Jesus is the Bread of Life
I have been covering the seven signs of John. In the first sign, the turning of the water into wine, Jesus revealed how he is able to take useless ritual, and turn it into an everlasting covenant. In the second sign, the healing of the officials son, Jesus demonstrates how He is the word of God. In the third sign, the healing of the man at the pool, we discovered that Jesus is the one who is able to forgive sins. We now come on to the forth sign of the book of John, the feeding of the five thousand.
We have said that in the Gospel of John, he makes no secret of why he write this account of Jesus’ life.
John 20:31
... that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
We said that John wrote the Gospel so that people may know who Jesus is, that He is Christ, the Son of God, and so that people might have life by believing in Him. John therefore picks out events in Jesus’ life that display Him for who He is. John himself admits, in the verse before the one that we have just read, and at the end of his book, that there are many other things that he could have included. But instead John includes those miracles and teachings he records as evidence of who Jesus is to the people. Included are seven miracles which John explains are signs to show that Jesus is the one the prophets spoke of in the old testament. Through these signs John displays how Jesus is the fulfilment of the old testament.
Today we start at chapter 6 of the book of John. This sign, like the six, has certain properties. Firstly there is a test show the level of peoples faith before the miracle, then Jesus performs the sign as a revelation of who He is, and then finally John records the teaching of Jesus in relation to this sign. He shows how the combination of these three things affects the people.
John 6:1
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
2:and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.
3:Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
4:The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5:When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
6:He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7:Philip answered him, "Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8:Another 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?"
10:Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
11:Jesus 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.
12:When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."
13:So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14: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."
15:Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
The Test.
Deuteronomy 13:3
... The LORD your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.
We can see all through both the old and new testament the Lord loves to test His people to find out where their hearts are. When we read Johns account of this miracle it is not long before He puts somebody to the test. This time, it is His disciple Philip with the honour. Jesus asks him..."Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" Why does Jesus ask Philip? Firstly we find that Philip was a local. In the other accounts of this miracle we discover that it took place in a location called Bethsaida. This is the very place that we find in John 1:44, Philip, as well as Andrew and Peter all lived. Philip would have known the local town and shops well. Philip however can’t comprehend the question, ’Where’ can we buy the food, but instead, can only think of ’How?’
Philips answer could have been, ’Lord you know.’ or ’Lord you are able to provide.’ This would be more in line with the type of reply from Jesus mother at the miracle of the water into wine, when she tells the servant to do whatever Jesus commands, John 2:5. Philip could have thought back to that miracle and realised that Jesus was more than able to provide.
Philip had confessed to Nathanael that Jesus was the one who Moses and the prophets had spoken about.
John 1:45
Philip found Nathanael and told him, "We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
If Philip had understood this fully he would have realised that just as the Lord provided manna for the people in Moses’ day, he could also provide it for the person that Moses had prophesied about.
Deuteronomy 18:18
I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
19:If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.
Philip didn’t realise the significance of what he was being asked and who Jesus is and so he failed the test. Part of the problem however was that he didn’t know he was being tested. It is easy to look on the failure of Philip without realising that Jesus never actually told him that he was being tested.
Three years ago, I applied to join the air support unit of the police force. Basically I would be policing out of an aircraft. I had to go through various different assessments and stages in order to be chosen for the position. On one of the days I was taken up in the aircraft and was tested on my navigation skills, my ability to use the equipment, and my communication skills etc. I knew I would be tested on this before I went up and fortunately did well enough in these areas to pass overall. However one area I failed on was my ability to look after other crew members needs. One of the assessors, a regular and competent flier, kept complaining during the flight about a dubious pie that he’d ate. He made numerous comments to the other assessor during the flight that he would be looking forward to landing. I just chuckled at these comments and stated that I was glad I wasn’t sitting in front of him. I failed the test. It was a set up I should have handed him a sick bag instead. The problem was I didn’t know I was being tested on this and so wasn’t paying proper attention.
Often in our Christian walk we are tested by God. We often fail these tests as we don’t even know that we are being tested. One of the first keys being successful when we are tested by God, is to realise that we are being tested in the first place. The fact is that God tests our faith and obedience to Him daily. We can take delight in the fact that God tests us because He loves us and He wants us to succeed. He only tests those that He loves and is looking for faith, and for us to trust Him that he will be loyal to His covenant obligations and will care for His people.
These tests can come in the forms of loss of a loved one, or temptations to sin etc, but in whatever form they come it is important to recognise that it is God testing us and to bring the issue to Him. This is one area that Philip doesn’t fail in. He made have failed Jesus’ test initially, but in doing so shows forth attributes that God can use. One of the great mercies of God is His ability to use our failure for His Glory. One attribute of Philip is that he immediately shares the enormity of the problem before God. Philip doesn’t go around trying to solve it in the natural before taking the problem back to Jesus. There was no way that the disciples could have found that sort of money between them, and instead of Philip running around the crowd with his collection plate he explains to Jesus the problem. It was because Philip recognised that it couldn’t be solved in the natural, Jesus was able to demonstrate His glory. Only when we take our problem to God can He be glorified.
Andrew then gets involved in the situation and brings the child before Jesus. He has no more idea than Philip of what to do and by showing how little food there is, is only reaffirming the size of the dilemma. In bringing the child anyway, Andrew shows just a glimmer of faith. What about the child? He doesn’t have much to offer and he probably doesn’t know what Jesus can do with it, but he brings it to Jesus anyway. When what little we have is brought before God, it is then that we see the miracle.
