:2-4). James goes on to say later in that chapter, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (Jas. 1:12).

So, Scripture is clear that, when God gives these tests, it’s never to see if we can pass the test. God is not testing us because He needs to find out information. God isn’t up in heaven thinking, “I wonder if he’s a good enough Christian,” or, “I wonder if she really trusts Me. I’d better give a test.” No! God is not sitting up in the clouds trying to figure out if a student has learned enough. God knows everything, and He doesn’t need to put your scores in a grade book.

Instead, God tests us to produce endurance and steadfastness in us. God’s testing molds and shapes us. Those tests move us toward completion. They bring about endurance, character, and hope (Ro. 5:3-5). In other words, the tests God gives are for your benefit. Through those tests, God is stretching you and strengthening your faith.

Here in John 6, Jesus tests Philip by asking, “Where are we to buy bread, so these thousands of people may eat?” (Jn. 6:6). Again, Jesus isn’t testing Philip because it’s been a while since He recorded a score under Philip’s name. Jesus isn’t using this test to set up Philip for failure. Instead, Jesus is testing Philip to bring something about for Philip. Jesus wants to produce something in him, to work in him. When Jesus wants to do something in a person and produce something in a person, He does it perfectly.

It would be verydangerous for us to think that Jesus is trying to get Philip to fail and fall into sin. Instead, Jesus tests Philip to bring something about in Philip. And it’s clear and simple to see what Jesus wants to produce in Philip, “Hey Philip, where are we going to buy bread for these folks?” And Philip responds, “Money will not help in this situation.” That’s the thing Jesus wanted to produce in Philip. Jesus wanted Philip to know that money cannot feed this crowd. Jesus wanted Philip to know that money isn’t always the solution.

Imagine a normal day where Jesus is sitting in a house or by an evening fire or on the shore of the Sea of Galilee – it’s just Him and the disciples – and He asks Philip, “Hey Philip, do you think money can solve every problem?” Philip is no fool. He’d probably start imagining all sorts of hypothetical situations. “Money won’t help someone who’s falling down a cliff. Money wouldn’t help someone who fell out of the boat and was drowning.” I’m sure Philip would have said, “No. Money isn’t always the answer.” But Jesus isn’t asking Philip about a hypothetical situation. Jesus is asking it in real time with a real throng of hungry people surrounding them.

Generally, hunger issolved by money. To put it more accurately, generally God satisfies hunger through His gift of money. God gives you money. Then, you take your money, you go to the market, you buy food, you cook the food, and you eat it. But God hasn’t limited Himself to feeding people through money. God can make food fall down from the sky and feed millions of people (Num. 1:45-46) for forty years (Ex. 16:2-21; Josh. 5:12). If God wants to feed people that way. It isn’t a problem at all. Philip knew this, and you know this too.

Still, money can be a powerful idol. How often do find yourself in a situation, and the first thought you have is, “If I just had a little more money this wouldn’t be a problem”? Be honest! It’s probably a regular occurrence.

Thinking about money isn’t necessarily sinful. We do need to think about money because God has given it to us to be good stewards of it. But we’re too often greedy for money. We’re tempted to trust it as though it’s the solution to our problems. And for that, we repent. 

Repent, and know this: Money can never help you if God Himself does not supply it. Money is useless by itself. The only reason money has ever benefited you because Jesus gave it as a tool. 

So, in Philip’s case here, Jesus asks Philip about money to knock the idol of money out of Philip’s hand. But Jesus doesn’t leave Philip with empty hands, does He? No. Jesus empties Philip’s hands so He can put bread and fish into Philip’s hands. Philip and the disciples receive the bread and fish from Jesus’ hands and distribute it (Mt. 14:19; Lk. 9:16). The picture we have is that the disciples just keep handing out what Jesus gives them. They distribute more and more of what first came from the hand of Jesus.

The whole text makes it abundantly clear that money didn’t feed this crowd, but who did? Where did the provision come from? Jesus. Jesus is the answer. Jesus gives. Jesus distributes. Jesus provides, and not only does Jesus provide enough for the crowd; He provides enough for each of the disciples. Philip and the other disciples distribute what Jesus provided, but they still weren’t done. Jesus sends them back out into the crowd to gather up the leftovers. Leftovers? Yes. Twelve baskets worth. A basket for each disciple. Why not thirteen? Why isn’t there a basket for Jesus? At this point in the sermon, you can probably guess. Jesus doesn’t need money to provide, and He doesn’t need a basket of food.

