Lessons from John 6

04-07-2019 Notes on sermon

Scripture: John chapter 6

Feeding of the five thousand.

⁴Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 
⁵Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” 
⁶ He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. John 6:4-6

Commentators have noted that the Passover being near would have accounted for many more travelers heading towards Jerusalem. Some of these crowds may have heard that Jesus was nearby, which might explain in part the large crowd of 5000 men plus women and children being in the area.

Jesus often tested His disciples, and they often failed to understand what He was teaching them.

Mark records more details and another test in this same event:

³⁵And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 
³⁶Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 
³⁷But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.”

And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 
³⁸And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” Mark 6:35-38

Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.” These same apostles had been among the 72 sent out, healing the sick as recorded in Luke chapter 10. They had come back rejoicing: “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!”  His answer: “²⁰Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

So Jesus could have expected that His disciples who had already seen God working through them to heal the sick and make demons subject to their demands would have recognized this opportunity for a miraculous solution. But faced with a natural predicament, how to feed five thousand men plus women and children their answer was “Feed all of these people? Impossible!”

Sometimes lessons repeated are an opportunity to get the right answer. Later on Jesus fed four thousand, recorded in Matthew 15 and Mark 8.

After that miracle Jesus was arguing with the Pharisees who demanded to see a sign.

An interesting exchange/admonishment from Christ is recorded in Mark:

¹⁴Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 
¹⁵And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.”
¹⁶And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 
¹⁷And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 
¹⁸Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 
¹⁹When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 
²⁰“And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 
²¹And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” Mark 8:14-21

Yes, they were lacking in faith. They were trusting in what they could see, taste, feel. Christ was teaching them to trust Him, not circumstance.

We suffer from the same lack of faith when we are confronted with issues, problems in this life which seem insurmountable. So perhaps we shouldn’t be too hard on the disciples. We have 2000 years of hindsight, and have known their stories all of our lives.