John 6:1-15
"After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.
Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.
And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.
Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip. "When shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"
But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him,
"There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"
Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.

So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."
Therefore they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."
Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king. He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone."

Message:
Apart from the resurrection, this is the only miracle found recorded in all four Gospels. It is important, not just because it is recorded in each of the Gospels,

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but because of all that it signifies. Fortunately, the significance of the feeding of the multitude is spelled out far more clearly by John than by any of the other writers.
OF ALL THE WONDERFUL WORKS WHICH OUR SAVIOUR DID NONE WAS QUITE SO PUBLIC AS THIS, AND NONE OTHER WAS PERFORMED BEFORE SO MANY WITNESSES. In healing the sick and in raising the dead, something was amended or restored which already existed; but here was an absolute creation! Our Lord is here seen supplying the bodily needs of a great crowd by means of five loaves and two small fishes. Food was called into existence which did not exist before. Only one other miracle in any wise resembles it--His first, when He made wine out of the water.
The question could be asked..."Why, then, was this particular miracle singled out for special prominence in all four Gospels?"
Three answers have been suggested, which may be summarized thus: First, because there was an EVIDENTIAL VALUE to this miracle which excelled that of all others. Some of our Lord's miracles were wrought in private, or in the presence of only a small company; others were of a nature that made it difficult, in some cases impossible, for skeptics to examine them. But here was a miracle, performed in the open, before a crowd of witnesses which were to be numbered by the thousand.
Second, because of the INTRINSIC NATURE of the miracle. It was a creation of food, as we have already observed; the calling into existence of what before had no existence.
Third, because THE TYPICAL IMPORT of the miracle. It spoke directly of the person of Christ. Matthew's mention of it suggests to us that it foreshadows Christ, in a coming day, feeding Israel's poor—(Psalm 132:15). Mark's mention of it teaches us what is the chief duty of God's servants—to break the Bread of Life to the starving. Luke's mention of it announces the sufficiency of Christ to meet the needs of all men. John's mention of it tells us that Christ is the Food of God's people. Because of its prominence, many have tried to explain away this miracle!
Some hold that a "miracle" took place in men's hearts. Christ induced the selfish to share their provisions, and when this was done there proved more than enough for them all.

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Others, think that the feeding should be understood as a sacramental meal, rather like Holy Communion, wherein each received a tiny fragment.
But the view held by believing Christians is that it was a miracle exactly as described in our Bible and there is no reason to try to explain it some other way!
The opening of the story takes us to the region--characteristic of the Synoptic Gospels--around the Sea of Galilee which is also called the Sea of Tiberias. The multitude that followed Jesus apparently traveled on foot along the northeastern side of the lake. The signs that caused them to do so are not the specific miracles reported earlier; this assumes, rather, as in 2:23, that the reader knew of Jesus' miraculous power in general. John 2:23 says: "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did."
From Capernaum to the other side of the Sea of Galilee was a distance of about four miles and Jesus set sail. The people had been watching with astonishment the things He did; it was easy to see the direction the boat was taking; and they hastened round the top of the lake by land. The River Jordan flows into the north end of the Sea of Galilee. Two miles up the river were the fords of Jordan. Near the fords was a village called Bethsaida Julias, to distinguish it from the other Bethsaida in Galilee and it was for that place that Jesus was making. We learn this fact from Luke when he writes his Gospel: "And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida." Near Bethsaida Julius, almost on the lakeside, was a little plain where the grass always grew. This was the scene of this beautiful miracle.
At first Jesus went up into the hill behind the plain and He was sitting there with His disciples. Then the crowd began to appear. It was nine miles round the top of the lake and across the ford, and they had made the journey quickly. We are told that the Feast of the Passover was near and there would be even bigger crowds on the roads at that time. Possible many were on the way to Jerusalem by that route. Many Galilean pilgrims traveled north and crossed the ford and went through Peraea, and then re-crossed the Jordan near Jericho.