Dear saints, when you are tested in times of need, where should you look? Our Old Testament reading (Is. 49:8-13) has the answers. Where you cry, God answers. Where you need help, God saves. Where you need certainty, God keeps you. Where you are imprisoned, God frees. Where you face darkness, God brings light. Where you hunger, God feeds. Where there is hard terrain, God makes straight. Where you face affliction, God comforts and has compassion.

So, sing for joy. The Lord has comforted His people. He has compassion on His afflicted. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Given, Taken, Blessed – Sermon on Job 1:1-22 for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

Job 1:1–22

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In a sinful and broken world, no one escapes suffering (Jn. 16:33), and no one can make themself right before God. We clearly see that in the book of Job. But another thing that we see in Job is that God accomplishes His purpose, even in the midst of suffering.

Job was very blessed by God. Job had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and many servants. Job was the greatest of all the people of the east. Beyond that, Job had seven sons and three daughters. One of the things that makes Job great is all of these children. Our culture tries to make it seem like children a burden. It’s sad that today people will see parents with a lot of children and joke with them. “Oh, you must be so tired,” or, “Don’t you know about the birds and the bees?”

We need to stop that. If we are doing it ourselves or hear others doing it, we need to put an end to it. Children are a blessing; they are a heritage from God (Ps. 127:3-5). Don’t fall for the lies of Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood. A blessed life does not mean that you’re free of obligation to children. Children are a blessing from God and are to be embraced.

Job was the also the spiritual leader of his family. He was careful to make sure his children were raised well. The fact that Job offered sacrifices for his children points to him being a father who is raising his children in the Christian faith. There is a good reason to see that all of Job’s children are following their father in the faith, but I’ll wait until the end of the sermon to say more about that.

So, Job was very blessed in every temporal way by God. And Job was also spiritually blessed by God. Three times in the first two chapters, we are told that Job is blameless, upright, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. Two of those times, that description comes from the lips of God Himself. And let’s consider each of those briefly.

First, Job is blameless. In Hebrew, that word can also mean ‘perfect’ or ‘pure.’ This does not mean that Job is sinless. Sinless and blameless are similar words, but they aren’t identical in meaning. Job himself will say that he’s sinful (e.g. Job 13:23). So how can God say that Job is perfect, that he’s blameless? Well, this is something that God Himself gives to Job. When God says something about you, it is true. When God says that you are blameless, that makes you blameless. This blamelessness, this purity, this perfection that Job has is a gift from God.

Second, Job is upright. This isn’t talking about Job’s posture. It’s not like he went to the chiropractor regularly. Job is upright. Most of the time this word gets used in Scripture, it’s referring to God. God Himself is upright. There’s no twisted or crooked way about him. God is without fault and without error. Job is too. Again, this characteristic is something that God gives to Job. Whatever sins Job had committed, God had forgiven.

Third, Job fears God. Throughout the Bible, fearing God is linked to trusting God. The 1stCommandment in the Small Catechism is explained, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” Usually, when we think of being afraid, it means we don’t trust someone or something because it’s unsafe. But when the Bible talks about the fear of God, it is not to think that God is unsafe. It means if you turned away from God, then God becomes unsafe. When you turn to Him, then He is your Refuge and Strength (Ps. 28:8; 46:1). C.S. Lewis captures this really well in the Chronicles of Narnia. There’s a question about the character that corresponds to Jesus and if he is ‘safe,’ and the reply is, “Of course he isn’t safe, but he’s good.”

Fourth and finally, we’re told that Job turns away from evil. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Job turns away from evil things. Again, that’s what a Christian does. A Christian does not run headlong into doing sinful, evil things. Instead, a Christian turns away from them. Yes, we sin, and we sin often. But by God’s help, we strive to turn away from evil.

So, when God describes Job as blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil, God is saying that Job is a Christian. God says this about any of you who believe in Christ.

After this description of Job, we see him begin to suffer. And the cause of Job’s suffering is important. Satan is in heaven, and God starts to brag about Job to the devil. It’s almost like if a jewelry store was being robbed and the owner came out and said to the thief, “Hey, have you seen my rarest, most expensive diamond?” We don’t know why God draws attention to Job, but He does. And the devil doesn’t even bother arguing with God. The devil doesn’t push back or try to “fact-check” God, not at all. God is right. The devil and the demons have to agree with God when God says something. Make sure you recognize that. 

Instead, the devil pushes back on Job’s faith. Satan says that the only reason Job is blameless and upright is that God is nice to him. The devil says that if God takes those things away that Job will curse God to His face. Notice how arrogant the devil is. He’s basically saying, “Let me have at him and I’ll make sure that he ends up the way that I want him to be.” For reasons that I don’t understand, God lets the devil do it. Through the rest of the ch. 1, we hear what the devil does. The devil sends different calamities that take away all the blessings God had given Job.