The miracle is performed. Through testing Jesus has shown both the disciples and the people to be inadequate, and yet through the lunch of a small child he is able to perform a mighty miracle. Sometimes the reason God tests us, is not for us to demonstrate our faithfulness, but for Him to show us our inadequacies. It is only when He shows us how inadequate we are that he is able to demonstrate His glory thorough us.
The Revelation.
The miracle has been performed, and through this sign Jesus has been able to reveal a little bit more about himself to the people. The people saw that not only was Jesus able to perform the miraculous, and feed the multitude, but that there was actually more bread left over than there was in the beginning. The people started to realise that Jesus was the messiah that the prophets had spoken of.
John 6:14
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."
The people had been waiting for the messiah. They had been waiting for the prophet spoken of in Deuteronomy 18. They were looking for the king and son of man described in Daniel.
Daniel 7:13
"In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.
14:He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
They recognised Jesus as being this person, as we find in verse 15 of John 6, Jesus has to move away as the people intend to make Him king by force. The people were a small army. There were around five thousand men, as well as women and children. They wanted their king, and were willing to make him such their way. They didn’t realise what Jesus had come for and weren’t interested. They wanted Jesus on their terms. They had had a partial revelation of Jesus’ but by their reaction they demonstrated that didn’t really know him.
I want to ask this question. Are we really interesting in knowing Christ for who he really is or are we more interested in what we can get from Him? The Jews at the time were under Roman rule. As a proud nation they wouldn’t have been able to stand having to submit to a gentile authority. They were waiting for the person who they could have as king. A person who would free them from their rulers just as Moses had led the people out of slavery in Egypt. Are you just interested in what you can get from God and what He can do for you, or are you truly interested in knowing who He is?
So often we can come to church with the same attitude as the people. We are only interested in our prayers being answered, our needs being met, and our religious exterior being polished. There are so many people with a partial knowledge of God in the church. Are you willing to seek Him for a full revelation of who He is whatever the consequences that it may bring.
The Teaching.
Jesus doesn’t leave the people in this state of partial knowledge, but when they come looking for him the following day we find Jesus teaching and explaining the miracle. He gives them the opportunity to have a true revelation of who He is. We find in verse 25 that the people call Jesus teacher. This is one of the many instances where people call Him teacher and then aren’t willing to be taught.
Jesus explains to the people that they only come after Him because their stomach’s are full and not because they are willing to understand Him. Jesus explains that the bread He can give is not finite like the bread they have just ate. Jesus then continues by explaining that this miracle in relation to that of Moses and the manna. God provided the bread not Moses. In the same way God has provided the eternal life giving bread in Jesus. Jesus then gives one of His I am statements, saying ’I am the bread of Life.’
John 6:53
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54:Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
55:For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56:Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.
57:Just 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.
58:This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live for ever."
Jesus’ teaching showed that instead of being instantly glorified, He was instead going to be sacrificed. We read that this miracle happened at the time of Passover and so it should have been a doctrine that they could relate to. They should have been able to associate the sacrificial death of the lamb with freedom as it was just what had happened at the original Passover when the final plague had come upon Egypt. Instead it didn’t fit into their plan.
The people wanted God to move their way. They had read the scriptures and were expecting a king. However they were only standing on the scriptures that they wanted to stand on. They were quite happy with the prophecy about the king coming in power, but didn’t want him coming as a lamb.
Isaiah 53:7
He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
We can be people exactly like this crowd. We can make God seem like the God that we want Him to be instead of receiving the full revelation of who he is. We can be willing to accept the glory without the sacrifice. You may want God to move in your life or your church but are only interested in the glory and not the pain. If we want God on our terms then He will leave us just like just like He had to move away from the crowd who were trying to make Him king. If we want God to move then we have to accept the full revelation of who He is.
He is both the sacrificial lamb as well as the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
He brings judgement as well as mercy.
He demands Holiness as well as offering forgiveness of sins.
He requires obedience as well as pouring down blessings.
If you are not willing to accept all of Gods moving upon your life then you won’t have anything at all.
Conclusion.
You might be waiting for God to move in your life or your church just like the crowd were waiting. You may want Jesus to become king of your town or your city just like the crowd at Bethsaida. I want to give you three warnings for when God moves in miraculous power.
The Testing – Firstly realise that if you want God to move then you will be tested. Recognise Gods testing. Realise your own inadequacies and instead put you faith in God. Give Him what little you have and watch Him perform the miraculous.
The Revelation – Don’t be willing to accept a partial revelation of God. If you are only seeking God for your own benefit then you will never find God for who He truly is. You may be wanting to make Him king of your town by force, but are you willing to seek God, and do it His way, whatever that may mean.
The Teaching – Are you willing to know the true revelation of God. The sacrifice as well as the glory. Are you willing to be taught and to follow god in His plan His way. Revival doesn’t come easy, it takes sacrifice. You might have to sacrifice pride, you could be derided for standing up for His truth. You might have to sacrifice many more things in or to follow God His way. Are you willing for that full revelation of God to change you the way He wants, and not the way you want.
We read at the end of this chapter in John that the teaching was to hard for most to bare. Out of the five thousand men, and many more women and children, who sat under Jesus’ ministry at the start of the chapter, only twelve remain by the end. You often find that when Gods power first comes on a church, and His truth is taught, many will find it too hard and will drop away.
Are you willing, like Simon Peter confessed at the end of this chapter, to let the revelation of Gods power to lead you in the knowledge of the Holy One. Are you willing to count the cost of following Him whatever it may take.
