Sunday, June 2, 2019

John 6:1-21 "This is indeed the Prophet…"


Chapter 5 finds Jesus in Jerusalem and now in Chapter 6 He is back in Galilee. The distance between the two, as the crow flies, is approximately 130 kilometres. Jesus’ ministry is truly ‘a back and forth’ between Galilee and Jerusalem, and that without air transport, rail transport and tar roads. I hardly walk 20 kilometres a week! No wonder that there is no mention of Banting and Keto and other weight loss diets in the Bible. There is also no mention of slap chips and koek-sisters (you have to be born in Southern Africa to understand this)  in the Bible … only fish and barley loaves. We read of ears of grain harvested from the fields with the hands and eaten raw, as people were passing through them, walking to their various towns and villages. We read of no pies and a coke   at the truck-stop along the way.
  
In Chapter 5 Jesus had healed a man on the Sabbath, and the Jews were angry about that. They were not concerned that a man had been made well. They were concerned that Jesus had used the Sabbath to do that.  In engaging them Jesus is beginning to assert the source of His true authority. He calls God His own Father, and in so doing they understand that He is making Himself equal with God (5:18).  Jesus is now getting into real trouble. The Jews are now persecuting him (5:16) and in fact they want to kill him (5:18).   Unbelief is written across their foreheads. Jesus uses some of the strongest language to accuse them of their unbelief with respect to Himself and His ministry in 5:39-47. They will believe every other false prophet, but they will not believe this true Prophet sent from God (John 1:11). They are hostile towards Him. For this reason, Jesus finds it necessary to go back into Galilee. This is where we find Him in this 6th chapter. 

Outline of chapter 6

(i)               6:1-15: An account of the feeding of the 5000, recorded in all the 4 gospels.
(ii)           6:16-21: An account of  Jesus miraculously  walking across the  lake of Galilee (also known as lake Tiberias[1]), and this  during a strong wind  and  a  rough sea. 
(iii)         6:22-59: In this section He makes the first of His famous 7 “I AM” statements – I am the Bread of Life. This section, as we shall see next time, is closely related to the feeding of the 5000. It illustrates both, the divine nature of Jesus, and it illustrates the necessity of believing in Him as our only Life-giver and our true Nourisher. Here He illustrates that   “man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God “(Deut. 8:3, cf. Matt. 4:4).
(iv)            6:60-71 : The 6th chapter closes with  an account of the sad fact that many of His  disciples are now  turning away from him, because they find  His  teaching hard to believe (6:66). We shall see that only 11 of the original disciples, represented by Peter, continue to trust in the Lord Jesus.  In this chapter we shall find one of the greatest affirmations or confessions from the lips of a man, as to who Jesus is.   The central point of this chapter is contained in this last section. Humanly speaking, it is impossible to follow and to trust Jesus. We shall see that more is needed to be a Christian than a mere decision to be one.  The chapter ends with the doctrine of  sovereign election (6:63,64,65,70)
And now that you have the roadmap for the 6th chapter, let us consider our text.

6:1-15: The Feeding of the 5000

We saw that Jesus had found it necessary to withdraw from Jerusalem, because the pressure was mounting. The first talk of killing Him was being expressed (5:18).  John tells us that this was near the time of Passover (6:4). Jesus would eventually be killed during the Passover. He was after all, as John the Baptist had  said earlier,  the Passover Lamb of God that was going to be killed  to take away  the sin of the world  (John 1:29,36).

Back in Galilee then He was again followed by a crowd, because they saw the signs He was doing on the sick (6:2). You really need to see this picture here. This was a needy, physically sick, depressed and often demon possessed crowd. Mark 6:34 tells us, “He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things…” . Did you hear that? Moved with compassion, He teaches them many things! Their greatest need at this stage was not food. They needed the Word of God – they needed perspective for Life from the God who had made them. They needed the Bread of Life. These were a spiritually needy, ignorant, sin sick people that had been in the hands of spiritual neglect and of spiritual wolves for far too long.  They needed perspective from the Word of God. He, who was the Word,  was now here – in person (John 1:1-3). This Word, full of grace and truth, had become flesh and now dwelt among them. (John 1:14). 

Jesus knew full well that these people coming towards Him (6:5) were going to be hungry. He was going to make their physical hunger an illustration of the spiritual hunger, which they ought to have.  The disciples, represented here by name were Philip (6:7) and Andrew (6:8). Jesus (by way of a testing) challenges them to find food for these many people. Frankly speaking, this is impossibility. This was not a town with a Checkers shop or a Pick ‘n Pay. This was the open country. There was nothing here.  Do you know how much food you need to feed 5000?  Philip quickly figures that it would take about 8 months’ wages (200 denarii)[2] to buy enough bread for each one to have even only a little (6:7). Given these facts then, this becomes the moment for Jesus to show who He is, once again (as if He hadn’t done it enough!)