And how does Job respond to all this loss? It’s remarkable, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Who was it that destroyed all those things? We have to say that it was the devil, and yet who allowed the devil to do that? God did. God gave the devil a long enough leash to take all those things away. And who does Job credit? He credits God. The Lord gave. The Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

In ch. 2, which we didn’t read, the devil is allowed to go farther. Job hasn’t cursed God, so the devil asks God to let him go after Job’s body. And Job gets afflicted with sores all over his body. But still, Job does not curse God. You have to imagine how frustrated this made the devil. Satan figured he’d be triumphantly standing over Job while Job was groveling at his feet, but Job doesn’t even acknowledge Satan in any of his suffering. It’s absolutely remarkable. Job’s eyes, mind, and heart are fixed squarely on God even in the midst of suffering.

Job doesn’t go down the black hole of trying to figure out why he’s suffering. He simply recognizes that he is suffering, and in his suffering, Job places himself squarely in God’s gracious hands.

Christian, take note of this. Whenever you’re presented with trials, tribulations, and suffering, don’t bother with the why of your suffering. Instead, focus on Christ. 1 Pet. 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.”

Suffering and evil are definitely related to each other, but that does not mean that suffering itself is evil. In fact, suffering is good. If you didn’t suffer when you touched a hot stove, you wouldn’t remove your hand from it. If criminals and murderers didn’t suffer with time in prison, then there’d be a lot more theft and murder.

Suffering is meant to bring about repentance and faith in Christ. Suffering isn’t evil, but that doesn’t mean that God demands that you enjoy your suffering. You are right to hope for the end of your suffering. God sent Jesus to relieve you from suffering. Christ entered into our suffering in order to bring us into His kingdom where there will be no more suffering.

Comfort in suffering comes from seeing that God has come into our world to suffer alongside of us and for us. That’s the real comfort for anyone who suffers in any way. The world sees suffering and it tries to eliminate it. So much of our world today is focused on death as the only solution to suffering. They’ll see a poor, single woman who is pregnant and say, “That baby has no chance of being happy, healthy, or successful. So, abort the baby.” The world sees a person going through horrible medical problems and says, “It’ll just be better to end that life now with a doctor assisted suicide.” The world’s only answers to suffering are barbaric.

God’s answer to suffering is that He sends Jesus, not to bring an end to the sufferer, but to defeat suffering through His suffering (1 Co. 15:54). Jesus is the “Man of Sorrows.” In your suffering you find your Savior, who has died and risen again for you, to deliver you.

What we heard today isn’t the end of Job’s story. Job gets everything back. In Job 42, we see God gave Job twice as much as he had before. There, Job has double the sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys. But then we’re told that Job also had seven more sons and three more daughters. I told you I’d come back to it.

Now, wait a minute. Seven sons and three daughters? That’s what Job had before, isn’t it? Shouldn’t Job have had fourteen sons and six daughters? No. Job’s first ten children aren’t lost to him. This points to Job’s first ten children being saved. Job still has them, even though they died. They’ll be united with Job in the resurrection, because Job knows that his Redeemer lives. Christian, your Redeemer lives too. And like Job, your eyes shall see him and not another (Job 19:25-27). Come quickly, Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:20). Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The King’s Test – Sermon on John 6:1-15 for the Fourth Sunday of Lent

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?” 6He 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.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus asks Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” And John gives us insight as to why Jesus asks the question. It was to test Philip. Now, Jesus didn’t just find Himself in the midst of the wilderness surrounded 5,000 men plus women and children – in all likelihood a crowd of ten to twenty thousand people – with no food and sees an opportunity for a test. No, Christ sets the entire thing up.

The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the few events recorded in all four Gospels (Mt. 14:13-21; Mk. 6:30-44; Lk. 9:10-17; and Jn. 6:1-15). The picture the texts collectively paint is that Jesus intentionally draws this crowd out into the wilderness (Mk. 6:31). He takes the time to heal many of them (Mt. 14:14) and preaches late into the evening (Mk. 6:34-35). In other words, Jesus means to bring them to that desolate place where there is no food, but food is needed. On top of that, He is the King who created everything (Jn. 1:1-2, 14). Jesus can cause rain to fall in one place but not another (Am. 4:7). Throughout the entire world, Jesus was the One providing bread and food for all mankind (Ps. 145:15-16), but Christ brought this massive crowd out into the wilderness to this particular mountain in order to set this test up for Philip. And the test has one question, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” Jesus isn’t looking for information. He’s not asking Philip to devise a plan or order something through Door Dash. The text tells us, “[Jesus] knew what He would do” (Jn. 6:6).

