The Feeding of the 5000

John 6:1-14 (NIV):

1 Sometime 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 signs he had performed by healing the sick.

3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.

4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

5 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?”

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

7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to 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, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five

thousand men were there).

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 sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into

the world.”

This account is also recorded in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-40, and Luke 9:10-17. (Please read these for

more insights.) Note that all of the gospels record this event. There must be something very special about it! As we

explore it today, I hope you will discover the importance the meaning and the depth of this account.

This is an eye-witness account.

 Not just a Bible story for children to learn about in Sunday School and then forget.

 Not the same as a story from Greek or Roman or Hindu mythology.

 Not a dream or hallucination.

 Not just a piece of literature or fiction or information from a text book.

This is an eye-witness account of the quality that can be:

 Tried in a court of law

 Tested by investigative methods used by trained police detectives

 Validated using methods of investigative journalism

 Scrutinised using archeological manuscript analysis

Many skeptics, apologists and writers have investigated the gospels using all of these method and it has withstood the test of time. For example, in Josh McDowell’s “The Evidence That Demands a Verdict” he lists 114 different

investigators, researchers and authors from whom he cited many hundreds of facts and statements for his book. So,

this gospel is truly worth understanding.

Let us take a moment to pray and ask for the Holy Spirit to teach us.

Before we dive into the main points of our teaching let me first be very clear about what actually

happened in this event….and what did not happen.

Decades ago, liberal humanistic theologians were teaching the following and you may see this depicted in “documentary” programs on channels like History Channel or Discovery or taught in secular colleges.

The interpretation states:

1. That all the people who were following Jesus really had food in their pockets and satchels.

2. They were selfishly prepared only to feed themselves. Their food was hidden away.

3. Then someone (a boy) donated their five loaves and two fishes.

4. When Jesus blessed the 5 loaves and 2 fishes, people were convicted and challenged by the generosity and began to open

their satchels and pockets and began sharing their food together in a glorious display of unselfishness and generosity.

5. The miracle was the way thousands of people who once were selfish, suddenly became caring, generous and shared from

their own supply.

Is this interpretation consistent with the recorded accounts in the gospels? No, it is not!

Pay close attention to the Biblical account.

1. Matthew 14:15 indicates that the disciples could see that the people did not have food. They are in a remote, rural area, with

no nearby markets or shops, and it was evident that they must be hungry and needed to eat. Matthew 14:15 (NIV) “As evening

approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so

they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”” Conclusion: If the people had food they would not need to go to

the villages and the disciples would have seen people eating.

2. Jesus, the Son of God, also saw that the people had a need for food. John 6:5 (NIV) “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?”” Conclusion: Even the omniscient Son of God knew the people had no food.

3. Verse 11 says very clearly that it was Jesus who distributed the food. Conclusion: According to the accounts, it was Jesus who

distributed the food and not the people to each other.

4. If the people were only carrying small amounts of food hidden in their clothing then it would not have been possible to collect

12 basketfuls of leftovers after everyone ate their fill. And would everyone have been able to eat their fill? Conclusion: If

there were an abundance of food in the people’s possession then it would have been evident.

5. John 6:14 says that the people believed that Jesus was a prophet because of the miraculous sign. But if everyone was just sharing food then that would not have drawn attention to Jesus because it was certainly not miraculous. Conclusion: This only

happened by means of a miracle and it drew attention to Jesus and people concluded that He must be the Great Prophet.

Thus, this humanistic interpretation is not consistent with the recorded account.

What indeed did happen is that Jesus created fish and bread on the spot. It was a true miracle that was a sign to the people. Our big question today is: Why did Jesus do this?

Though there are an infinite number things that we could learn from this account we will focus on only three today. We

will focus on three reasons why Jesus performed this miracle.

1. Jesus demonstrated the presence of the Kingdom of God

2. Jesus fulfilled His role as the greatest prophet (The Messiah)

3. Jesus demonstrated His compassion

I. Jesus demonstrated the presence of the Kingdom of God

Let us explore this statement by first thinking about miracles and then thinking about how they demonstrate the Kingdom

of God.

What do you typically think about miracles?

 Miracles are supernatural events.

 Miracles break the rules of nature.

 Miracles are not normal.

 Miracles are rare.

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 Miracles are spectacular signs from God.

These may be true, but miracles may in fact be something different than we think.

German theologian, Jurgen Moltmann said said something very special about miracles,

“Jesus’ healings are not supernatural miracles in a natural world. They are the only truly “natural” thing

in a world that is unnatural, demonised and wounded”

(Jurgen Moltmann quote extracted from Gentle and Lowly, Dane Ortlund, pg 31).

This is a powerful statement. Let us think about this.

