How many miracles carried out by the Lord Jesus are recorded in all four gospels? This is the only one. For that reason, it may be one of the most commonly preached. I didn’t check my records to see how many times I have taken my text from one of those four chapters. But tonight I want to look at the event with different eyes and with a different purpose. My primary focus is not the miracle itself, and I’m not trying to preach the gospel – which Jesus later did using the miracle as His illustration.
Tonight, I’d like to show you how to probe the scriptures – analyzing and comparing them with others. Far too often we simply read the Word without really trying to discover what it actually says. My second purpose is to highlight the lessons Christ had for His disciples – for you and me. I plan to put a few questions into your hearts – with the intention of sharing my answers.
“After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.”
Do you know that there is a third name for the sea of Galilee? What is it? Gennesaret – Luke 5:1.
More important than the lake itself, what precipitated this trip to the other side? This was after what? We could look back to the preceding chapter, but that wouldn’t give us the full picture. I won’t take you to the other gospels tonight, I’ll just ask you to trust me, knowing you can verify everything. Matthew and Mark tell us about the death of John the Baptist, immediately prior to this miracle. There was blood in the water, and Israel’s officials, both political and religious were looking for more blood. And also, Luke tells us that Jesus’ disciples had just returned from successfully representing the Saviour. They had, “departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where… And the Apostles, when they were returned, told (Jesus) all that they had done. And he took, them and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.” So the Lord took the twelve aside for the purpose of refreshing and recharging them. This was toward the end of the period of Jesus’ popularity, and the little group of saints were exhausted.
“A great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased”
How large was the “great multitude?” At least 6,000. Mostly men, but also women and children.
And why was this great multitude following Christ? Miracles. I’m sure many in the crowd had heard rumors about a few resurrections. But there weren’t many of those, and there isn’t any evidence that the disciples had raised the dead. On the other hand, there had been many, perhaps hundreds, of sick and injured who had been healed, not only by Christ, but by the disciples in Christ’s name. So the question arises: how many lepers and cancer patients had also become children of God? I think it is safe to say that many of the multitude were only interested in more physical blessings from Christ. Much of the “revival” in that day had no eternal value. You could compare it to the successes of the mega-churches of Christendom. But the statistics of actual church attendance in this country continues to decline. And the spirituality of this nation is, without question, in shambles.
Almost all of the people following Christ as He crossed the lake, were doing so from the shore. Was Jesus walking on the water crossing the Sea of Galilee? Someone standing on the water could be easily followed. But He wasn’t walking; He was sailing across. So how were the people able to track the disciples’ boat? It was probably one of Zebedee’s fishing boats. Was it the only craft on the lake? Was it marked with a distinctive emblem – the Christian flag with a nice red cross on it?
I don’t have an answer, but I do have an application. The world is watching, and many of the lost vaguely know who profess to be disciples of Christ. You may not be able to cross the street without your neighbors knowing you represent the Lord Jesus. Be careful. Be godly. Be sin-free. Be a good ambassador for Christ.
“And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.”
What was the Lord’s purpose in this little journey? What was He doing there with His disciples? It is alright to use your imagination, but always try to temper it with what God actually reveals. Are you picturing Jesus’ listening to His men recounting the victories on their recent missionary trips? Did Jesus spend that time teaching and “confirming” the disciples? Possibly and possibly. How much time did the Lord spend time praying with His brethren? If He did it helps to explain verse 5.
Which would have been the greater blessing and the highest refreshment to those men – instruction or prayer?
“And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.”
Why does John bring this up? One of the characteristics of this Apostle are his time markers. It could be to tell us that this was Jesus’ third Passover, and in a year He’d be going back to Jerusalem to die. It could telling us that this was the spring time, making sitting on the ground on the grass more comfortable. But it could point out something somewhat sinister.
All the adult males of Israel were supposed to be in Jerusalem at this time. But the God to ordained that rule, broke it. That might really bother some people, but since God cannot sin, I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. And yet, I will ask: why Jesus didn’t go to the city for this feast? Isn’t the answer: Jesus’ earthly work wasn’t finished, and the Lord’s timing hadn’t been met as yet? Humanly speaking, to preserve God’s will, the Lord chose not to put Himself, or His disciples, in danger. It wasn’t that He was afraid of Herod, the Romans or the Sanhedrin. And He certainly would not have died even if they tried to kill Him. The fact was no one could touch Him until the proper hour, as He demonstrated several times. Here Christ Jesus simply chose not to expose Himself at this time.
“Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him…”
How could 5,000 people come up the hill and the omniscient Son of God not know, or not show them any interest? It must have been deliberate, with Jesus completely focused on His disciples and their needs. He may have been listening to their excited reports, or He may have been teaching some really important Christian doctrine, which the lost didn’t really need at this point. Or, the Lord may have been in prayer, and with His spirit so occupied on Heaven, He paid no attention to what was going on below Him. I confess I don’t understand the dynamics within the incarnate Son of God, so I don’t have a real explanation.
When He saw the people, “He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Now we begin to come to the point of tonight’s lesson. Why wasn’t this a general question posed to entire group of disciples? It would certainly have been appropriate. Doesn’t it remind us that even though we are a group, a congregation, the ecclesia of the Lord… when the Word is preached, or when the Holy Spirit works, it is usually individually to each member of the body? The Lord could have asked any of the twelve, and He could ask the same thing of any of us. God wants your answer this question. Lay aside the pastor’s answer for the time being. What is yours?
And what exactly was the question: “Where shall we find enough bread that all these people may eat?” We are told that they were in an area which belonged to the community of Bethsaida. And other scriptures tell us that Philip was from Bethsaida. “Philip, are there stores in Bethsaida or anywhere in town to supply enough for these thousands of people?”
