Episode 531: Feeding the 5,000 | Dave Sloop

Introduction

We're so excited that you guys have come here today to join us as we continue our study of John's gospel. It's been a really sweet time for those of you that have been walking through his account of the life and ministry of Jesus. And especially today, I still kind of floored by how many of you showed up as I was leaving my neighborhood. I thought to myself, no one is going to come. But I am so excited in my prayer. In fact, I'd like to begin with a prayer that God would meet us as we open his scriptures, that we would feed on him, and that he would speak to each one of us individually as he does. So would you pray with me?

Father, we thank you for these words that we're about to look at. And we come to them with anticipation, with eager and open hearts that you might fill them. We know that these are not idle words. They are our life. And we pray that we would leave today different than we came as a result. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.

The Significance of Miracles in the Gospels

Do you know that there are only two miracles that show up in all four gospels? Do you know what they are? Let me give you the most obvious one first. It is the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the grave. It shows up in all four gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all felt that it was necessary to include that event. Why? Because without it, the gospel would be incomplete.

Did Jesus come primarily to be a role model, to show us how we're supposed to live? No. He came to be the one who would overcome sin and death and the grave. In the moment that we remove the resurrection, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the gospel narrative, it is no longer the gospel. It's included in all four.

Now that seems pretty obvious. I mean, Paul would say this emphatically in 1 Corinthians 15. He would say,

For if Christ be not raised, then we are still in our sins and our faith is futile. — 1 Corinthians 15:17

Later in that chapter, he would say,

Eat, drink, be merry. For tomorrow we die if Christ has not been raised. — 1 Corinthians 15:32

It's essential. There's something essential about the resurrection that we need to understand if we're going to understand who Jesus is and why he came.

Now that seems obvious and intuitive, but the only other miracle that shows up in all four gospels is the feeding of the 5,000. Why is that? What was it that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John felt was so crucial to our understanding of who Jesus was and what he came to do that it's the only miracle they made sure did not get left out? What does it mean? What's the point?

I think we can say fairly that there is something in this miracle that is essential to our understanding of the complete and total gospel message. Without this miracle, there would be something missing.

Now, I don't mean to suggest that the historical event of Jesus feeding 5,000 people some 2,000 years ago in the wilderness is as significant in importance as the fact that he rose from the dead. But what I am suggesting is that there is something that that miracle points to that is essential to our understanding of who Jesus is and why he came. What is it? What is the point?

The Focus of John’s Account

If we looked at this gospel story account from either Matthew, Mark, or Luke, you know what we might have discussed? Matthew, Mark, and Luke tend to have a strong emphasis on the involvement of the disciples in carrying out this miracle. Do you remember when Jesus looked at them and he said,

You give them something to eat. — Mark 6:37

And so they did. They brought what little they had to Jesus, and he blessed it and he gave it back to them, and miraculously they just never ran out. They kept handing out bread and fish.

But we're going to notice in John's account that the disciples are not the focus. Someone else is. In fact, if we ask the question, why is it that John, who is our latest contributor to the gospel account, why is it that he, after this miracle has already been adequately covered, why is it that he chooses to include it and what details does John include that become a clue to what it is that John wants to make sure that we do not miss?

Because here's the reality. It is easy to miss. It is essential to understand. But John's emphasis, he puts such an exclamation point on it because it is so easy for us to miss.

This is the longest chapter in John's gospel. It's 71 verses and almost the entire thing is dedicated to either describing what the miracle was or what it meant. He spills more ink in this one discourse over this one event than anything else.

You know what proof we have that even John himself missed this the first time around? In Mark's account of this gospel. In chapter six, listen to what it says. You know the story. Jesus feeds the 5,000. He goes up onto a mountain, he sends the disciples across the sea, and then he comes out to them walking on the water. Tim's going to look at that next week.

But they receive him into the boat first—they're afraid—and then they take him in. And this is what it says.

They were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the loaves that their hearts were hardened. — Mark 6:51-52

Even the disciples missed something about this. And by the way, when he says they were utterly astounded, this is not a compliment.

