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Do We Have Enough for
Dinner? John 6:1-6:13
A man was a Baltimore Ravens season-ticket holder,
and he thought taking his seven-year-old daughter to a game would be a
good bonding experience. But once there, being seven she found the food
vendors much more exciting than what was taking place on the field, so
this dad bought her one kind of junk food after another.
As the fourth quarter began, the Ravens were far behind, and much of the
crowd had already left. One seat down, though, sat another season-ticket
holder who through the year had become friends with the man. The man
called out to his friend “I’m surprised you’re still here,” during a
timeout.
“I can’t bear to leave yet,” the friend replied. “I’ve got to see just
how much one little girl can eat.”
In today’s passage, a fascinating miracle about food takes place. It is
commonly called “The feeding of the 5000.” It is also fascinating to
observe the magnitude of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 for it
causes it to be found in all four gospels.
Today, we consider John’s account, which has some details that the other
three left out. Nevertheless, it is a breathtaking story; so let’s watch
it unfold.
Verse 1-2
After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee,
which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him,
because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.
Have you ever been so tired that you are just not sure you can go on?
A woman was in the backyard hanging the laundry when an old,
tired-looking dog wandered into the yard. She could tell from his collar
and well-fed belly that he had a home. But when she walked into the
house, the dog followed her, sauntered down the hall and fell asleep in
a corner. An hour later, he went to the door, and she let him out. The
next day he was back. He resumed his position in the hallway and slept
for an hour.
This continued for several weeks. Curious, she pinned a note to his
collar: "Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."
The next day the dog arrived with a different note pinned to his collar:
"He lives in a home with 10 children - he’s trying to catch up on his
sleep."
We know from the other texts that Jesus was looking for a break.
He wanted to get to a lonely place to get some rest. They were all
trying to get away. People had been following them incessantly and
though they tried to get away, they had been unsuccessful. Jesus was
looking for a break, but He did not get one. The people kept coming.
It is here that the remarkable difference of Jesus shows up. If it had
been you or me, we would have sent the people away. But not Jesus. In
Mark’s version of the event (6:34), we find this…
When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them,
because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
Jesus had compassion on a broken people (cf. Mark 6:34).
John reveals their motivation. Jesus had been doing such great miracles,
they kept following because they did not want to miss the tremendous
excitement of the “signs.” But Jesus sees their need. They are broken.
They need help. They need a Shepherd.
Verse 3-6
Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.
Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 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?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
John gives us a time framework when he mentions Passover. But remember
that Passover is a time to be in Jerusalem, not Galilee. Nevertheless,
Galilee is where they are following Jesus.
And Jesus asks his disciples, and more specifically, Phillip, “Do we
have enough for dinner?”
It was time to assess the situation. Now, if Jesus had asked us, we
probably would have set up a committee to evaluate the situation. We
would study the situation, consider all the options, and then probably
table it till the next meeting.
I like how Milton Berle describes committees. He says "A committee is a
group of men who keep minutes and waste hours."
Well, it was time to assess anyway. According to Jesus, these people
needed to be fed. So they estimated the count. There were about 5000
men. But there were more than that, because in that culture they only
counted the men. So it was likely to be more than twice that, so the
problem was big.
The first option presented comes in Mark’s account (6:36). It is the
idea of an unnamed disciple:
“Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and
buy themselves something to eat.”
But to Jesus Sending the people away seemed unrealistic. The disciples’
solution was to let them fend for themselves. To Jesus, this was not an
option. The people might faint from hunger. Plus, it was night and not a
time for travel. And where would they go? There were no supermarkets or
fast food restaurants around. So Jesus does not allow for this option.
But Philip can’t see the solution Verse 7
Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for
each of them to get a little.”
There was not enough money. Philip gets out his calculator, make a few
quick calculations and determines that it will take 200 days of wages to
accomplish the task, that is, if they can even find enough food.
So, along comes Andrew with another solution Verse 8-9
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There
is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they
for so many?”
Andrew brings this boy. Can you hear the responses of the other
disciples? “Nice going, Andrew.” “Great idea…real smart!” “That’s going
to go real far!” “What are you thinking?”
But we know, with what this little boy had there was not enough food for
everybody.
So here is a little boy with a small lunch: two little fish and five
barley cakes. This was poor man’s food. These fish were probably not
big, maybe more like sardine size. The barley bread was not in loaves
like we think of it, but more likely flat like tortillas. But the five
loaves and two fish would be a perfect number for Jesus. It would be all
He needed if the boy was willing.
Some have jokingly said that the greater miracle in this story is not
the feeding of the 5000, but that this young boy was willing to give up
his food.
So the boy seems willing Verse 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.