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Our text says: And a great multitude followed Him, be cause they saw His miracles which He did on them that were diseased." How completely these people failed in their discernment and appreciation of the person of Christ! They saw in Him only a wonderful Magician who could work miracles, a clever Physician that could heal the sick. They failed to perceive that He was the Saviour of sinners and the Messiah of Israel. They were blind to His Divine glory.
How sadly true to life! It is still idle curiosity and the love of excitement which commonly gathers crowds together. And how what we read of here is being repeated before our eyes in many quarters today. When some professional evangelist is advertised as a ‘Faith healer’ what crowds of sick folk will flock to the meetings. How anxious they are for physical relief, and yet, what little real concern they seem to have for their soul's healing.
THE MIRACLES DREW MANY AFTER HIM, BUT ONLY A FEW TO HIM.
We have already observed that John tells us that this miracle happened at the time when the Passover was just about to take place in Jerusalem. John has a great interest in the Jewish feasts; he has more references to them than has anyone else in the New Testament (he uses the word for "feasts" HEORTE, seventeen times, whereas no other writer has more than three). He mentions three distinct Passovers and it is this that gives us the clue that Jesus' ministry lasted for about three years. John does not tell us why he mentions the feasts pointed to so often, but the probability is that he saw Jesus as fulfilling all that the feasts pointed to.
The Passover was a memorial of a great deliverance in Israel's past, but Jesus would bring a greater deliverance and one available to people everywhere; not just those in one nation. At this point we might also reflect that the original Passover led to the wilderness wanderings and God's gift of manna to sustain His people. The manna will be before us later in this chapter, and the mention of the Passover may be in part to prepare us for this.
Also observe that John refers to this miracle as a 'sign.' John concludes his Gospel with these words: "And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence

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of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name."
This "sign" then shows Jesus to be supplier of man's need. John concentrates his attention on the "sign." He does not tell us that Jesus had withdrawn with His disciples in order to be alone, nor that the multitude saw where He was going and followed, so that He spent the day in teaching them and healing those who were sick. He does not tell us that what he narrates took place at the end of the day. These things we find out from the accounts in the other Gospels. John starts at the point when Jesus looked up at the crowds and thought about feeding them.
"When Jesus then lifted up His eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Philip, "Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" (6:5)
Philip was a native of Bethsaida (1:44), and we learn from Luke 9:10 that these things happened near that city. Thus Philip would be the logical person to know what food resources there were in the area and how they could be employed to meet the needs of the hungry people.
Mark notes that when the Lord saw the crowd; "He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd"(v.34). The word compassion tells us that he felt the needs of each person in that crowd. Compassion is more than pity. Compassion signifies to suffer with, along side of, another. Thus the mention of Christ's compassion by Mathew tells us how near the Messiah had come to His people; while the reference to it in Mark shows how intimately the Servant of Jehovah entered into the sufferings of those to whom He ministered. The absence of this word in John, indicate His elevation above men. The compassion of Christ, though noted frequently by the other Evangelists, is never referred to by John, who dwells upon the dignity and glory of His Divine person.
John adds this comment after Christ has asked Philip where bread might be obtained..."But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do." Philip thinks only in terms of the immediate reality of limited resources and makes his calculations accordingly.

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Eight months wages would buy only a morsel for each in the crowd. Philip does not even try to answer the question that Christ had asked him...instead he points to the sheer impossibility of feeding the crowd. Clearly he was not giving a possible solution, but was saying in effect, "It can't be done!"
In reading the Scriptures we fail to derive from them the blessings most needed unless we apply them to our own hearts and lives. Unlike all others, the Bible is A LIVING BOOK! It is far more than a history of the past...it portrays truth applicable to each of us in similar circumstances.
Philip was confronted with a trying situation. It was the Lord who caused him to be so circumstanced. The Lord's design in this was to prove or test him. What happened to Philip is, in principle and essence, happening daily in our lives! A trying, if not a difficult situation confronts us; and we meet them constantly. They come not by accident or by chance; instead, they are each arranged by the hand of the Lord. They are God's testing of our faith. They are sent to PROVE us. But like Philip, we too soon forget that we are children of God's Kingdom, that He is our Heavenly Father, and that "No temptation (test) has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation (test) will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do, I will not forsake them" (Isaiah 42:16)
"Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done" (Matthew 21:21)
Too frequently when situations come into our lives that overwhelm or challenge us, we leave God out of the solution and seek to answer and respond in a very human way. The results are often less than victorious, or, we disallow a miracle because we left God out of the solution.

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Just an observation concerning Philip...Other Scriptures confirm that Philip always looked at the external evidence. The first time we find him in the book of John, he wanted Nathanael to "come and see" Jesus (1:46). It was the same in the Upper Room where he made a very inappropriate statement: "Lord, show us the Father and that is enough for us" (John 14:8). Philip required visual evidence. It is a good thing David did not use a calculator. "Ten feet tall at x number of pounds per inch. Why, Lord he weighs at least 500 pounds. If he fell on me, he'd kill me! Lord, you've got the wrong man. If David would have approached old Goliath, the giant, with that kind of reasoning...the world would have never known what God can do with a shepherd boy, a sling-shot, and a few little rocks. Philip's answer revealed that he was a bean counter and solved all of life's opportunities with a calculator!
How surprising was this failure in the faith of Philip. One would have supposed that after all the disciples had witnessed of the Lord's wonder-working power they had learned by this time that all fullness dwelt in Him. But let's not be too quick to judge Philip...for far too frequently it could be said of us...Oh! Ye of little faith! There have been times when I have witness the mighty hand of God do wonders and I have said to myself...Never again shall I question the power of God or fear when I am faced with some mountainous problem. But my spiritual memory is so short! I too soon forget that God will be in charge...if I let Him...and He can do anything!
Our next verse in our text reads; "One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto Him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?"
UNBELIEF IS INFECTIOUS. Like Philip before him, Andrew too, seamed blind to the glory of Christ. "What are they among so many?" was the utterance of the same old evil heart of unbelief which long ago had asked, "Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" (Psalm 78:10)
What mattered the "many" when the Son of God was there! How often we look at God through our difficulties; or, rather, we try to, for the difficulties hide Him. Keep the eye on Him, and the difficulties will not be seen!

