STUDY THEME: WHO ARE YOU JESUS? 4-27-03

"I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE."

JOHN 6: 5-9, 10-14, 24-27, 32-35.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO JOHN 6.

Last Sunday on Resurrection Sunday we studied about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. While the raising of Lazarus was not a resurrection, it was an excellent opportunity for us to get acquainted with that lovely family in Bethany: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. In John 11:25 We heard Jesus pronounce the 6tyh great "I Am" statement. "I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me, though he died, yet shall he live." Jesus is the Life, hence everyone who lives and believes in Him shall never die.

In the ministry of our Lord, the central period commenced with the imprisonment of John the Baptist, and found its culmination in the confession of Peter at Caesarea Philippi. That period lasted about two years; and it is the period to which John gives little attention. All he has to tell us about it is found in Ch.6, running over into the first verse of Ch. 7, which marks the end of the period. From this middle period of Jesus ministry John selected two signs in the realm of works, and one in the realm of words. These three signs are closely connected. The fifth sign recorded by John is the feeding of the 5,000, and the sixth, the stilling of the storm. Feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle of Jesus ministry that is found in all four Gospels.

Mark, the writer of the first Gospel tells the story. Matthew, who follows him, repeats it. Luke, who comes a little later, gives it; and now John, writing much later, records the story also.

This sign of the feeding of the 5,000 was wrought after the 12 returned from their first mission tour; almost immediately after the death of John the Baptist. Jesus was at the height of His popularity. In fact, according to Mark 6:32 so many people were coming for healing that Jesus and His disciples found no time even to eat. About this time Herod Antipas expressed his desire to see Jesus. He was thinking that Jesus might be John the Baptist risen from the dead due to the similarity of their preaching. Jesus evidently had no desire to see Herod.

John 6:1-2 gives us the reason for the large crowd. The time had now come, when people were constantly and habitually following Jesus. The Passover Feast of the Jews was at hand, thus emphasizing the greatness and eagerness of the crowds that were round about Him.

Jesus had spent a whole day teaching those crowds. Luke tells us that He was teaching them concerning "the Kingdom of God." Mark 6:34 says when Jesus saw the multitude He was moved with compassion, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. The disciples solution to the hungry crowd in Mark 6:36 was "Send them away."

Desiring to feed the crowd, the Lord turned to Philip and said, "Whence are we to buy bread, that these may eat?" What an amazing question? John 6:6 says, "Jesus said this to test or prove Philip’s faith." There were 5,000 men alone.

Philip did not answer, as to the "where." He said in effect, "What is the use of talking about "where" when we have no money to buy." "Don’t you know it would take about a year’s wages to buy only a little bread for each of these people?"

In Vs. 8 Andrew spoke up and said, "There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish." But he echoed Philip’s reply; "But what good is that with all these people?" Andrew is mentioned only three times in John’s Gospel and each time he was bringing someone to Jesus. Seemingly, what we have here is an impossible situation. Philip and the others seem not to have thought of Jesus as a provider. How could He meet the needs of so many? We too sometimes limit the power of God by our opinion of His ability to handle difficult situations.

I read the story last week of the life of George Muller, who for over 70 years cared for orphan children in England. At times he was housing and feeding over 2,000 children. At no time did he ever request aid from anyone other than the Lord. Yet, the aid came and the children were fed as the unsolicited funds came in response to Muller’s prayers.

The five barley loaves in today’s lesson were more like pancakes or buns. The two small fish were something like sardines in size. That is what Jesus had available to meet the needs of thousands of hungry people. To the disciples, the resources available seemed totally inadequate to meet the needs of so many. As Andrew asked, "What are they among so many? Why did not one of the disciples speak up and say, "Jesus, you can deal with this impossible situation." Why not? Because they did not see in Jesus the solution. Are we ever blind to God’s availability?

In Vs. 10 our Lord said in effect, "Very well Andrew, I will take your suggestion. "Make the people sit down." Mark 6:40 says, "they sat down in ranks of hundreds and in fifties." Jesus used the apostles to distribute the food. Organization is not an evil if it achieves the Lord’s purpose.

However, Jesus did not distribute the food until he had given thanks. He had only five loaves and two small fish, but He thanked God for what He had. Jesus thus set the example in thanking God for food. God is the giver of food and all things good. We should thank Him, not take credit for ourselves. We also should pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," since we are all dependent on God for all our needs.

Then Jesus distributed food to the disciples, who then distributed it to the people. They gave to each one as much bread as they wanted. Thus all were filled up. Philip had said "If you spend 200 pence (or a man’s yearly wage) you would not give everyone a little." But when Jesus gets down to the business, it is not a snack that tantalizes, but a meal that satisfies. Since there were about 5,000 men, the total number including women and children was several thousand more.

Jesus ordered the disciples to collect what was left, and they filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves. This further showed the magnitude of the miracle. It also showed hat Jesus believed food should not be wasted. This is a lesson needed in our "throw away" society. John was recording the 7 miracles he chose to prove that Jesus was the Messiah. It is well to remember that Mark tells us concerning the disciples, "They understood not concerning the loaves, for their hearts were hardened."

How did the loaves and two fish feed so many? The Bible obviously considered this a miracle performed by Jesus. Some people try to rationalize what happened., Some claim that many people had brought lunches but had not shown them until the boy shared his. Then, according to this view, the miracle was that the people shared with one another. This idea misses the point of the Bible miracle.