After a brief prayer of thanksgiving to the Father (6:11) Jesus divides the few bread loaves and the few fishes (which were, incidentally, given by a boy), and now the seemingly impossible happens! The food is miraculously multiplied.  There is, incidentally a foreshadowing of this miracle in 2 Kings. Elisha told his servant to feed the people gathered there, although there was not enough food for the hundred men. One of the men said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” (2 Ki. 4:42–43) In the end, however, the men not only had enough to eat, but “they ate and had some left” (2 Ki. 4:44).  And so, in 6:12-13 we read, “And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, ‘gather up the leftover fragments… and they filled up 12 baskets…”.  This is a true miracle. Remember, that He has done this before.  In Cana of Galilee, in 2: 1-12, not far from here, He had the jars filled with water as He turned the water into finest wine for a wedding.

What’s the point here? This is all a testimony to the divine nature of Jesus. He who was in the beginning with God, He by whom all things were created, was simply doing what was within His nature to do! As such He exercises   His authority over nature (and we shall see this just now), and over creation, over bread, over life and death, over demons and principalities – over everything! Do you know what Jesus is saying in effect here?  He is saying, I your Creator, your Sustainer and Provider (though I am veiled in this flesh- this body), I am here among you.

This story is like so many situations in our life, isn't it? Like right now, in the life of our church.  We don't have the resources to meet the many challenges we face. Many a problem is too big for us.  But our extremity is God's opportunity. Where are we going to find sufficient to do what we have to do? We look to Jesus. He has the answer.  The problems of this city, the problems of this country with its vicious drought crisis and financial crises – we look to Jesus.  For our depressions, our difficult marriage, our children and all our personal problems we look to Jesus.  Lord you know!

At the end of this story we find the people beginning to look at Jesus in a different way.  6:14 says, “When the people saw the sign that He had done, they said. This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” Something was beginning to dawn. Something miraculous had happened, and now they saw Jesus as the prophet who is to come  into the world. This is most likely a reference to Deut. 18:15 – a prophet like Moses who would appear in the last days. They will refer to Moses again in 6:30, 31. At any rate, this prophet, in their eyes was a political deliverer, which Jesus was not. He was much, much bigger than that. He was the Saviour from the tragic and horrific consequences of their sin! And so Jesus had to escape again from them. He withdrew to the mountain by Himself. (6:15) 

6:16-21 Walking on Water

While Jesus is on the mountain by Himself, the disciples take a boat to row across the lake – most likely to find a place to sleep for the night. A strong   wind comes up and they are in trouble. This is apparently not unusual. The Sea of Galilee is about 200 meters below sea level and it is surrounded by mountains up to 500 metres above sea level.  When it gets dark, the temperature suddenly changes and with that   these squall develops as cold air rapidly sinks to the low lying areas causing this strong wind. Mark tells us that  it was  during the 4th watch of the night (i.e. from 3 am in the morning) that they were battling against this wind, when Jesus appeared  walking on the water!  [3]
Now what was this all about?  If all you had was John's version of the story, we would not have the same clarity as the gospel of Mark provides.  Mark gives us a possible reason why the disciples were experiencing this trial. He refers to the disciples’ hearts as being hardened (Mk. 6:52). Their response to the feeding of the 5000 had been a disappointment to Jesus. They did not understand who He was.
Jesus comes to these disciples, walking on the lake, in the midst of the storm.  He could have stopped this storm from wherever else.  But He walks out to them into the middle of the storm. That is the kind of Saviour we have. He did not want   to perform His miracle from a distance.   He comes to us in the storm.  He wanted to show them who He was. They thought He was a ghost (Matt. 14:26) . But He assured them with these words, “Take heart. Don't be afraid, it is I.”  And after   He took His place in the boat, the journey was soon over (6:21)

The feeding of the 5000 and the walking on the water correct our wrong notions of Jesus. He is not just a miracle worker. He is not just a prophet like Isaiah or Jeremiah or Ezekiel. He is infinitely greater. He is One whose sandals we are not worthy to untie. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the incarnate Son of God. And He has not just come to give us what we want in our physical hour of need. He has come to give us much, much more. He is the Bread of life. Look beyond the externalities. See Him for who He is.  

He has come to deliver us from the power of sin and death. He invites you now to look to  Him. May be you have never seen Jesus for who He is before.  If you do today, then repent of your hardness of heart and your unbelief.  Stop running from Him. Turn to Him while He is passing by right now.
Give Him your sin, and He, in turn will give you eternal life, and the real food  that will sustain you,  which will  not lead you to be at the mercy of the world and yourself, and all this  while you wait for  His coming.


[1] Tiberias ( the sea of Galilee)  was  so named by Herod Antipas in about  AD  20 in  honour of  Roman emperor Tiberius, the  second Roman emperor (reigning from 14 AD to 37 AD), succeeding Caesar  Augustus.  
[2] a denarius was a day’s wage
[3] Mark  6:45-42

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