Now, put yourself in Philip’s position. It isn’t hard to imagine. When was the last time you were in a seemingly impossible situation? Your bank account got low, and suddenly your car needs significant, expensive repairs. You wonder, “Where’s the money going to come from?” Your kid or your spouse gets sick, and while you are doing everything you can to care for them, you get sick too. You don’t know where you will get the strength care for yourself much less your kid. You’re in a really busy time at work, then there is a blizzard, so you have to dig yourself out and help your aging parents clear out their driveway too. You don’t know where you will find the time to do everything that needs to be done. How often do you look at your calendar or think through all the things you need to accomplish and have no idea how you are going to make it through the week? Whether it is resources and money, strength and endurance, time and skills, there are moments in your life where you are buried under the expenses, responsibilities, and tasks, and all you can see is what you don’t have.

That is why Philip fails Jesus’ test. He sees what they have, and he concludes it isn’t enough. His response is, basically, “You’re jumping the gun, Jesus. Look around. We’re in the wilderness, not the marketplace. Even if we were surrounded by stores fully stocked with bread, we don’t have enough money. Two-hundred denarii wouldn’t be enough for all of them to even get a bite.”

The test was for Philip, but Andrew, Peter’s brother, takes a shot at the exam. This is just an aside, but this text really shows how similar Andrew and Peter are. Peter will jump into situations like a madman (Mt. 14:28-29) and will speak when he should just be silent (Mk. 9:5-6). Andrew does the same when he says, “This boy has five barley loaves and two fish, but that’s not going to cut it with this crowd.”

Both Philip and Andrew fail the test even though they knew the answer. The correct answer was, “I don’t know where we will buy bread, Jesus. But I do know You are here. You have provided food in bleaker situations than this, so You’ve got it all under control.” Philip and Andrew knew that Jesus was the Messiah (Jn. 1:41). They knew He was the fulfillment of what Moses and the prophets wrote (Jn. 1:45). In other words, they both knew that Jesus was the one who rained bread from heaven and sent quail in abundance for His people in the wilderness (Ex. 16:4, 13). They knew Jesus was the one who sent the ravens to feed Elijah by the brook (1 Kgs. 17:3-7) and through the widow’s jars of oil and flour that never ran out during the drought (1 Kgs. 17:14-16). They know that God promises in Psalm 34:10 which says, “Those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.”

Both Philip and Andrew know all of this, but they still fail the test, just like you and I do. They fail, notbecause they don’t know enough, weren’t taught well, or needed to go back to Sunday School. They fail for the same reasons we do – because we are sinners. All of us sinners fail to trust God’s promises to provide everything we need. Instead, we fall into despair, weakness, unbelief, and a ‘woe-is-me’ attitude.

Dear saints, repent and then rejoice.

When God brings tests and trials your way, remember that He is with you. And because He is with you, it doesn’t matter what you have or don’t have. Jesus doesn’t need soil and seed and rain and time and the right weather conditions and combines and grain elevators and flour mills and factories and bakers and truck drivers and grocers to give people bread. Jesus doesn’t need boats and bait and poles and nets and processing plants or even water to feed people fish. Just because those are the normal methods God delivers bread and meat to us, that doesn’t mean that is the only way He does it. Jesus is always free and able to cut all of that out and give exactly what is needed when it is needed – just like He does here.

Christ provides what Philip, Andrew, and all the disciples could not buy, bake, grow, earn, catch, or deserve. He provides this meal to the crowds and enough to last His flunked disciples for days afterward.

But most importantly, Jesus lavishly pours out His mercy and grace on His sinful disciples. We see it here as He doesn’t scold them for their unbelief and sin. 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 about their lack of food again (Mk. 8:14-21).

Jesus is always in control of every situation. The crowds here are about to try and take Christ by force to make Him king, but Jesus simply withdraws. And one year later, at the next Passover, the crowds will come with force to arrest Jesus, but He will not withdraw. They will put a royal purple robe on Him, crown Him with thorns (Jn. 19:2-3), crucify Him, and place a placard above His head that says, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” (Jn. 19:19). There, on the cross, He will give and shed His blood for the forgiveness of sinners who fail the tests.

But the cross is no test. Instead, it is where Jesus, your Savior and King, demonstrated and proved His love and mercy for you, and for all us failures. Here and now, He delivers that mercy to you as He gives you His kingly Body and His royal Blood given and shed for the forgiveness of all your sins and failures.

Dear saints, come and receive. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.