02-01-09 Sermon Review

Feeding the Multitudes
John 6:1-13

It amazes me that Jesus did all sorts of miracles when He was on earth. He did not just heal the sick, but He also made the blind see. He also made water into wine, raised Lazarus from the dead, walked on water, calmed the sea. He did a variety of miracles to prove in those various ways that He is God omnipotent. He is not bound by any law of nature. We come today to a text in which Jesus performs yet another miracle that John calls a sign. It is a unique miracle in the sense that it is recounted in all four Gospels. I want you to see in the text that Jesus provides both sustenance and satisfaction as a display of His divinity

Sustenance - The situation in which we find Jesus and His disciples seems dire. There are 5,000 hungry people who do not have anything to eat. Jesus could have sent them away. That would have been the obvious decision for a mere man, but Jesus had different plans for He is no mere man. Jesus asks Philip a simple question, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" (vs. 6). Philip's answer is absolutely correct. "Two hundred denarii are not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little" (vs.7). But what Philip did not take into account was that the Great Provider was right before Him. Philip disregarded two things: Jesus' power and Jesus' desire. Jesus not only had the power to feed the multitudes, but He also had the desire to do it.
Even Andrew who seems to have had a little more faith than Philip disregarded these two things. Had they forgotten what Jesus already taught them? "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'" (Matt. 6:30,31). If the disciples recognized what the signs meant, they would have responded to Jesus' question by saying, "Lord, You are the Provider, and we shall be filled if You will it." It goes to show you that signs do not produce faith and right actions. Jesus' grace does.

Satisfaction - So after the testing of His disciples, Jesus performs His sign. Miraculously, He feeds the multitudes starting only with a boy's lunch! It is important for us to notice that Jesus did not give the bare minimum. He provided until everyone had as much as they wanted (vs. 11)! And just to prove that He is the Lord who provides abundantly, He provides enough for twelve baskets of food to be left over. Not only is His providence timely, it is satisfactory. It is sufficient, rather more than we deserve. We'll soon how satisfaction is a dangerous thing, but we need not dismiss the fact that God indeed satisfies not simply spiritually, but also physically. Indeed, we cannot expect the greatest physical comforts and pleasures in this life, but we still do taste of His abundant goodness day by day. Let us not forget how much He satisfies us with His grace.

What a wonderful display of Jesus' deity! John calls this a sign since it pointed to Jesus' Lordship. Now here is what's interesting. The people seeing this sign attempted to make Jesus king by force. Now that seems like a good thing, but Jesus did not think so. You see, what is being displayed here is the conflict between man's will and God's will. After being satisfied, the multitudes wanted to make for themselves a king out of Jesus. If they understood the sign, they ought to have worshiped and listened to Jesus, ready to submit to His every word. Yet, their will, driven by a satisfied stomach, compelled them to act for themselves.

Be careful. In your walk with Jesus, it will be easy to fall into this sort of thinking. I have seen far too many people desiring to make Jesus "Lord" after a tremendous blessing they received; yet, their allegiance to Jesus was nothing more than an expression of a satisfied stomach and exercise of their own will. Let your experiences of God's providence in your life constantly push you to greater submission to His holy name. That is the rightful response. No loud, public declaration is necessary; only a quiet, submissive heart. That is where the multitudes failed after tasting of divine bread. Jesus requires allegiance to His name, but He will deny all allegiances to Him if it comes from the will of man. Be ready to submit your will to His. May Christ get all the glory. Stay strong in the Lord and God bless!