JESUS FEEDS THE FIVE THOUSAND

John 6:1-15

Key Verse: 6:5

“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’”

In today’s passage Jesus trained his disciples to teach them feeding faith.  Feeding faith, not eating faith!  Many people, including myself have eating faith—so we can eat anything, anytime without any problem, but Jesus wanted to teach his disciples feeding faith.  Jesus wanted them to learn faith to feed the crowds, so that they would hold his vision to feed all peoples on earth—not just with physical food but with the living words of God.    

Part I: Jesus Tests Philip (1-7)

The time of this passage is “Some time after this…” And the place is “the far shore of the Sea of Galilee.”  There, Jesus wanted to spend some quiet time with his disciples, but a great crowd of people followed him from Jerusalem.  Why did the crowds follow Jesus?  It was because they saw the saw the miraculous signs he performed on the sick.  They might have seen how Jesus healed the man at Bethesda—who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.  When they saw such a miraculous healing, they were filled with hope and excitement.  Of course, they wanted Jesus to heal them of their sicknesses and the sicknesses of all their friends and loved ones.                  

Sickness has been a source of misery and sorrow throughout human history, and presents a heavy burden on society in cost and level of care. It is a sober reminder of how limited we are and how helpless before the power of death.  But through healing the sick, Jesus revealed the power of God that turns back the power of death, and he affirmed God’s love and compassion to care for a dying world.  

Jesus devoted a substantial portion of his early ministry to healing the sick.  And the healing ministry has now become one of the hallmarks of Christianity.  Great servants like Hudson Taylor and David Livingstone went out as medical missionaries to China and to Africa.  Even among our ministry, God is using Dr. Luke Lim to head the Bethesda clinic serving the medical and spiritual needs of the people in Uganda.  However, it is not modern medical techniques that move people to receive Jesus, but the obedient and sacrificial lives of God’s servants bringing the gospel.  In the same way, we are also called to care for those who are sick by providing for their physical and spiritual needs.     

As important as it is to heal people’s sicknesses, Jesus had an even higher priority in his ministry.  Look at verses 3-4.  “Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.  The Jewish Passover Feast was near.”  The Passover was a reminder that Jesus’ time was short.  Perhaps two more years remained in Jesus’ earthly ministry, before he must give his life as the true Passover lamb.  He urgently needed to raise his disciples to be ready to bring the gospel to all people on earth.  So he sat down with them on the mountainside for a leader’s conference Bible study.  

But then something changed the direction of Jesus’ Bible study session with them.  Instead of staying off the mountain to give Jesus some privacy, the crowds started moving toward him.  Look at verse 5.  “When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’”  Jesus saw an opportunity for some practical Bible study.  In this world, we must be indifferent to the needs of the crowds because we are too limited.  No one is expected to provide for the basic needs of his fellow man.  It is hard enough to take care of ourselves.  Also, as Americans we are proud of our roots as rugged individualists.  Through rugged individualism we conquered the great frontier, industrialized the nation and continue to advance in business, science and technology and numerous other human pursuits.  But rugged individualism is not the way of God’s kingdom.  God’s kingdom is a universal stewardship.  In God’s kingdom, we must care for the needs of our fellow man.  In fact, God’s vision in this is so great he calls each of us to be a source of blessing to all peoples on earth (Gen 12:2-3).  

Jesus knew that his disciples would not voluntarily take responsibility for feeding the crowd.  So he said, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”  It was as if the question “should we feed these people” was already settled.  In God’s kingdom, the answer to the question, “Should we sacrifice and serve these people?” is always “Yes.”  But the challenge Jesus gave was how.  Jesus knew these disciples had no money to buy food for 5000 people, and even if they did, there was no place to buy that much food.  

Look at verse 6.  “He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.”  Philip was well-known as the smartest of the disciples.  So he was given the great responsibility of solving this challenging problem.  God often gives us challenges in our lives, knowing that they will put us in deep water over our heads.  He does not do this to cause us to fail and be humiliated.  It is to cause us to pray and grow in the level of our faith.  Unless we are tested, we cannot grow, and we cannot reveal the true glory of God as we are made to do.  God wants each of us to have his best blessing.  His best blessing is for us to grow as men and women of faith, through whom he can bring salvation to a lost world.

The word “test” reminds us of the time when God tested Abraham in Genesis 22.  Through all of the struggles and challenges in his life of faith, Abraham grew to trust completely in God as his wonderful Savior and friend.  So God tested him to see if he really believed God’s absolute goodness and love.  God told him to sacrifice his only son, whom he loved.  Abraham didn’t know how he was going to do this.  But he believed that whatever happened, God would provide.   How could Abraham pass the test?  He trusted and obeyed God.  He really loved God and expected God to do something amazing and wonderful and good.  He didn’t doubt that whatever happened on that mountain, it was going to be a wonderful blessing from God.  And it was true.  God provided the sacrifice, and Abraham received Isaac back as a new creation. 

Jesus tested Philip so that Philip could experience God’s goodness and mercy and love.  He tested Philip so that Philip could become the man of faith that God had destined him to be.  Are you being tested now?  That’s very good!  It shows that God loves you very much and thinks very highly of you.  Jesus wants each of you to become great men and women of faith who can become a source of life and blessing to all people on earth.

Jesus challenged Philip to answer the question, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”  Whenever there is a test, there is always an outcome.  Let’s see what unfolded.  Look at verse 7.  “Philip answered him, ‘Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’”  There’s an exclamation point.  He was adamant that they could not afford it, and furthermore, it would not be enough to satisfy the people’s hunger.

