Chapter BY Chapter

Jesus, The Lord of Provision

 

John 6:1-15

 

“Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.  Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.  The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

 

 When 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?”  He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.”

 

“Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

 

“Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

 

“Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).  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.”

 

“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.”  So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.”

 

“After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”

 

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This passage is also in Matthew 14:13-21.  Some scholars have suggested that the miracle might have been that as the plates of food were passed, that other people contributed from what they had.  John gives us a few details that other gospels do not have.  We can notice how John is more detailed on the conversation that took place as well. 

 

John shows that this was a miracle by way of a multiplication of the food rather than people contributing.  The key is in the last two verses.

 

“After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”

 

Minneapolis/Saint Paul Minnesota:

 

An anonymous benefactor (or benefactors) was dubbed “Saint Grand” when he (or she) dropped a bundle of 10 crisp $100 bills in a Salvation Army red kettle in 2011.

 

The mysterious person’s donations have been coming every year since — and getting bigger.

 

In 2015, Saint Grand upped donations to $1,100, and in 2016 to $1,200.

 

So far this year, three bundles of money have been dropped into red kettles in Roseville: $1,200 and $1,300 at the Lunds & Byerlys on Snelling Avenue and $1,300 at the Cub Foods on Larpenteur.

 

Since the donations began, Saint Grand has given $104,604 in cash, according to the Salvation Army Northern Division. The organization doesn’t know who Saint Grand is, and it doesn’t really want to find out.

 

So, I can imagine the people at the feeding of the 5 thousand, and some of the conversation that took place. 

 

“I didn’t contribute, did you contribute?”

 

“How did Jesus feed all those people?”

 

“Where did all the food come from?”

 

“If Jesus can feed us all from so little, we should make him king so he can do that for the whole nation!”

 

What these people wanted was to be rice Christians, believers because of what material benefit believing in Jesus would give them.  Notice that Jesus did not want this.  Jesus did not want to be king to provide materially for them.  Jesus withdrew from there so that they could not make him king for their material benefit. 

 

This was not what Jesus’ mission was about and Jesus was not going to allow this to happen. 

 

So, why did Jesus perform this miracle to begin with?

 

Notice he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”  He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.” 

 

Jesus already had in mind what he was going to do.  So, this is all because of the work of Jesus. 

 

But if he knew what he was going to do, then didn’t he also know that the people would try to make him king by force? 

 

Yes, he knew that too, which is why he made sure he could withdraw from the people to another mountain. 

 

Notice that John mentions “After the people saw the sign Jesus performed…”

 

The specific miracles that John calls “signs” so far in the gospel of John are as follows:

 

1. The turning of water into wine (John 2:1-12) showing Jesus is the Lord over matter.

2. The healing of the royal official's son (John 4:46-54) showing Jesus is Lord over space and time.

3. The healing of the paralytic at the Bethesda pool (John 5:1-17) showing Jesus is Lord over health and Lord of the Sabbath.

4. The feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1-14) showing that Jesus is the Lord over food and hunger.

 

This is the one miracle aside from the resurrection of Jesus that is found in all four gospels. 

 

Jesus accentuates the purpose of this sign when he asks Philip, “Where shall we by bread for these people to eat?”  The question is not IF they shall buy bread for these people to eat, but WHERE shall they go to buy it.

 

Philip doesn’t see how they could buy bread for the people to eat because he exclaims that it would cost two hundred denarii, or half a year’s wages for them to buy enough food even for each one to have a bite to eat.

 

It is very important for Jesus to perform this sign and show people that he is Lord over physical needs.