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Carlyle spoke with deep insight when he said, "Men are like the gods they serve." WE CONDUCT OUR LIVES ACCORDING TO THE CONCEPT OF THE GOD TO WHOM WE BOW.
Referring once again to David and the giant listen to his concept of God:
"David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with a sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's and he will give all of your into our hands." (1 Samuel 17:45-47)
Let's give Andrew credit for at least seeking for the answer to fill the need!
THERE IS A LAD HERE, WHICH HATH FIVE BARLEY LOAVES, AND TWO SMALL FISHES.
John does not tell us who the boy was, nor how Andrew found him. We do know that he had five loaves and two fishes. Andrew is not referring to the kind of loaf that we might buy in a modern bakeshop. He is talking about something much smaller, like a roll or a biscuit or a piece of bread the size used for a sandwich. John tells us that these loaves were made of barley flour. This was cheaper than wheaten bread, and it means that the little boy came from a poor family. The five loaves and the two fishes were, it would seem, the provisions the boy had made for his own meal. Now he was offering it to Jesus.
Philip approached the problem with unbelief, Andrew went looking for an answer, and the boy came brining his lunch.
"Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down in number about five thousand." (v.10)
Without administering any verbal rebuke for their little faith, Jesus took control of the situation. One writer describes the scene..."One can readily visualize this

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multitude dressed in bright Oriental garments, reclining under the blue vault of heaven, upon the green grass, with the Sea of Galilee not very far away; a sapphire in a setting of emerald." Were they expecting a miracle to happen? And is that the reason why no one hesitated to obey the command to sit down in orderly fashion?
John describes the miracle very simply. Jesus took the bread and gave thanks over it in the manner of any host beginning a meal. Most likely the prayer that Jesus used on this occasion would be the one used in every Jewish home at meal-time: "Blessed art Thou, O Lord, our God, who causest to come forth bread from the earth." Then Jesus gave the food to the disciples, and the disciples distributed it to the crowd.
Christ did not scorn the loaves because they were few in number, nor the fish either because they were small. This tells us that God is pleased to use small and weak things. He used the tear of a babe to move the heart of Pharaoh's daughter. He used the shepherd-rod of Moses to work mighty miracles in Egypt. He used David's sling and stone to overthrow the Philistine giant. He used a 'little maid' to bring the mighty Naaman to Elisha. He used a widow with a handful of meal to sustain His prophet. He used a little child to teach His disciples a much needed lesson in humility. So here, He uses the five loaves and two small fishes to feed this great multitude...but mark it carefully, it was only as these loaves and fishes were placed in the hands of Christ that they were made efficient and sufficient!
In our recent studies, we have observed something very interesting about the miracles of Christ...in most miracles, Jesus involved people to participate in them! People filled the water-pots, Jesus turned the water into wine. People rolled the stone away from the tomb, Jesus called the dead back to life again. Here in this miracle, Jesus lets the disciples be a part of the miracle...for as they passed out the bread and fish, it multiplied in their hands!
I honestly believe that the reason why we see so little of the supernatural...the miracles of Christ in our own life, is because we are disobedient in doing our part so that Christ can do His! And much of our disobedience comes from our unbelief. We evaluate our problems through our own eyes, and we leave Christ out of the solution!

