The situation was desperate with little resources, no hope, and little confidence that anything would change. This could describe what is happening in Ukraine but actually we will look at an incident in Jesus’ ministry.
It also perfectly coordinates with how we may be feeling now. We will see how Jesus meets needs abundantly in precisely these situations because of His generous nature as God Himself.
This passage will add to John’s theme of showing what Jesus is like as the Son of God and then how to respond in faith so we can have life in Him.
The context
This miracle is unique in that it is recorded in all four gospels (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, and here in John 6).
The context was sobering in that John the Baptist recently was beheaded, the disciples were tired from their itinerate preaching, and it was Passover with all the expectations of the coming Prophet who would be like Moses.
In just such a context, we will see how Jesus works when resources, hope, and faith are lacking.
He builds and encourages our faith, shows His generous nature, and focuses us on believing in Him.
Setting
Jesus and the disciples went by boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee for some recovery time. But the huge crowd of about 20,000 (adding to the 5,000 men mentioned) followed them. During the day, Jesus healed and taught them and
“showed how much He gives to people in need.”
Jesus builds and encourages our faith
First, He shows how desperate the situation is. They were in a remote place with no resources.
Second, He emphasizes the disciples’ own lack resources. When they asked Jesus to send the crowds away to get something to eat, He said they should feed them. They were flabbergasted in how that would be even possible.
Often to encourage our faith, we first need the Lord to tear down anything else we might trust in and to realize how much we need Him.
Third, Jesus starts moving toward a solution by asking what they do have. The disciples, like the crowds, had so little but they found a boy willing to give up his lunch. “But what good is that?” asked the disciples.
Fourth, Jesus leads them to the solution by saying to bring the boy’s 5 loaves and 2 fish to Him.
In this process, Jesus guides the disciples in right thinking. He could take care of the problem and would use the little they had. They just had to give it to the Lord.
So often, we think God is limited like we are or that He can’t do more than what we figure out. But Jesus meets us where we are to help us have the essence of faith, which is entrusting what we do have to Him. He walks with us, patiently teaching us to trust Him in hard times.
Jesus shows His generous nature
After the crowds sat down,
“Jesus submits to and thanks God as the ultimate provider.”
He then multiplies the food so all eat as much as they want. He kept doing this as the need was present. Later He says to collect the leftovers, both for later consumption but also as a reminder of what just happened.
Jesus multiplied what they had, which takes the pressure off of us to figure it all out.
The disciples distributed the food, sharing in His generosity but learned
“a key to ministry - sharing with others what the Lord multiples of all we give Him.”
They involved others too in handing out so much food to the vast crowd. Plus, they saw His provision over and over again as they went back and forth to the crowds.
The people also saw Jesus’ character and would have no doubts of the miracle done right before their eyes.
Jesus focuses us on believing in Him
The crowd proclaimed Jesus as the expected Prophet, which was true, but they wanted to force Him to be the King. They did not listen to Deuteronomy 18:17-19 in that they should listen and obey the Prophet, not figure out how the Prophet should do their bidding.
Jesus did have many similarities to Moses - knowing God personally, interceding for others, being a leader and teacher, establishing a sacrificial covenant with God, but also that they people would rebel and reject Him too.
This miracle, like all the others, pointed to who Jesus is and that He should be our focus.
Isaiah 55:1-3 mentions how the Lord provides food and drink for free but it was an indicator of the true and free life He provides by listening to Him.
Ultimately, this feeding of the 20,000 should have us come to Jesus as the true source of all of our lives because of His gracious and generous nature.
Jesus is ready to make this covenant, a binding agreement out of love for us, with anyone who will trust Him. He died for the many things we have done wrong to make us right with God and give us new life.
We entrust ourselves, whatever little that may be, to Him and as the Author of Life, He abundantly gives our lives back multiplied over to bless many as a result.
