Faced With The Impossible, Entrust It To Jesus -- John 6:1-15

Text: John 6:1-15

Theme: Faced with the Impossible, Entrust It to Jesus

A. He places the impossible in front of us

B. He works it out his way, not mine

Season: Pentecost 10b

Date: August 9, 2009

Web page: www.caughtbyjesus.net/sermons/Faced-with-the-Impossible,-Entrust-It-to-Jesus-John6_1-15.html

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Word from God through which the Holy Spirit points us to Jesus and his kindness is John 6

"After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (the Sea of Tiberias). A large crowd was following him because they were watching the signs he was doing on the sick. Jesus came to the mountain and there he was sitting with his disciples." (The Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.)

"Then lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to him, Jesus says to Philip, "Where should we buy food so that they may eat?"" (He was saying this testing him, for he knew what he was going to do.)

"Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii [over 8 months wages for a day-laborer] of bread is not enough for them so that each one gets a little bit."

"One of the disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, says to him, "Here is a young boy who has five barley loaves and two pieces of cooked fish. But what is this for so many?"

"Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." (There was much grass in the place.) Then the men sat down, numbering about five thousand. Then Jesus took the bread and giving thanks he distributed it to those who were sitting down, likewise also the pieces of cooked fish, as much as they wanted.

"When they were full, he says to his disciples, "Gather the extra left-over pieces so that nothing is wasted." Then they gathered and filled twelve baskets of pieces from the five loves of barley bread which were left over from those who had eaten. Then the people seeing the sign which he had done were saying, "This one is truly the Prophet who is coming into the world. Then Jesus, knowing that they were going to come and seize him in order to make him king, departed again into the mountain, himself alone." (John 6:1-15)

Dear friends in Christ, fellow saints washed clean in the blood of our risen Savior:

"Build a box-shaped boat about the size of a quarter of a football field from the goal line to the fifty and half-way across. Make it about as tall as a four story building. You’ll live on it for almost year with many kinds of animals." Sounds rather impossible, but that’s what Noah did.

"You need to move to a new land where you’ll be a stranger. And your wife will eventually have a child, even though she’s already sixty-five and was unable to have children during her child bearing years." Sounds impossible, but that’s what God promised Abraham.

"Although you are a virgin, you will give birth to a son, and he will be the Son of God." How impossible! But Mary believed the divine message.

Don’t we see again and again in the Scriptures God’s people facing the impossible? Think of Moses, Gideon, Ruth, David, Elijah, Daniel, Esther, and so many more. And still today, you, God’s people, face the impossible. But we’re no Abraham or Moses or Mary. So how are we suppose to do it?

Let’s see how Jesus trained his disciples to face the impossible.

A. He places the impossible in front of us

1. What impossible situation did the disciples face?

Jesus had taken his disciples to a remote shore of the Sea of Galilee. But the crowds, eager for miracles, followed him, thousands of people, possibly more people than in all of Stevens county -- Alberta, Chokio, Donnelly, Hancock, Morris, and everywhere in between. Jesus asks the impossible of Philip. "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (John 6:5 NIV). Philip realizes how impossible this is. "Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" (John 6:6 NIV), he answers. They didn’t have the money to feed these people, and even if they did where would they buy food in such a remote place?

Jesus doesn’t give him a solution at that time. Remember that John mentioned that Jesus asked this when he first saw the crowd. The other gospel writers make it clear that after seeing the crowd Jesus went on to teach them for the rest of the day and heal the sick. Can you picture Philip and the other disciples discussing this among themselves throughout the day? "How are we going to feed these people? Jesus is going to have to send them away. If he would only stop teaching and let them go to find their own food. That’s the only solution. We certainly can’t feed them. That’s impossible!"