This is actually a very good answer in one sense.  It is better to realize up front that you do not have resources to start a project before you waste a lot of time and energy trying in vain to do it.  In fact, Jesus taught very clearly that we must count the cost before we take up a difficult mission or cross.  Luke 14:28 -30 says, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.  Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?  For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’”  When carrying out our life mission, we must determine if we are up to the task.  But Jesus didn’t say this to cause us to avoid challenges, but to measure our faith.  If our faith is not sufficient to do what must be done, then we require more faith.  If we require more faith or more resources or anything else to carry out the task that God has put before us, we must go and obtain what we need.  If it is prayer support, then we get prayer support.  If it is help from others, then we pursue it with sincerity and earnestness.  If it is hard preparation and study, then we work hard and study with vision and spirit.

Philip needed to use his God-given gift of intelligence to assess the situation.  Jesus expected this.  But in his answer, Philip inserted his own opinion about the possibility of feeding the crowd.  He shows contempt for the very idea suggested by Jesus.  With such an attitude, Philip could not grow as a disciple.  He needed to be changed until he could accept Jesus’ word and intent with an attitude of trust and obedience.  Until then, Philip would have to watch and learn.

Part II: Andrew’s Five Loaves and Two Fish (7-9)

Andrew had a different answer.  Look at verse 8.  “Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.”  Jesus hadn’t even asked Andrew.  Usually people do not volunteer themselves to do a hard task or mission.  But Andrew was different.  He took initiative.  He spoke up.  He didn’t say, “Well, that’s Philip’s responsibility.”  Rather, he spoke up and said, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”  He had no more idea than Philip, but he took the initiative and made the first step toward a solution.  When doing the work of God, God’s people must learn to take initiative.  Of course, it is much easier to only do what you are told when you are told to do it.  But God always blesses those who understand his heart and voluntarily take responsibility for his work.  For example, God never told King David to build him a permanent temple.  But David felt convicted about it, and sought God’s blessing to do it.  God heard his prayer and was very pleased.  God blessed him to be the ancestor of Jesus, who would establish God’s true temple on earth in people’s hearts, through faith in him.  If God puts something in your heart to do, then by all means, take the initiative!  God will be with you and bless you.

Andrew found something small and brought it to Jesus.  It was a small boy and his five small barley loaves and two small fish.  Although Andrew had no idea how to feed the crowds, he brought something to Jesus by faith.  Jesus could use it because it was brought with the expectation that Jesus would use it and do something wonderful and miraculous.  Andrew’s actions encourage us to bring our five loaves and two fish to Jesus by faith—no matter what they are.    

How did Jesus bless the five loaves and two fish when Andrew brought them to Jesus?  Look at verse 10a.  “Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’”  These words planted faith in all of his disciples.   Jesus had decided to use the five loaves and two fish to feed the crowds.  This was God’s grace, that Jesus would use even what little the disciples had to feed 5,000 men.  Jesus loved his disciples deeply.  Jesus could have fed the crowds all on him own, but he chose to use his disciples as his precious co-workers.  The hearts of Jesus’ disciples must have been filled with anticipation of what great works Jesus might do through them, as they began seating the people.  

Look at verse 11.  “Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.  He did the same with the fish.”  Jesus used the five loaves and two fish to abundantly supply the need of the crowds.  There were even 12 basketfuls of bread left over for the disciples.  

When Korea was a poor country, Dr. Samuel Lee challenged poor college students to stretch out their hand and give.  What they had was so small, but some even sold their blood to make world mission offering.  It was impossible to think that Korea could send out missionaries to foreign lands, but they sent the first missionary to Jeju Island, which is technically still part of Korea, but an island.  Later, when nurses were preparing to go to work in Germany, they convinced them to go as God’s servants, not just for money.  In this way God used the five loaves and two fish of our ancestors of faith in this ministry.  That God chooses to use what we bring to him by faith is fantastic!  May God bless us to find what we have—no matter how small—and bring it Jesus with the expectation that Jesus will use it for a great work of God.  

The event of Jesus feeding the 5000 is recorded in all four gospels.  Why?  It is so that we may know with certainty what Jesus has in mind to do, and what Jesus has called us to participate in doing.  He intends to feed the whole world through us, not only with mere bread, but with the words of eternal life.

Many of those of the younger generation are a lot like Philip.  They are able to multi-task and can accomplish so much in a limited amount of time.  When we pray for them, for our children and young Bible students, to feed others by faith they will surely accomplish great things for God.  

Look at 14-15.  Let’s read these verses.  “After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”  People didn’t want a spiritual king, but a burger king.  After having been healed by Jesus and fed by Jesus, the people did not accept Jesus for who he was.  Though Jesus and his disciples worked hard to serve them, all they really wanted was to be relieved of their suffering and find a better way to survive in this world.    

Many people are like this.  But does this mean that the gospel work is a hopeless cause?  Should we despair when people take advantage of our services and don’t commit themselves to Jesus?  God knows our sacrifice and all of our efforts to serve him.  The real fruit of Jesus ministry was his disciples.  When the disciples grew in their faith nothing was wasted.  As long as we are growing in faith we are gathering eternal reward in the kingdom of God.  Jesus continued serving others even to the point losing his own life through his death on the cross.  We should not calculate what we are losing in serving others, but what we are gaining in serving others.  Then when see the crowds coming toward us, we can bring what we have to Jesus and he will help us to serve them out of his abundant supply.  

One word: “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 

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