The Gospel of John - part 15

preached 2/3/19

Bread and Water

Chapter 6 begins a new set of story and discourse in which Jesus gives us two more signs to prove His identity, and then gives the way to eternal life. Today, we will read the two miracles, then next week, we will examine the teachings of Jesus, the Bread of Life.

Feeding the 5000

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. 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. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 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?” 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 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.”

John 6:1-12


John begins the new discourse which occurs about the time of Passover. It is important to remember that John’s Gospel is not arbitrarily arranged. When John cites a particular festival, it is to help illustrate a theological point.

Think back to Chapter 5. Jesus heals a person on the Sabbath sparking a controversy over working on the Sabbath. Jesus teaches His authority to heal on the Sabbath in light of His Divinity, as well as on the notion that the Father has been working all along. The Sabbath was a time for spiritual healing. At times in the past the Father would heal and raise life, so now Jesus was healing and would raise the dead.

Now, in Chapter 6, Jesus has garnered a crowd during the Passover. What is the Passover? It is the time the Jews remember God’s provision during the plagues and their exodus from captivity. The Lord brought the Hebrew nation out of Egypt and led them through the wilderness ultimately to the Promised Land. During the journey from Egypt to Israel, the people found themselves in a lack of food. The Lord provided a mysterious seed from heaven the Israelites aptly named ‘manna’ (literally translated “what is it”). The moral of the story is that God not only saves us, but will also maintain us. He does not save His children only to abandon them later.

The miraculous provision of bread and fish mirrors the manna from heaven during the wilderness journey.

Jesus offers a test to Philip asking where to find bread. Notice Jesus does not ask about ‘food’, but specifically ‘bread’. Likewise, He doesn’t mention hunting or gathering, He specifically says ‘buy’. The test is about having a faith that understands where daily sustenance comes from. He is asking Philip, “Where does their money come from? Where does their food come from? How does a person survive daily life?”

Philip’s answer shares a glimpse into his state of mind. His answer is focused on the money.

“Lord, we don’t have near enough money to take care of these people.”

Andrew offers a bit more hope, but he is focused on how little is there. He found a boy with five small barley loaves and two fish.

The emphasis is on ‘small’. John uses a more specific wording than the Synoptics. John specifies the bread is made from barley (the poor man’s bread, as opposed to wheat bread) and the word for fish could also be rendered “pieces of dried fish”. (It’s as if I offered you ‘fish’, and you thought ‘salmon’, but really it’s canned tuna.)

“Lord, we don’t have near enough food to take care of these people.”

Notice the similarities to the Exodus story. In Exodus, God sends 10 plagues, divides the Red Sea, and destroys the pursuing army of Pharaoh, only for the Israelites to complain in the wilderness that they are going to starve. Moses is exasperated. The Israelites just experienced a series of amazing miracles and freedom, and now they are worried about daily provision? Here, Jesus’ disciples just saw Him heal two people and earlier make wine from water. Now, He asks about food for the day, and the disciples respond with, “We don’t have enough.”

Jesus offers no rebuke. He simply instructs them to have the people sit down.

Jesus is showing the disciples the same truth Moses showed the Israelites:

God is the source of our daily provision.

He will not abandon His people.

Notice in verse 12, “when they had eaten their fill”. Earlier Philip is doing the math to see how much appetizers would cost, but Jesus provides the whole meal! Then the disciples are told to gather the leftovers (“waste not, want not”), and they fill 12 baskets, one reminder for each disciple.

Jesus withdraws from the people

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 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.

John 6:14-15

When the people realize what happened, they want to make Jesus a king. Why does Jesus move away from them? Because He did not come to establish an earthly kingdom. John repeats the title given to Jesus by the Samaritan woman. The people see Him as the Prophet who was to come. Since Jesus is the Prophet, they want to make Him their king. This was the Messiah they looked for: the earth-bound ruler who would free them from Rome.

Jesus came to bring the Heavenly Kingdom, not create an Israeli empire.

Later in verse 26, Jesus will explain their folly. They want to follow Jesus because of what Jesus can do for their material life—provide food and get rid of the Romans. But that’s not how it works. We cannot control Jesus and make Him do what we want.

God is not a cosmic ATM doing whatever we pay Him to do.

As if we can pray the right way or name it and claim it, and He bows to our every whim. Jesus is the Messiah who came to seek and save the lost. We come to Him in faith and gratefully receive what He offers—salvation and daily provision. And most importantly, if we would actually repent from our commercial, materialistic attitudes towards life, we’d realize salvation and daily provision is far more than we deserve.

God provides abundantly to His people, for their benefit and His glory, but always on His terms, not on our selfish whims.

Jesus Walks on the Water

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

John 6:16-21

John tells us the disciples set out at evening, and by the time Jesus reached the boat it was dark. We should note that throughout John’s Gospel, the time for an event is used for both chronology and symbolism. “Dark” here is not just because they have been rowing a long time.

The dark also represents the disciples’ spiritual state.

Jesus is not with them currently, they were just given a miraculous lesson in faith, and now a storm has brewed up. Also, keep in mind, when Jesus left the crowd, He also left the disciples. It may be that the disciples also sought Jesus as King, given their statements in Acts 1 and other places. They knew a lot about Jesus, but they were still “in the dark” about His mission.

As they are rowing, they see Jesus walking on the sea coming near the boat. They, of course, freaked out a bit. The Synoptic writers share more details. Mark tells us they thought Jesus was a ghost. Matthew gives the account of Peter walking with Jesus. Here, John has chosen to emphasize his point with brevity. This short account centers on verse 20 when Jesus says, “It is I; do not be afraid.” The Greek of ‘It is I’ is ego eimi. I surveyed numerous translations, and they all had ‘It is I’, however every commentator noticed the glaring significance of this phrase.

‘It is I’ can also be translated ‘I AM’.

Ego Eimi is the Greek version of the Hebrew ‘I AM’, as in the name of God, YHWH. Jesus is not just making a friendly ‘hello’, it is a declaration of His Divinity.

On Bread and Water

The account of Jesus on the water coupled with the feeding of the 5000 directly connects Jesus with the Exodus event. The parallels cannot be overlooked.

First, geographically they are similar in that the crowds move through mountains and cross water. It’s a demonstration of the people moving out of captivity and into the Promise Land.

Second, as already mentioned, the 5000 are given bread through a miraculous intervention, just as the manna came from heaven miraculously. It demonstrates Jesus is able to bring Heaven to us.

Third, Jesus walks on the water and guides the disciples to safety just as God parted the Red Sea to carry the people to safety from Pharaoh.

The culmination of the exodus journey happens on Mt. Sinai where the people receive the Law and see God’s presence on the mountain. Then they are able to walk with Him through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. Here, the culmination is at verse 20 where John provides the pivotal phrase, ego eimi, I AM.

Invitation

Next week, we will continue the story as Jesus addresses the crowd and the Jews to bring them to terms with His identity and Mission. However, today, as we close, we are confronted with a decision:

Will we surrender to Jesus on His terms and on His Identity? He is the Great I AM, come down to us from Heaven so that we can be saved. John records several times, whoever will believe in the name of Jesus will be saved.

Will you trust in His name today and be saved?