The Lord has laid out ecclesiastical and evangelical responsibilities before us as a church and as individuals. “Christian, where shall we find the answer to the needs of these thousands of lost people? Philip, David, Samuel, Paul, ask yourself the question: from where does the supply come?” That is the question. Let’s test the waters of revival. From where does the supply come? That was the question, but it was not a part of Philip’s answer.
“And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.”
Brethren, do you realize that the Lord is constantly quizzing and testing us? Of course He knows, but He wants us to know what our value to Him really is. Sometimes He puts problems before us, asking, “Now, where will you turn for a solution?” Sometimes He tests and proves us to find out if we’ll step forward in faith or backward with sin. “How are you going to meet this challenge? Are you going to trust the Lord or cower in the flesh?”
Whatever our answer might be, the Lord always knows what He is going to do.
“Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.”
It is generally said that a penny was a day’s wages at that time, so a penny could buy several meals. In reading the ideas of the experts, 200 pennyworth could buy anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 meals. As Philip looked at the crowd, he chose not to answer the Lord’s question, but posed one of his own. Just like us, we answer the Lord’s with our own – usually questions of doubt and unbelief. Usually we pose an alternative in order to protect our fragile ego. Philip replied, “It is not about where we could find enough food, it is about how could we pay for it.”
Remember this is not a miracle which the disciples had seen before. The feeding of the 4,000 comes up a chapter later in each of the other gospels, so this is new territory. But isn’t this what faith is all about? The substance of things hoped for but which as yet has not been seen?
Here is our lesson. Can we trust the Lord for things we’ve never seen and perhaps never even imagined? Can we trust the Lord to spectacularly glorify Himself through our little dozen disciples? Do we believe that the Saviour can redeem 5,000 souls at one time? Yes, there was a day He could – but that was 2,000 years ago – not today. Why not today? Don’t we often say, “Lord, we don’t have the resources; we don’t have finances; we don’t have the personnel for you to use for your glory?”
With Philip stuttering and stammering, Andrew came to his rescue.
“One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him…”
“There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” I have more questions than answers about all of this, but sometimes that is good – making us think/search. Was this boy the only person with any food at all? How old was this kid? Was he by himself? Did he run off from his family all on his own? Was he the one with the faith enough to approach Andrew with the sacrifice his meal? What a picture of “child-like faith.” And did Andrew at first believe that here was solution, but then as he thought about it, doubt crept back in? “Lord, I believe. Help thou mine unbelief.”
“And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.”
Notice, first of all, that the Lord didn’t reprove anyone for their sinful lack of faith. I’m not saying that He approves of our spiritual destitution, but He knows our every weakness. The miracle itself was going to provide some of the conviction for the disciples failure to trust Him.
Elsewhere we are told that there were women and children beyond the 5,000. “And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.” Why is that when I sit down to eat, I thank the Lord for His provision, and usually for several other blessings, but often when I ask someone else to pray, I ask them to “ask the blessing” over the food? Unconsciously, it is because of these scriptures. Here in John we read that Jesus “gave thanks.” The other gospels say: “And looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake and gave the loaves to his disciples.” It might properly be said that Jesus blessed the Father for what was going to happen next. Also it could be said that He blessed the bread and fish, so that they could be multiplied. But He also expressed His gratitude. Did the Lord thank the Father for the boy? Without any scriptures to authorize it, I guarantee that He did.
One of the great needs of the day – of any day – are little people who will sacrifice of themselves for the Lord. What was going through this boy’s mind? What was he expecting? Was he expecting anything miraculous? Not only did he give away his meal, he was offering something of himself. He could have gone hungry. But in the sacrifice and the multiplying of his gift, he was as blessed as anyone else there that day. He probably went home thrilled to be of service to Christ. I wonder what his parents thought when they heard?
I can only imagine the actual mechanics involved in this. None of the other accounts help us very much. Five loaves don’t divide up evenly for distribution by the twelve. Then at what moment were the ingredients multiplied? When they left Jesus’ hand, sometime in distribution? As each recipient received his gift, did the disciple look back into his basket and see the same number of pieces as before? Was this like the barrel of meal in the Old Testament or the barrel of oil? How long did it take for a dozen men to feed 6,000 plus people? Did they draft others like this boy to help? It doesn’t really matter, but I am just a little curious.
“When they were filled, he said unto disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”
Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.” I think that it can be safely said that the Lord hates waste. There are some proverbs which speak of that. But I have to wonder here why there were any leftovers in the first place. The Lord is an expert mathematician and could easily have multiplied exactly the right amount of food.
Since there were twelve baskets and twelve disciples, should we conclude that the leftovers were for them?
“Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.”
This time it doesn’t appear that this refers to the disciples. The crowd were taught an important truth. And as I have showed you recently, this reference to “that prophet” was to many Israelite minds speaking of the Messiah. But what kind of Messiah was Israel seeking? Were they looking for a Saviour or only an earthly king? The question remains the same today? Does the world want “Jesus” or do they want the “Lord Jesus Christ?”
I’ll conclude with just a few more questions putting this into the context of our world and our responsibilities. What was the job of the disciples? Wasn’t it simply to obey the Lord and pass out the food – the grace of God? Did they yearn to see those thousands immediately leave their idolatries to follow Christ as they had done? Didn’t they want their church to grow by hundreds and thousands over night? Of course they wanted their Saviour to be glorified, but didn’t they also want some real, tangible practical results? But isn’t it the Lord who controls the work, including those results?
We might look at all this as the Lord testing the faith of His disciples. Do you really want revival? Can you really expect the miraculous? Doesn’t the Lord say, “Come on Philip, trust me. If this little boy can do it, then so can you.”