Let me give you an example. If you, let's just say hypothetically, were to meet me for the first time, and you got a general impression of who I was. And then the next day you met my wife, Melissa, but she didn't know she was my wife, and you were getting a general impression of who she was. And then, as you're talking to her, I walk up and Melissa says,

Oh, have you met my husband, Dave? — John 6:14

And you remember that we met yesterday, and you look at her, you look back at me, and you say,

I'm utterly astounded. — Mark 6:51

Okay? This is not a compliment. You're either insulting me or my wife's judgment, which may be warranted. But in any case, it's not a compliment. And that is exactly what Mark is doing here. It's not a compliment that they were amazed by Jesus in this context. They were astounded by something they should have expected.

Why? Because they didn't understand something about the feeding miracle that would have caused them to conclude that him breaking into their circumstances as he did should have been expected. But they weren't looking for it because they missed the miracle.

Here's the deal. My suspicion is that many of us here today have low expectations of Jesus because we don't understand about the loaves. We don't quite get what they point to. And so today, we're going to look at this miracle from John's perspective because it is entirely unique when you stack them up against the synoptics.

It's incredibly unique. And here's the two things primarily that I want us to see. Number one, I want us to see the trap of misunderstanding this miracle. And secondly, I want us to see the treasure of getting it right. That's it.

Let's look starting in verse one and two. This is what it says:

After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberius. And a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs he was doing on the sick. — John 6:1-2

Now, this doesn't sound bad at first glance. They were following him because they saw the signs. John is the only one. He's the only gospel writer that tells you why the crowd was there. Everybody else says that there was a crowd, but they don't tell you why. John says they were there because they saw the signs.

And while this sounds logical and reasonable that they would follow someone that they were fascinated by, John is doing something very intentional here that's easy to miss. But he's already given us a clue for how he wants us to read this.

Do you remember John chapter two starting in verse 23? Let's go to that slide. It says:

Now, when he was at Jerusalem at the Passover feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. — John 2:23

Again, this doesn't sound bad, but then John says this:

But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people, and he needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in a man. — John 2:24-25

What did Jesus know? He knew that their belief wasn't genuine. It was incomplete. They were fascinated by the miracles—the product of the miracles—but they had zero interest in the person who performed them. They didn't follow the sign to its intended meaning. They just were focused on the sign itself, and that will cause all of us to completely miss the point.

D.A. Carson puts it this way:

Signs are meant to be pointers, not prizes. — D.A. Carson

And when we fixate on what he gives or what he does instead of who he is, we will always, just like this crowd, get off course.

Now, what does this lead to in them? I want to show you—you probably heard it as Barbara read it, but listen to how this account ends. We're going to skip ahead to verse 14, and then we're going to come back. It says:

When the people saw the sign that he had done, again fascination with the signs, they said, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world." Perceiving then that they were about to come, taken by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to a mountain by himself. — John 6:14-15

What happened here? It says that they saw the sign, and they concluded, "This is the prophet." And here's the deal. They were right. This is not some arbitrary reference. They made this observation because they were students of God's word in Deuteronomy 18. Moses promised that God was going to send a prophet like him.

How did they conclude that suddenly we have a prophet like Moses among us? Let me give you just a couple bullet points. John is the only one that mentions the Passover was at hand. When the Israelites think about the Passover, they think about the Exodus. When they think about the Exodus, they think about Moses.

Jesus goes up on a mountain. There's a large crowd there. They don't have any food, and so they're fed with miraculous bread. And then finally, there are 12 baskets left over, which might be a not-so-subtle nod to the 12 tribes of Israel.

They saw it, and they thought to themselves, "This is the prophet." And they were right about who he was, but we're going to see that they were wrong about why he came. They concluded, "If this one fed us in the wilderness just like Moses did, then perhaps he will free us from our oppressors just like Moses did." And so it says:

They wanted to make him king by force. — John 6:15

They weren't really interested in following a king. They were interested in controlling this king so that they might get what they want. Jesus had become for them a means to an end.

And this is the danger of signs, by the way. Do you remember in Luke chapter 5 when Jesus meets Peter for the first time? And it's this beautiful story where they have this miraculous catch—a fish. It's the most successful day of Peter's career as a fisherman. And what does he do? He falls down on his face in worship and says:

Depart from me, Lord, I am a sinful man. — Luke 5:8

Notice what he's not paying attention to? The fish. He could care less about the fish. He is preoccupied with the one who is standing in his boat. This is God in my boat, what Peter is acknowledging here, which is why he falls on his face and says:

Go away from me, for I am a sinful man. — Luke 5:8

The only natural response when God is in your presence is to do whatever he tells you and to follow him wherever he goes, which is precisely what Peter does. He leaves the most successful day of his career in the rear view following after Jesus. Why? Because he didn't care. He had found something better.

