With Dale Ratzlaff
John 6:1-14
After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
The fact that this is the only miracle, except for the resurrection of Jesus, that is recorded in all four Gospels testifies to its importance. It will be the basis for the discourse on the bread of life recorded later in John 6:22-66. The miracle with the later associated treatise has been interpreted in three main ways. Some contend that the “miracle” happened in the hearts of those who were seated on the grass. When the boy shared his scanty lunch, others began to share what they had stashed away and all had enough. A second view which was held by some of the early church fathers, as well the Catholic church and some sacramental Protestant churches today, is the “sacramental view”. More on this when we get to the later discourse. The third view is the literal view that the miracle happened just as John recorded and is full of insights for us today. I hold this assessment.
To get the deeper meaning of this event we must see it through Old Testament eyes. Eating and drinking (described later in the following discourse) were symbols of communal fellowship, prosperity and the blessings of God. For example, When Abraham met the divine Messengers he felt the necessity to serve them food.
Abraham also ran to the herd, and took a tender and choice calf and gave it to the servant, and he hurried to prepare it. He took curds and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and placed it before them; and he was standing by them under the tree as they ate (Gen. 18:7-8).
Solomon describes true pleasure as eating and drinking:
…for there is nothing good for a man under the sun except to eat and to drink and to be merry, and this will stand by him in his toils throughout the days of his life which God has given him under the sun (Eccl. 8:15).
One of the blessings of the Promised Land was an abundance of food:
For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land…a land where you will eat food without scarcity, in which you will not lack anything. (Deut. 8:7-9).
There also you and your households shall eat before the LORD your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the LORD your God has blessed you (Deut. 12:7).
The blessings of the age to come often include an abundance of food.
Ho! Every one who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk Without money and without cost. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance (Isa. 55:1-2).
Coming to our passage in John 6 now, we note that the crowd was following Jesus not because they wanted to obey Him but because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. The tenses indicate that they “kept following” because they “kept seeing” the miraculous events Jesus “habitually” was doing. They were not wanting to be true followers of Jesus, rather they were infatuated with His miracles. People are no different today. When we lived in the foothills of the Sierras the priest of a small Catholic church nearby claimed the Virgin Mary appeared in one of the stained-glass windows. Hundreds of miracle seekers descended upon this church, causing the worst traffic congestion the area had ever seen.
Mark’s description of this event states that Jesus had them sit down on the green grass. John mentions that the Passover was near. These facts testify to the historicity of the eye witnesses as the Passover was celebrated in our month of April when the grass was green and growing. We note again that John designates the Passover as “the feast of the Jews”. Several thoughts spring from this brief mention. First, if the celebration of the Passover continued over into the Christian Church we would expect John just to say, “the Passover was near”. Second, Jesus will, himself, soon be the Passover Lamb who will shed His blood for our salvation. In a sense He gave His flesh (humanity) for the life of the world to be described in more detail later in this chapter.
Even though the crowd was following Jesus with mixed motives Jesus had compassion on them. He asks Phillip,
Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?
John records that Jesus knew what He was going to do; nevertheless, He asked Philip in order to “test him”.
“Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?”
We are not told exactly what the “test” was. Did Jesus expect Phillip to figure the amount of bread needed for the size of the crowd, or did He expect Phillip to rely on the supernatural knowledge and abilities of Jesus to meet the current need? Regarding the “where” part of the question, John records Phillip lived in nearby Bethsaida and would have had knowledge of markets there. Apparently, Phillip took the question literally, and quickly looking at the crowd, calculated the cost for each to receive just a little.
“Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little”
Two hundred denarii would be equal to about eight month’s wages for a common worker. Phillip’s answer did not solve the problem; rather it only brought the magnitude of the problem into sharp focus. It only accentuated the pending miracle. Doubtless this focus is the reason John recorded this conversation.
Andrew finds a lad there with who is willing to share his meager lunch of five barley loves—we would probably call them little buns—and two small fish. He brings these resources to Jesus and says, “but what are these for so many people?” noting again the impossibility of solving the need of the moment. One of the characteristics of Andrew is that when there was a situation that he or the other disciples could not deal with, he brought it to Jesus.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus (Jn. 1:40-41).
Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus (Jn. 12:20-22).
It is most likely that these Greeks signaled out Philip because Philip was from an area where Greek was the language of commerce he could communicate with these Gentiles.
Jesus now takes charge, gives thanks and has the people sit down. Mark records that He instructed them sit in groups of fifty or one hundred. All the Gospels record that the number of men present for this occasion was about 5,000. Some think that the total number, including women and children, could have been around twenty thousand.
In their calculations to meet the needs of these hungry people, both Phillip and Andrew figured on giving everyone just a little. However, the record states that they had “as much as they wanted” and “they were filled”. Not only did everyone there eat to the full, but the disciples, at the instruction of Jesus, took up twelve baskets of left-overs. We are left to wonder if the number here was significant to the disciples. Apparently, they had brought nothing to eat with them that day as the only food found in the crowd was the lad’s lunch. Now, in the service of their Master, they each have a full basket of bread and fish. This detail also adds additional credibility to the enormous size of the miracle that happened that April evening on the hills of Galilee.
Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
This is now the fourth sign in the Gospel of John. We have seen Jesus turn water into wine (Jn. 2:1-11), heal the noble man’s son (Jn. 4:46-54), heal the man at the pool of Bethesda (Jn. 5:1-18), and now feed about twenty thousand people. The people who were looking for a coming deliverer now conclude that Jesus is indeed the Prophet predicted by Moses in Deuteronomy 18.
Application
When we are involved in Christian ministry, we should expect to encounter situations that appear to be unmanageable. When one reads through the book of Acts, this fact becomes clear. I can attest that Carolyn and I in our journey of 60 years and counting have faced a number of situations that had no apparat solution. Yet looking back, every one of them was temporary, and God worked in ways beyond our frame of reference and provided just what was necessary to meet our need.
When we face problems, we should evaluate them in reality and not try to brush them off as nothing.
We would do well to follow the example of Andrew. When we encounter people who have needs beyond our ability to meet, let us bring them to Jesus.
It is often the case that we have needs that are greater than our assets to meet them. Like the little boy, we can bring what we have to Jesus. Invest in His work and He is able to multiply these assets for His glory.
When we invest in Gospel work, whatever that work is, and see God change lives, solve problems, and provide abundantly, our faith is strengthened and we, like the Jews of Bible times, can say, “Truly this is the Prophet (Messiah) who is to come into the world.”
Prayer
Father, may I always serve you in what you are doing. May I be realistic in facing problems, but always look to you and give them to you knowing that you can do all things. You can multiple what I give to you. Teach me to trust you in all situations. Thank you for your compassion, wisdom, and power.
In Jesus name.
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