 

People can become very worried about their physical needs, sometimes over worried.  When I was in Seminary, I was with my first wife, and she was over worried about meeting physical needs.  She had to bring up an argument about it at least twice a week.  I really didn’t understand why we had to worry about food.  There was a farmer next to our apartment building that let all the Seminary couples grow a garden every year and we did that.  One time, I remember that we went over to the apartment next door to us.  There in that apartment was my longtime friend, Al Damsguard.  In the middle of his living room was a pyramid of oatmeal cartons.  Come to find out, he had been eating nothing but oatmeal because he was so strapped financially.  So we invited him to come over every day for a grilled cheese sandwich.  My wife was still worried about the finances, even though she saw that we could afford cheese sandwiches not only for ourselves, but also for our neighbor.  Then there were many times that I came home from work and classes and there would be a block of cheese in the doorway, or a sack of potatoes.  These mysterious gifts always seemed to be timely.  Then there was this one time that she was very antagonistic about the finances and worried that we wouldn’t have enough money for food.  So, I said, “Okay, let’s pray about it and see what happens when we leave it up to God.  So, we prayed together, and in the prayer, I told God that we were leaving it up to him.  I went to work that night.  I was a security guard at a mall.  Lo and behold, the mall was filled with all these booths from local farmers.  Not only that, but each booth had a little box by it with some forms to fill out for a drawing.  So, in between rounds, I filled out some of the forms.  I couldn’t really spend that much time filling out forms because I had to do a round every hour.  This mall was about as big as the Colonie Center Mall.  So, after work, I went to school.  After school, I went home.  When I got home, there was my wife and she was all excited.  She had all these notes from phone calls she got from the booths at the mall.  Nearly every booth where I put in our name, had drawn the slip I entered.  I came home with a car completely full of food.  There was a ham, some honey, some whole wheat, some home canned vegetables of every kind, corn, green beans, Brussel sprouts, a bushel basket of apples, and a bushel basket of peaches, four butternut squashes, a bag full of zucchini and summer squash, a bushel basket of carrots, a turkey, several blocks of cheese, a gallon of milk, two dozen eggs, two gallons of cider, and on top of all this was a pear tree.  I had to drive home with the pear tree sticking out of the rear passenger window.  So, she believed in God’s providence for a little while.  Overall in her life, she did not continue to have faith that Jesus would always provide our needs. 

 

Trust in Jesus as the Lord of provision is a central theme in the gospels.

 

In Matthew 6:25-34, Jesus said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?  Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?  Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”

 

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?  So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

 

Now this is important.  Other religions say we should worry about these things.  Some religions even say that if we lack anything, we should attack others with the sword and pillage them for what we need. 

 

Jesus said we should not worry about these things.  Instead, we should seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness.  We should worry about our relationship with God and doing what is right. 

 

Now notice that Jesus was performing many signs before the feeding of the five thousand.

 

Verses 1 and 2. “Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.” 

 

So Jesus crossed to the far side of the Sea of Galilee, and he healed many of the sick and from this a great crowd of people followed him.  But John picks this one sign of the feeding of the five thousand as a specific sign to write about in detail?  Why does he pick this sign?  I can only think that it is because of what John says at the end of his gospel.  That Jesus did many things that if they were all written about not even the whole world could contain all the books, but these were written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ and by believing, have life in his name.

 

The fact that Jesus reveals himself as the Lord of Provision is one of the key elements in John’s mind to prove the deity of Jesus.  Not only does he heal the sick, but he cares about our every need.

 

People today often doubt that God cares for them.  Remember how doubtful Philip was.  Now notice what Andrew says.

 

“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

 

So Andrew is doubtful as well.

 

When worrying becomes excessive, it can lead to feelings of high anxiety and even cause you to be physically ill.  Worrying is feeling uneasy or being overly concerned about a situation or problem. With excessive worrying, your mind and body go into overdrive as you constantly focus on "what might happen."  In the midst of excessive worrying, you may suffer with high anxiety -- even panic -- during waking hours. Many chronic worriers tell of feeling a sense of impending doom or unrealistic fears that only increase their worries. Ultra-sensitive to their environment and to the criticism of others, excessive worriers may see anything -- and anyone -- as a potential threat.  Excessive worrying can and often does lead to wrongdoing or anxiety disorders.  Worrying can lead to lowered immune systems leading to more tiredness and even more worrying.  Medications that treat anxiety tend to just cover up the symptoms rather than treating the cause, and this can just increase the pattern of worrying.