Now, let me give you another perfectly reasonable response that Peter could have had. He could have said this:

I am going to be the richest fisherman in Galilee. I will never go fishing again without Jesus in my boat. — Luke 5:10

Do you see this subtle trap? Suddenly, Jesus is not the aim. He is not the goal. He's not what Peter is pursuing anymore. While this would be a reasonable response, it would also be revealing. Here's what it would reveal—that what at first glance looked like passion for Jesus was actually passion for fish that sees Jesus as a useful strategy for getting more.

John Piper would put it this way:

This crowd, they come to Jesus with their unconverted appetites hoping that he might satisfy them. They're not interested in him. They want what he might do for them. He has become useful. — John Piper

Now, before we look down our nose and judge them too much, we are guilty of the same. All too often, I catch myself wanting something more than him and having the audacity to ask him to give it to me. It could be good things, a career, wealth, my children behaving in a way that makes me feel good about myself.

In fact, it could even be just the fact that I want to feel better about my... I want to look better. I want to be more holy. I was reading just yesterday in My Utmost First Highest. He brought up this point. He said most Christian workers fail because they're looking to Jesus for him to just make them feel better about themselves. They're obsessed with their own holiness, not loving him. It is so easy for us to fall into this trap.

We read verses like John 10:10, which say:

I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly. — John 10:10

And if we are not careful, what we can take this to mean is if you hit your wagon to Jesus, he will lead you to great success, better family, better spouse, better job, better fill in the blank. And while some of those things may end up being true, none of them are worthy of worship.

And what does Jesus do? When we approach him as a means to an end, look at verse 15 again. It says:

Proceeding they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to a mountain by himself. — John 6:15

To the degree that we are pursuing Christ not for him, but for something else, he will seem elusive and distant to us, not because he's punishing us, but because we've shown ourselves not to truly be looking for him. He withdraws.

I wonder how many of you this morning might sense that he's distant. Is it possible that he's not punishing you, but maybe you just haven't understood about the loaves?

See, this is the trap of misunderstanding the miracle. Jesus isn't primarily out to provide for our needs. It's true that we look to God to provide, but that's not primarily what this miracle is teaching. When he feeds the 5,000 in the wilderness, we're not meant to then say, "Okay, if I ask him, if I bring it to him, he's going to give it to me. He's going to give me more." That's a dangerous trap.

So what is it that he wants us to see? What is it that John missed the first time and that we are at risk of missing when we read this and when we live our lives?

Let's just walk briefly. I want to look at two sections of this miracle. Let's pick it up in verse four.

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, that these people may eat?" — John 6:4-5

And then John's the only one to include this. In verse six it says:

He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. — John 6:6

Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough to feed each one of them, even if they got a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?"

What's going on here? These are two examples of the exact same thing. It is two of Jesus' disciples recognizing that there is a very real hunger out there that I don't have the resources or the capacity to satisfy.

Jesus asked this question, and John tells us it's a test. And here's what the test is meant to reveal: it's meant to reveal something about the way that they think, something about their instincts. It's meant to reveal human insufficiency and adequacy.

Remember, signs are not an end in themselves. They are always pointing to a greater spiritual reality. There is a very real hunger in the crowd. It's a physical hunger, but in this miracle, their hunger, their physical hunger, is pointing to something much deeper—a spiritual longing, a spiritual hunger.

And what these disciples understand is that they don't have the resources to meet it. Here's what happened next, starting in verse 10:

Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated, and then hear this: So also the fish as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told the disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets. — John 6:10-13

Now I want to put this passage on the screen, and I want you to see something. If we can. So go to that next slide. Here's what I want you to notice:

Here's what I think John is trying to help us see. It is how Jesus feeds. It is how he satisfies. And here's the language John gives. He's the only one that says this:

They ate as much as they wanted. — John 6:11

Remember, Philip said it would take eight months' wages to give everybody a bite. Jesus took five loaves and two fish, and as he distributed them, people had not just enough to satisfy their initial craving—they ate as much as they wanted. Sometimes we eat even after we're full. Anybody?

These people got to eat as much as they wanted, and then after that, after they had their fill, they were filled twelve baskets full. This is meant to teach us something about the way that Jesus satisfies—to overflowing, abundance, excess.