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Sometimes we feel like saying, "Lord, you do not understand my problems. If you only knew how I feel...I have calculated it all out, I have thought it all through, I have consulted the authorities, and there is nothing I can do." It is harder to give God our weaknesses than our strengths. If we are eloquent, it is easy to say, "God, here is my eloquence. Take it and use it." Or if we are good businessmen, we can say, "God, you can have my administrative ability. You can ennoble it and add grace to it—here it is." But to give God our weakness, that is hard!
But the Lord says, "Give me whatever you have, including your weaknesses." Many of us have missed the great miracles God wanted to give us because we have been unwilling to do that because of our pride. If you have calculated all the angles of your difficult situation, if you just want to run and hide, do you known that the solution is? First, realize that God want to help you. He wants to pour His grace upon you. He wanted to help those disciples, and he wants to help you. Isaiah 30:18 promises: "The Lord longs to be gracious to you; He raises to show you compassion." Next, realize that God is big enough to help.
Do you believe that God is big enough for your problem? Nothing much can happen if you do not. You need to have a correct concept of Him. Then you must surrender your deficiency to Him. A quotation from Elisabeth Elliot expresses this truth beautifully:
"If the only thing you have to offer is a broken heart, you offer a broken heart. So in a time of grief, the recognition that this is material for sacrifice has been a very great strength for me. Realizing that nothing I have, nothing I am will be refused on the part of Christ. I simply give it to Him as the little boy gave Jesus his five loaves and two small fishes--with the same feeling of the disciples when they said, "What is the good of that for such a crowd?"
Naturally, in almost anything I offer to Christ, my reaction would be, "What is the good of that? The point is, the use He makes of it is none of my business; it is His business, it is His blessing. So this grief, this loss, this suffering, this pain--whatever it is, which at the moment is God's means of testing my faith and bringing me to the recognition of who He is--that is the

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thing I can offer."
Do you have nothing to give? Then give that! YOUR NOTHING PLUS GOD IS EVERYTHING. We need to believe that God is big enough, that He wants to help us. Then we must give our problem to Him. May we set aside our pride and give it all to Him!
Our text continues: "So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost." (v. 12)
THE SUPPLY STOPPED ONLY WITH THE DEMAND! When Abraham went up to intercede with God on behalf of the righteous in Sodom, the Lord never ceased granting till Abraham had ceased asking.
Thus also is the case of Elisha's oil; so long as there were empty vessels to be found in the land, it ceased not its abundant supply (2 Kings 4:6). Likewise also here, so long as there was single one to supply, that supply came forth from the treasuries of the Lord Jesus!
THE STREAM FLOWED ON IN RICH ABUNDANCE TILL ALL WERE FILLED. This is grace!
This is what Jesus does to all His people. He comes to the poor bankrupt believer, and, placing His hand on the resources of heaven, says to him, "Write on it what thou wilt." Such is our precious Lord still!
"Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost." I have searched through my many commentaries to find a deeper understanding of the phrase, but with little satisfaction. Surely there must be a deep, wonderful, spiritual lesson here. One commentator writes: "Nevertheless, infinite resources are no excuse for waste. Wastefulness is sinfulness." Another writer comments: "Though He had power to provide any quantity of food, yet He has here taught us that the bounties of Providence are not to be squandered. In all things the Saviour set us an example of frugality, though he had infinite supply at His disposal; He was Himself economical, though He was Lord of all."
Maybe the lesson is this: God's grace is exceedingly bountiful, and the benefits of that grace that fill our lives have precious value. And all that we have is a gift from God. Nothing has been given to us to waste, nor to spend in ways that does not bless others. Our resources, our time, our health, our talents...nothing should be wasted...all should be used for His glory and the benefit of others!

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Our text continues: "Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that Prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force, to make Him a king, He departed again into a mountain Himself alone."
Christ had manifested His Divine power! The crowd were impressed, for we are told, "Then those men, when they had seen the miracle which Jesus did...they concluded He was the Prophet spoken of by Moses, and that meant that the person standing before them was the Messiah foretold by the ancient prophets.
Instead of falling down before Him as undone sinners, crying for mercy; instead of prostrating themselves at His feet, in reverent worship; instead of owning Him as the Blessed One, worthy of their hearts' adoration, they would "take Him by force to make Him a king" and this, no doubt, for their own ends, thinking that He would lead them in a successful revolt against the hated Romans. The miracle was not appreciated in its true character. Its lesson was not understood!
Jesus saw that they wanted to make a king out of Him, so He withdrew. The Jews in general hated being under Roman rule and longed for the day when they would be free and would have their own king to rule over them. There is no doubt that many people of this time looked and longed for a militant Messiah who would lead an army and defeat the Romans. It would seem that the people who had just seen the miracle felt that Jesus would be just the man for this.
But Jesus was not a king of that kind. He regarded the setting up of an earthly kingdom as a temptation of the devil (Luke 4:5-8), and He would have no part of it. He is king in the hearts of His followers, but that is a very different thing. The tragedy of these Galileans was that they tried to make Jesus into their kind of king. They did not get what they wanted and in the process they lost the kind of king Jesus really is.
People still make that mistake! They insist that Jesus be the kind of king (or savior or whatever) that they want. They try to force Him into a mold of their own choosing. They can never succeed, but while they are trying they lose the wonderful gift that Jesus is offering. Let us learn to see Him as He is and to submit to His kind of Kingship!