Jesus commands “Everybody take a seat.”
This may have been an interesting command. We know from the other texts,
that they were to sit down in groups of 50. It was dinnertime. But this
must have been troubling to those nearby. Sit down to eat? Eat what? The
disciples must have been thinking, “We are not going to get very far on
this boy’s lunch.” But Jesus does have the solution.
Verse 11-13
Jesus 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.
And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up
the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them
up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves,
left by those who had eaten.
Jesus performs a miracle. But note how He does it. There is no
razzmatazz. There is no special pleading. There is no raising hands and
dramatically crying out to God. No, Jesus puts His hands in the basket
and keeps pulling out more.
While they were looking, more and more just kept coming. Right in front
of their very eyes, He keeps bringing more out of the basket. The food
simply keeps on coming.
When God meets our needs, He really meets our needs. When God meets our
needs, there is satisfaction.
These were not some pitiful airline snacks. These were more than airline
meals. There was more than enough food. Jesus doesn’t hold back. He
supplies and there is satisfaction. And there were 12 baskets full of
food left. One for each disciple, a lesson directed for each of them
about who Jesus is.
One Saturday, as is the custom at the Erickson house in Peoria, IL, Ken
Erickson’s wife cleaned out leftovers from the refrigerator. She gave
the one remaining portion of tortellini to their 6-year-old son, Jeremy.
Their 8-year-old son, Matthew, also wanted some, so bickering ensued.
After several unsuccessful attempts to mediate the dispute, Ken decided
on a theological approach. Hoping to convince Jeremy to share his
portion with Matthew, he said, “Jeremy, what would Jesus do in this
situation?” Jeremy immediately responded, “Oh, Dad, He would just make
more!”
And there lies the truth. God loves to supply our needs!
Well, here is what I believe that we can learn from this event…
1. God tests our faith with challenges to do the impossible.
That was the challenge before Philip and the rest of the disciples. This
was just plain impossible.
You know, sometimes we are confronted with what seems to be the
impossible. As a result, we get the “deer in the middle of the road”
look. We just stare because we believe it can’t be done. (Do you know by
the way what happens to deer that stay in the middle of the road?)
But please understand God ministers through our weakness. He does not
select strong people so that He can use their strengths. He does not
select perfect people who always do things right in the eyes of men. He
chooses weak and broken people so that He can demonstrate His power
through their weakness.
God asks us to take on the impossible so that we will see Him at work.
2. God is not limited by our experience or our resources.
The disciples thought there was nothing that could be done. And this
happens to us as well. We frequently limit ourselves in the church. We
say, “We’ve never done it this way before.” Have you ever heard that? We
get stuck on the familiar.
But, God delights in doing the unexpected. He does it a different way,
so that when the time comes, we know that it was not us. It has to be
God. It has to be His wisdom, power and grace that has seen us through.
Another great lesson for us here is…
3. God multiples the little we offer.
We know the little boy did not have much to offer, but what he had was
used for something greater.
I believe that God loves to do this in our lives. We need to acknowledge
that our needs exceed our abilities. None of us can ensure our physical
health and safety. We can’t control our own bodies. Most of what goes on
in our body we don’t even know about, much less control. When it comes
down to it, we can’t prevent accidents. Neither can we change the genes
we get from our parents.
But what we can do is offer what we have. And just as this young boy
offered his fish and barley, so can we offer what little we have. Then
we need to step back and watch God’s hand at work. Watch Him multiply
what we have offered.
4. No matter what difficulty we face, what matters is that God is bigger
than the difficulty.
Perhaps what you are facing today is putting you to the point of
despair. Perhaps you have difficult relationships with family members.
Perhaps you are facing a crisis at the workplace. Perhaps you are facing
what seems to be a hopeless financial situation. What we all need to
remember is that it isn’t the great size of the need that matters. It
isn’t the small amount of our resources that matters. What matters is
the power of God.
5. True abundance is found in Jesus alone.
Jesus has come to give us a full, abundant and eternal life. Admittedly,
we sometimes harbor a suspicion that if we give ourselves fully to God,
our needs won’t get met the way we want them to be met. But this means
that we are depending on ourselves and not God. Here is where the truth
lies, True abundance is knowing and following Jesus. True abundance is
Jesus Himself.
This church must pursue Jesus. He is worth watching, He is worth
seeking, and He is worth knowing.
We must not give up when the problems come. It may look impossible and
overwhelming, but for God, it is an opportunity to display His strength
and power.
And we must learn to rejoice in God’s provision. He supplies our
needs—abundantly—and what is more, He offers Himself to us so that we
might know Him, love Him and enjoy Him forever.
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