What is this teaching us about Jesus? What is it that he is desperate for his disciples to understand? See, they reason—and you understand why they do. This is Moses. This is a greater Moses. And by the way, he is a greater Moses.

But the week after next, we're going to look at the passage where Jesus has an argument with the crowd about the meaning of this miracle. And in that conversation, Jesus is going to take issue with this comparison to Moses. He says:

It is not Moses who gave you bread in the wilderness, but my Father, who gives you true bread from heaven. — John 6:32

And get this, "I am the bread." Jesus is pointing out in this miracle. Even though he is the greater Moses, what he's telling them here is something more important: he is telling them, "I am the greater manna."

I'm not just the one that delivers to you the things that satisfy; I am the bread. I am what satisfies.

John Piper has said this better than anyone I ever heard in a sermon probably a decade ago. He said it this way:

Jesus did not come to give bread, but to be bread. — John Piper

What does that mean? In other words, Jesus did not come to provide for us the things that make life satisfying, adventurous experiences, rich relationships, or whatever your particular brand is that you're looking for to satisfy you. He does not come to provide the things that make life satisfying. He came to be that which satisfies. That is the point of this miracle.

Not, "I am the greater Moses. I am the greater manna." In the same way that manna sustained and satisfied the Israelites in the wilderness, Jesus comes to satisfy us.

Can I pause for a second and ask a question? When is the last time you would characterize your relationship with Jesus Christ as satisfying, deeply satisfying? When is the last time you experienced overwhelming joy because of your union with Him?

I want to tell you something. I am reading a book right now and I feel like I'm just a baby Christian again reading this book by John Eldridge. It is called Experience Jesus Really. And I love this title because here is the point: we are really supposed to experience Him.

This is why this miracle is so essential to understanding the gospel, who Jesus is, what he came to do. He is meant to satisfy. He is meant to be experienced.

I think Tim and I were talking about this earlier this week—that there's something about the enlightenment that has caused us to stop experiencing God. But you cannot read the scriptures and conclude anything other than this: they were deeply satisfied by what they experienced in God. Deeply.

Listen to what Isaiah says, Isaiah 55:

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters, and you who have no money, come, buy and eat; come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. — Isaiah 55:1

Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest fare. — Isaiah 55:2

Do you believe this? Here's what I'm asking you: Do you believe that we're meant to experience God and that our experience of Him is the most satisfying and pleasurable thing that we can do in this life? Do you believe that? Have you tasted it? Because this is what the writers of Scripture talked about.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. — Psalm 34:8

Peter would say it this way: filled with an inexpressible joy. All throughout the Psalms, I mean Psalm 63, I was just reading this morning—how long for you in a dry and weary land where there is no water? By the way, that's this world. We are spiritually starving and thirsty for something the world cannot provide. But you know what David would say later in Psalm 63?

Your love is better than life. — Psalm 63:3

These aren't just Old Testament ideas. Paul makes it pretty clear, too:

Nothing compares to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whose sake I have lost everything. — Philippians 3:8

Just like Peter faced down the fish that said, "I don't care about this anymore because I got something better." Have you experienced Him? Have you tasted that He is good? That is the whole point.

Application and Closing

Here's where I'd like to close. I just want you to consider that maybe there's more to Him than you originally thought. I want you to consider that maybe there is an experience with Him that you have yet to taste. Don't feel shame over that. But would you be brave enough to make space for the possibility that that's true?

What would that look like for you?

I'm going to give you an easy, practical step to take this week. In fact, my sister is the one that got me going on this book and this app that John Eldridge created. It is called The Pause App. What he's doing in this app is he is just guiding you to slow down in this world that we live in, where we have been discipled by the internet to get what we want right when we want it. Slow down. Listen for him. Wait for him. Make space for him.

What you might find is that not just the biblical writers experience this about Jesus, but you can too. One of my favorite books, actually it's got to be—the most other than the Bible—the most impactful book I've ever read is Practicing His Presence by Brother Lawrence. Here is a quote from it:

There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God. — Brother Lawrence

Do you believe that? I want you to know. I wish I lived there all the time, but I have tasted it. And what I am convinced of is that when I make space for it, he is ready to fill me, to satisfy me, to cause me to experience joy that nowhere else in this world can touch.

He did not come to give bread. He came to be bread. Taste and see. He's good.

Let's pray.