 

Jesus knew how we were made.  Jesus knew that we were made to rely on God and not worry. 

 

The solution to worry is as follows.  First there are three things that you need to realize:

 

1) Worrying serves no useful purpose whatsoever.

2) You have complete control to ensure that worrying doesn’t control your life.

3) Jesus promised that if you just seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, that all your needs will be provided.

 

Then there are three things to do.

 

1. Analyze why you are worrying.What basic needs to be met?

2. Strategize what you can do about it and start doing something.Trying to do something that isn’t completely successful is better than nothing and may give you more ideas.

3. Seek the kingdom of God and do what is right.People will reward others that they see doing what is right and helping others.

 

Jesus taught THE THRIVIVAL PRINCIPLE

 

Many people today are just trying to survive. In this struggle for survival, some may justify in their minds things like theft and violence to ensure their own survival. Even some religions have had a similar ideology, some of which are in existence today. "Take from the wealth of others for your own charity," is an accurate paraphrase of one religious figure. One can also research the religion of Kali, once practiced in India, which preached murdering others for the plunder of their wealth. This ideology only leads to war and strife as it is destined to pit people against each other.

 

Jesus had a better idea.

 

It was even because of just what Jesus said that people proclaimed Jesus to be the Savior of the World. What was this that Jesus said that made them believe he was the savior of the world? We can find the most complete description of his words in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. There, we can find the crux of his message, and what I refer to as THE THRIVIVAL PRINCIPLE. We find this in Matthew 6:25-34.

 

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

 

Instead of struggling for life, Jesus said to just to thank God that he is caring for you and concentrate on helping others and doing what is right along the way. This is THE THRIVIVAL PRINCIPLE. If you can thank God for anything at all, you are thriving. If you concentrate of doing what is right by others, God will reward you.

 

I can testify from personal experience that this really works. When I first came to upstate New York, I was homeless. I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and $150 in my wallet. I slept in my Jeep in a state park at night and in the morning I washed myself off in a creek to get ready for the day in the local library sending out resumes. I helped old ladies and moms at the grocery store by pushing their cart back to the store for them.

 

One day, while I was washing off in the creek, I received a job interview call on my cell phone. The caller was a local business owner, who asked me, "Where are you right now?" I thought it was ironic, because I was standing naked in a creek in a state park. Later I realized that the caller was actually referring to my phone number because it was an out of state phone number. The job prospect didn't work out, but the caller is now one of my friends on Facebook. 

 

Shortly thereafter, I found myself in a shelter for homeless people. Since I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee, I gave people rides to job interviews and such. After a couple weeks, my gas tank was below 1/4 full and I had about $5 left. I asked everyone in the car I was driving to work to pray about the gas situation. For some reason, the gas indicator never went below that point for the several weeks that followed.  It stayed right there in that exact position.  I filled out a form to have Social Services reimburse me ten cents per mile, but because I had to take a detour one time and the mileage was a bit more, the Social Services worker discounted everything on the form.  So, I got no money for gas.  The people that I was driving to work or applications did not give me any money.  Even after driving 60 miles to take people places, the gas gage was at that exact same spot.  After a few weeks, I acquired 3 jobs.  But the gas gage wasn’t done with me.  I soon had three paychecks but no way to cash checks.  An overdraft at my prior bank in Michigan was keeping all other banks from cashing my checks or letting me open an account.  I had to open an Advantage card at Price Chopper, cash a check with them, mail some money to the bank in Michigan, then I could open a bank account here.  Keep in mind, I was traveling to three different jobs.  Only after I was able to open a bank account here did the gas gage start to go down again. 

 

So, Jesus is the Lord of Provision.  But that was not his main purpose in coming to us in the flesh.  Yet, these signs are given so that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Lamb of God, who died for our sins, and that you might have life in his name.