The world that we live in, and all that we have ever is known, is corrupted. “Natural” in our world is:

1. Sickness

2. Hunger

3. Crime

4. War

5. Hatred

6. Broken relationships

7. Political oppression

8. Lying

9. Injustice

10. Physical and mental disabilities

But “natural” in God’s heavenly Kingdom is:

1. No sickness

2. No hunger

3. No crime

4. No war

5. No hatred

6. No broken relationships

7. No political oppression

8. No lying

9. No injustice

10. No physical and mental disabilities

So how should these facts affect our perspective on miracles and our prayer life? In this case Jesus saw the need of the

people. He saw it as a perfect opportunity to demonstrate what is natural in God’s kingdom, specifically, an absence of hunger.

In Matthew 6, when asked by His disciples, “How should we pray?”, what did Jesus say?

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

The practical application here, for us, is that we do not need to hesitate or doubt about God’s will regarding the sick or

hungry or broken or oppressed, etc. He has already told us how to pray for these things. He has shown us His will. We do not need

to hesitate or be ambivalent in our requests. We can ask directly and clearly for these things because they are “as it is in heaven”.

They are “natural” for God. When God corrects situations and brings them back to His idea of natural it may appear to us like a

miracle.

Let us therefore pray with boldness, without wavering in our faith.

Now to conclude this section let us see how this miracle was a demonstration of the presence of God’s Kingdom. Mark

1:14-15 says, “After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,“ he

said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Whenever Jesus said “the kingdom of God was near” He also demonstrated the nature of the kingdom of God, by His

miracles. He fed the hungry. He healed the sick. He raised the dead.

In this account, Jesus demonstrated one small aspect of the Kingdom that He said was near and that is that it is characterized by fullness, abundance and that needs are met by our Heavenly Father. Not only are the needs met, but our Father gives

us more than we need. There are always baskets full of excess goodness from God.

II. Jesus fulfilled His role as the greatest prophet

John 6:14 (NIV) After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this

is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

Israel was familiar with the concept of prophets. Most Israelites would have been familiar with

Moses, Samuel, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel and so many others.

Many of the prophets had done miracles, some even involved feeding:

• During Elisha’s day God miraculously provided food for 100 men (probably students in a Elisha’s school of prophets).

2 Kings 4:42-44 (NIV): 42 A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God [Elisha] twenty loaves of barley bread

baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said. 43 “How can I

set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked. But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the LORD

says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ ” 44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to

the word of the LORD.

• God provided food miraculously for over a million people through Moses.

Exodus 16:11-13 (NIV):11 The LORD said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you

will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God.’” 13 That

evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp.

Exodus 16:35 (NIV): The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they

reached the border of Canaan.

By these miracles God was both caring for His people but also prophesying about the nature of His Kingdom and His

heart. Jesus would do the same thing.

Years later, Moses prophesied about Jesus:

Deuteronomy 18:14-15 (NIV) 14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for

you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from

among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him.

Deuteronomy 18:18 (NIV) I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put

my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him.

From that day on the longing for that “prophet” would be part of the psyche of the nation of Israel. Moses

created a void in the hearts of Israelites that would only be filled with Jesus.

And now we have just seen Jesus healing the sick, feeding the hungry, teaching great wisdom and being merciful. He

was fulfilling the prophecy of Moses. If you have any doubt about that then read Acts chapter 7. When Stephen was

defending his faith before the Jewish leaders, immediately before being stoned to death, he said about Moses.

Acts 7:36-37 (NIV): 36 “He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for

forty years in the wilderness. 37 “This is the Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will raise up for you a prophet like

me from your own people.’”

…and later…

Acts 7:52-52 (NIV): “Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him--“

Thus, it makes sense that the people said:

“Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

 But Jesus was not only “A Prophet like Moses”, He also was the subject and fulfilment of all prophecy because

He was the promised “Righteous One”.

Later in John chapter 6 there is proof of this.

John 6:31-35 (NIV) 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from

heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, 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. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes

down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

John 6:48-51(NIV): 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness,

yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and

not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live

forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

The people were following Jesus because He had fed them. But Jesus was telling them that He had food that

could feed their souls and nourish them to eternal life.

There is an application here. Some of you who are listening today may never have turned to God and recognized that His Son, Jesus Christ, could be a source of salvation, hope and inner peace that could satisfy the nagging restlessness and insatiable hunger that fills your heart and soul. You are looking for something that will fill an unexplainable emptiness. Things gratify for a while but then they grow stale or boring and your restlessness returns. It’s as if you

are always hungry but can’t find food to eat.

But when you turn to follow Jesus, and listen to His teaching, and keep pursuing Him then you will be fed, and you will

not grow dissatisfied. And there will be so much food that you will have leftovers. Your soul will find peace, neverending fulfillment and eternal life.

