John 6
“ 1Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4The Jewish Passover Feast was near.”
There was a great crowd following Jesus because they had been seeing with their own eyes how he had healed the sick. This was in the spring, in March, as the Passover was drawing near – it is the most beautiful time for that part of the world – everything is coming into life after the brown and cold winter, very much like the spring in England – just warmer! The air full of birds, the earth turning green with new life.
“ 5When 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?" 6He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7Philip answered him, "Eight months’ wages[a] would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9"Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
10Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14After 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." 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”
Now we could go into a deep spiritual exposition here about the meaning of this miracle, but this is not what I want to focus on today. I want to look at how the people reacted to Jesus. It is the human nature displayed in the Scripture which is important for us today.
I just want to put this into context a little bit. 5,000 people – how many is that? Well, the average village of the day was about 1,500 people. So we are talking about the same number of people as contained in about 3 ½ villages! So if you can imagine, this is the equivalent of most of our small town here, completely emptied and everyone gone to the beach to hear someone speak, because everyone had seen his healing miracles.
And look at what people are saying about Jesus after this miracle look there in verse 14 "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."
Now note that the word prophet as a capital P here. That’s because there is also the implication here that He is the Messiah that all of Israel had been waiting for.
So, from what people had seen and experienced of Jesus – they followed him in droves and they recognised who he was, the Messiah – the saviour of the world.
Ok let’s read on.
“ 16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19When they had rowed three or three and a half miles,[b] they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, "It is I; don’t be afraid." 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.”
This is one of the most supernatural events in all the accounts of Jesus – can you imagine how terrified these men would have been, there on the water, in the dark, with the wind getting stronger and the waves getting higher, and out of the roaring darkness comes the figure of a man walking across the water...
But to see this for real, must have been terrifying – to the point that they were clearly trying to escape – look what it says in verse 21 "Then they were willing to take him into the boat" – implying that until then they were certainly not willing! And this only happened after Jesus spoke to them and they recognised who he was. But also look at the last sentence of this bit and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. This is deep supernatural stuff, great miracles occurring.
OK – read on.
“22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.”
That’s 5,000 people piling into boats and crossing the sea of Galiliee – The lake is not that big - it must have looked like D-day!
“25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
26Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."”
Aha! A sense of what this is about
“28Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
29Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."”
Jesus is reminding people to not put their faith in the things they see – even though they may be miraculous in nature – but in the things they cannot see. Do not believe in the miracles themselves – but believe in Jesus Himself.
“ 30So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ’He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]"
32Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
35Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
41At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ’I came down from heaven’?"”
Now look at this. Look at how the mood of the crowd changes. Despite everything they have witnessed – the miracles of healing that brought them together in the first place, despite filling their bellies with the bread and fish miraculously produced from only five loaves and two fishes, despite realising that Jesus crossed the sea of Galilee in the blink of an eye, despite all of this, they begin to grumble and why?
Because they knew the earthly family of Jesus. They knew his father and his mother, they knew He had lived and worked in Nazareth.
So, the things they could percieve, the things they could understand in their earthly context completely wiped away any potential of acting in faith. Basically, what they saw with their earthly eyes blinded them completely to the Spiritual truth and potential of faith before them.
“ 43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: ’They will all be taught by God.’[d] Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
52Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"”
Again, Jesus is talking of the deeply spiritual, He is talking of matters of faith – and yet all that these 5000 people can understand are earthly matters – they simply cannot grasp the faith and spiritual nature of what Jesus us telling them. He is talking of Him being the bread of life and all they understand is some warped earthly translation of eating his actual flesh.
This is how far we, as human beings can stray from our understanding or discernment of spiritual things – where they actually become warped into the most bizarre interpretation.
If only we understood that the key to our growth, is to discern more and more readily the issues of the Spirit and to be able to act and understand in faith.
“ 53Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit[e] and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
And this is the outcome of a lack of spiritual discernment – people fall to one side, because they simply cannot grasp or understand the spiritual truth. Despite people witnessing miraculous events, despite having their needs supernaturally met by God, when it actually comes down to it, to step out in faith can end up being just one step too far for some people.
Indeed, if we read this scripture correctly, stepping out in faith is one step too far for MOST people – because out of the 5,000 people in that crowd, people who had witnessed Jesus’ miracles, fed their bellies on the supernatural provision of Jesus – still most of them could not understand the teachings of living in faith - and therefore simply could not step out in faith.
“ 67"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.”
This is an emotional question by Jesus. After seeing people leaving in droves because they simply could not take the next step of faith, he turns to his most faithful followers and he asks them honestly – are you leaving too? Is this too much for you too? Now look at their answer.
“ 68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."”
To whom shall we go? The disciples recognise that there is nowhere else for them to be than with Jesus. To follow Him because of the truth of what they understand in their hearts and spirits – there in verse 69.
“69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God”
When we leave here later this morning, we actually have a single choice to make:
Do we count ourselves in the 5000 – seeing and experiencing miracles from God and yet unable to make that step of faith, because we do not understand the deep spiritual journey we are on?
Are we among those who don’t understand the spiritual or who are unable to act in faith, because of what we see with our earthly eyes and what we understand with our human minds and what we discern with our earthly hearts?
Or do we count ourselves with the twelve? Do we not understand everything, but yet have faith to follow?
And will our answer be this? “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."”
The answer is in our hands and our hearts.
Amen
