John
6:1-13 “Strengthening the Disciples Faith”
Introduction:
1.
What was the verdict at the trial of Jesus? The Jews let Him go for lack of evidence. They most
likely feared the multitude. Jesus had
done a notable miracle and the people would have been outraged if these men had
tried to put Jesus to death. It reminds
me of the story of Jonathan when he ate the honey not knowing that his father
had commanded that no one eat until the battle was over. When Saul tried to have Jonathan killed the
people rebelled because Jonathan had been so heroic that day.
2.
What events took place between Jesus’ trial in
(John
21:25) And there are also many other
things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I
suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be
written. Amen.
a) Jesus sent out the twelve disciples in groups
of two to preach to the people of
b) John the Baptist was
beheaded by Herod.
c) Jesus healed the sick and there were so many
that He and the disciples did not even have time to eat.
Jesus saw
the need of Himself and His disciples to get away for some rest. They leave the crowd and cross the sea of Galilee.
(John
6:1) After these things Jesus went over
the sea of Galilee, which is [the sea] of Tiberias.
John is writing to gentiles. In his Gospel he does not give the genealogy
of Jesus for the gentiles would not
be interested in this. He repeatedly
explains Jewish terms and here in this verse he calls the sea
of Galilee by the name his readers would know that is “the
Jesus needed a break from the work and so did His disciples. Jesus knows that we are only human and our
power is limited. We must have rest from
our work. There is always work to be done. We
should work and work hard making good use of our time but we must not neglect
rest. The quality of our work suffers
when we are in need of rest.
(John
6:2) And a great multitude followed him,
because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
There was a
great number of people following Jesus. They
were following because of the miracles
which He did. They wanted to see
miracles. These people needed to follow
Him because He is the redeemer and savior of men. This is why the disciples followed
Jesus. These people will later forsake
Jesus because of His teachings. They are
only here to see miracles. They are here
to be entertained.
(John
6:3) And Jesus went up into a mountain,
and there he sat with his disciples.
Jesus goes ahead of the crowd with
His disciples to a mountain. The terrain
is perfect for teaching a crowd. Jesus
plans to not only heal the sick but also to teach these people about the
(John
6:4) And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
John inserts this comment to explain
why there is such a large group of people in this place. The feast of Passover was near and people
would be traveling to
(John
6:5) When Jesus then lifted up [his]
eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall
we buy bread, that these may eat?
(John
6:6) And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
(John
6:7) Philip answered him, Two hundred
pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take
a little.
The disciples had asked Jesus to
send the multitude away that they might go and get them something to eat. Jesus said “They need not depart; give ye them to eat.” Jesus gave them a command to feed these
people. This task seems impossible. How are they, who have no food of their own,
going to feed some 15000 people? This
causes much discussion among the disciples and as they are pondering the
solution to this problem Jesus asks Philip an interesting question. Jesus wants Philip to tell Him Where shall we
buy bread. The command which Jesus has
given has caused a great logistics problem.
1. The crowd is not to depart and yet they are to
be fed.
2. Where will they buy the food?
3. How will they transport enough food to feed
15000 people up into this mountain.
4. How much money will it take?
Jesus has commanded and the
disciples begin the thought process needed to obey the command. They do not have enough money to pay for
these people’s supper. So going to town
is not the solution.
Whenever Jesus commands He also
empowers. He will not ask them or us to
do something for which He does not empower or equip us to do. When He commanded us to go into all the
world and make disciples He empowered us for that task and will supply our
every need.
(John
6:8) One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon
Peter's brother, saith unto him,
(John
6:9) There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but
what are they among so many?
Andrew has found some food but it is
not near enough. This Lad had come
prepared for the days events. He or perhaps his mother has made him some
lunch. This young lad is like me his
stomach is a fairly high priority with him.
He is going to make sure that he has something to eat.
The lad must have also been eager
and willing to share his food with others.
I would like to think that the lad, hearing the discussion, offered his
lunch to Andrew and Andrew laughed at the idea but also admired the young lad’s
gesture.
(John
6:10) And Jesus said, Make the men sit
down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number
about five thousand.
Jesus, having put His disciples to
the test, now begins to solve all of the problems which have overwhelmed the
disciples. They were first to all sit
down in groups of about 50. This was
done so that all would be fed and no one missed.
(John 6:11) And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had
given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that
were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
The next solution to the problem was
to go to God in prayer. Jesus thanked
the Father in front of all of these people.
If they are to be fed God will have to provide the way.
It is true with each and every day of our lives. If we are to eat God will have to feed us.
Jesus gives to His disciples and
they give to the people. They gave each
person all they wanted.
(John
6:12) When they were filled, he said
unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
Notice that everyone was full. There was no one who went away that day
hungry. Jesus needs to give His
disciples ample evidence of what has happened here. He instructs them to go back to the crowd and
gather up any leftovers.
(John
6:13) Therefore they gathered [them]
together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley
loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.
Each man returned
to Jesus with his basket full. Each man
had a basket full of fish and bread. The
little boy’s lunch had fed 15000 people and enough left over to feed twelve
hungry men.
Child of God remember
this miracle. (Philippians 4:19) But my God shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.