This miracle was one of the miraculous signs of Jesus. It was a miracle with a message. What was the message? One message was that Jesus is able to take little and multiply it to meet vast human needs

In John 6:14 the people said, "This must be the Prophet." Back in John 1:21 the religious leaders, seeking to find who Jesus was, asked if He were the Prophet? Many of the Jewish people were expecting God to send the Prophet who would be like Moses, but with even greater power. In Deut. 18: 15, 18 God promised to raise up a prophet like Moses from the Jews and they were to hear Him. Of course God was speaking of His Son Jesus.

The people supposed Jesus must be the promised Prophet. Through Moses God had fed he people in the wilderness with manna. Now here was Another, who had fed them when there seemed to be no resource. They said, "surely this is the prophet!" Well now, if the Prophet had appeared, what did the crowd propose to do with Him? They were about to take Him by force, to make Him King. "He, who can, without labor, fill our bellies, must be the Messiah." Jesus withdrew. He declined Kingship on that basis. He dismissed His disciples to go back to Capernaum by sea. He then dismissed the crowd and went to the mountain to pray. Mark 6:45 tells us that Jesus constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side." This implies that the disciples were sympathetic with this move to make Jesus their kind of king.

When the people got up the next day after the feeding, they looked for Jesus until they realized that He had gone to the other side of the lake. They were puzzled at that. They had seen the disciples leave in the only boat present and Jesus had not gone in the boat. They did not witness Jesus walking on the water to join His distressed disciples in the storm. After joining the disciples in the boat he had commanded the wind and water to be still and then proceeded on to Capernaum. The people then took shipping, and came to Capernaum seeking for Jesus. When they had found Him, they asked, "Rabbi, when comest thou hither." Rabbi was their word for "teacher." This was a respected position, but it was far short of prophet, king, Messiah, or the Son of God.

Jesus ignored their greeting and question. He went to the heart of the issue by accusing them of seeking Him not because they saw the miracles, but because they did eat of the loaves, and were filled. They had seen the miracle with their own eyes, but hey had not recognized the meaning of the miraculous sign. The people totally missed Jesus’ purpose in feeding them. He did it not just because they were hungry, He did it to signify by the bread their deeper spiritual needs. Their interest was not created by any understanding of His teaching concerning the Kingdom of God, but they ate of the loaves and were filled.

Many people today see only their physical needs. They fail to recognize their spiritual needs. Jesus is concerned for all our needs, but His greatest concern is for our spiritual needs. We need to minister in His name to all human needs, but our ultimate goal is to win people to saving faith in Christ. Christian ministries include feeding the hungry, healing the sick, housing the homeless, and so on. This is true on the mission fields as it is at home. Medical personnel, builders, and relief workers meet the human needs in the name of the Lord, but their ultimate objective is to lead people to find eternal life in Christ.

The last part of Vs. 27 stresses that the life that Jesus offers is not something we work for and earn. It is something that the Son of man shall give unto us. Notice the word give. Only the Son of man can give us everlasting life.

Jesus fed the crowd because of their hunger, but He wanted them to see their deeper need for the life that only God can give. Unfortunately, many of those who ate the bread and fish failed to see what Jesus wanted them to see. We need food to live on this earth. But we need the Bread of life to live in God’s eternal kingdom.

In Vs. 30 the people as for a sign that they may see it and believe. It is still often affirmed that "Seeing is believing." Well, it is never true. "Seeing is seeing." "Believing is being sure without seeing." The people were still thinking about yesterday and that feeding. Moses fed the people in the wilderness for 40 years on manna. "Can Jesus do anything as big as that?" That is what they meant.

Notice several things. First of all, Jesus Himself is the Water and the Bread, As we noted at the beginning of this study, Christianity is not primarily a way of life, a set of beliefs, or a mystical experience: it is a Person—Jesus Christ. Second, the Water and the Bread signify the life that Jesus offers. Jesus is the give of physical and spiritual life. Third, the life that Jesus gives is real, abundant, and eternal. Life in Christ begins with the new birth and never ends. Fourth, only those who believe in Jesus receive life He offers to all. By the same token, those who reject Him miss the life He offers.

So we close by listening to Jesus as he uttered the supreme claim, "I Am the Bread of Life." From then until now, wherever and whenever humanity has found its hungers satisfied, its thirst quenched, it has been when it has come to Jesus, and at no other time, and in no other place. That great sign, "I Am the Bread of Life" is a sentence that on the lips of any other than God manifested in flesh, would have been the supremest folly.

SUMMARY:

When the multitudes needed food, the disciples lacked faith that they could provide. Jesus miraculously fed the multitude with only the loaves and two small fish. When the people kept following Jesus, He accused them of seeking Him only for the food He provided. He said that the bread signified that He is the Bread of Life, who could satisfy their spiritual needs forever.

How does Jesus provide for our needs? The four answers given in this lesson are these: He knows our needs and is willing and able to meet them. He can multiply our limited resources to meet our needs and the needs of others. He came to meet the deepest human needs, which are spiritual. Only through faith in Him as Lord can He give us life that is real, abundant and eternal.

THE FOUR LESSONS IN MAY HAVE THE STUDY THEME OF "FAMILY MEMBERS SHOWING GRACE. THE FIRST LESSON ON MAY 4 IS TITLED "ESTABLISHING GODLY STANDARDS FOR MY FAMILY. A.V. DAUGHERTY 4-27-03