III. Jesus demonstrated His compassion

Of all the reasons that Jesus had for feeding the 5000, this is the simplest and easiest to understand. Everyone

can understand and respond to compassion.

Not everyone has the capacity to understand the things that we have talked about so far. There are many people who cannot ever learn doctrine, theology or even study a Bible. There are people, thousands and millions, who are

born with severe disabilities or become disabled due to illness or accidents. Some cannot talk, some cannot give any

evidence that they understand, some are paralyzed, or blind and deaf.

And what about these ones? (And BTW, why do we see so few in our churches?) Is there any hope for these

who are so disabled? There were certainly disabled people who were in the crowd that day. Some had been healed by

Jesus and were following Him for that reason. They experienced the benefits and blessings of Jesus’ compassion.

My brother is a good illustration of how Jesus’ compassion can affect even the “simplest” among us. Because the gospel is indeed very simple. My own brother contracted infantile meningitis when he was only 7 months old. His tiny

body was hooked up to machines at the Boston Floating Hospital for six long weeks in July 1964. At eight years old I

learned to pray desperately for God’s healing and mercy. We all did. And Johnny eventually came home to us, but his

little baby brain had been damaged beyond repair. He would be hearing impaired, without speech, and chronically

attacked with seizures throughout his entire life.

Sadly, as my brother grew into boyhood, going to church became an impossibility. He could not understand the

idea of sitting still and listening to someone teaching. He did not understand being quiet and would make funny noises.

People would turn around and look at us, some would stare and some would have insensitive comments to make.

(How sad that the Lord’s house of prayer, where the disabled should come for healing, was and is, not very welcoming.) From the time that my brother was a toddler, we would never sit in church as an entire family again. But my

mother was committed and determined to teach my brother about Jesus so that he could know Him and have the hope

of eternal life. So, for years and even decades, and well into Johnny’s adult life she would sit with him and using simple

sign language and images in picture bibles she would tell him over and over again about Jesus. Many days over the

years and decades Johnny would just sit alone looking at pictures of Jesus helping people, or preaching or feeding the

5000.

In October of 2014 my brother was diagnosed with glioblastoma. Those were difficult days

and months. One day during the last weeks of Johnny’s life I sat by his bed and gripped his hand as

we had since we were young. But this day I said to him, “Johnny, Jesus is going to come for you one

day soon. When you see Him go to Him right away. Don’t hesitate. Just go. Don’t worry about us.

Just go to Jesus.”

Then I said, “Johnny, if you understood what I just said, then squeeze my hand.” And Johnny squeezed my hand. I was surprised. We had never tried to communicate that way before. But it showed me that he

understood what I said and he was ready to see Jesus.

Around 9 am on June 29th, 2015 Jesus came for Johnny as he lay in his bed at the Oakland Rehabilitation Center

where he had hospice care. When the hospice nurse called me, I went immediately to have a final “visit” with Johnny.

Though deeply heart-broken, I was so encouraged when I saw his face. He looked so peaceful and had a slight smile on

his face. The same sweet smile that he would get then he saw something beautiful like a pretty bird, or a butterfly or a

fluffy kitten. What a great moment that must have been when Jesus took him and he experienced having a healthy

body after 51 years of disabilities, handicaps, ridicule, humiliation and struggle! Johnny’s joy came because Jesus could

be understood through His compassion.

Why did I tell this story? Because anybody and everybody can experience the compassion of Jesus. My brother

may never have developed a deep theology, but he could love Jesus. Surely there were people in the crowd who did

not have deep knowledge about Moses and his prophecies. Surely some could not understand Jesus’ teachings. But

they could experience the tenderness and generosity of His loving heart. They could welcome that love into their

hearts and love Jesus back and find salvation and hope.

This is exemplified in the story of the blind man that Jesus healed in John 9:1-41.

The blind man had no education, was most certainly unable to read the Torah or Tanakh and had limited availability to

religious instruction. He would be considered an outcast at the synagogue. When confronted by and threatened by the

Pharisees he gave this answer:

“One thing I know. I was blind but now I see.” (John 9:25). Later when he met Jesus, he said,

“Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped Him.

This demonstrates how the compassion of Jesus can affect even the simplest of people and it is often the simplest of people who most quickly recognize Jesus.

In conclusion:

Jesus offered hope to the 5000 by

• Showing the people what heaven is like

• Demonstrating that He was the long awaited Messiah

• Loving them and putting that love into action.

He does the same for us today. Let us respond to Him by loving Him back, following Him, and doing the same

things that Jesus did so that others may follow Him.

April 2, 2023/Bro. Norm Richardson