September 28, 2023

John 6:1-21 (HCSB)
The Fourth Sign: Feeding 5,000
6 After this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). 2 And a huge crowd was following Him because they saw the signs that He was performing by healing the sick. 3 So Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with His disciples. 4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 5 Therefore, when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward Him, He asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so these people can eat?” 6 He asked this to test him, for He Himself knew what He was going to do. 7 Philip answered, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.” 8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?” 10 Then Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, so they sat down. The men numbered about 5,000. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks He distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 When they were full, He told His disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign He had done, they said, “This really is the Prophet who was to come into the world!” 15 Therefore, when Jesus knew that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He withdrew again to the mountain by Himself. The Fifth Sign: Walking on Water 16 When evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 Then a high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid. 20 But He said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid!” 21 Then they were willing to take Him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

Kim Ivey
Jesus is so well known at this point that He can’t get away from people. Crowds are literally following Him everywhere He goes. This time, they’ve even followed Him when He’s tried to get away for a bit of rest. Yet He doesn’t send them away. Jesus recognizes that these thousands of people have traveled a good distance and will be hungry. They are in the middle of nowhere with no fast food around; not even a convenience store. Then Jesus does something interesting. He uses this as an opportunity to test Philip, one of the disciples. What would your response be? “Jesus, come on, this is a hopeless situation!” Or, “How about we tell everyone to pool their money together and see what we come up with, then send the fastest runners down the road a bit to see if there’s a store?” Or how about, “Tell all the men to find a stick and go fishing in the Sea of Galilee if their families are hungry.” Why don’t we see Philip or any one of the disciples say, “Jesus, only You can feed these people. You are their only hope for sustenance today.” Of course, that is exactly what Jesus shows them, that He can take little and turn it into abundance. If Jesus had left it up to the disciples, though, everyone would have gone hungry. How many times have we thrown our hands up and said, “God, this is hopeless! I can’t do it! I’ve tried and tried, and nothing is going to work.” God never tells us to get through life on our own. He tells us to come to Him, cast our cares upon Him, that He’ll supply all of our needs - through Christ Jesus. Let’s go to Him first, instead of waiting until we’ve exhausted all other possibilities.