John 6:1-15
Thank God for the Bread of Life
Introduction
Someone said that God is the God of the cattle on a thousand hills, and sometimes we’ve gotta ask Him to sell one.
This is the 4th miraculous sign of Jesus recorded by John. This is a very important event as it is the only miracle recorded in all 4 gospels. John knew all 3 other gospels had mentioned it. He was intentionally avoiding writing the same things over again, and, supplementing what was missing in the Synoptics. Over 90% of John’s gospel is information that the other gospels did not record. If that’s the case, then, when he chooses to write something that was already recorded by the other 3 gospels, it calls for our attention.
Chapter 6 focuses on Jesus as the bread of life. In verse 35 He declares “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never go thirsty.” Now Jesus often used the immediate setting around Him to illustrate His message. He has been sent by God to be the Savior of the world and the One who gives life to all those who would believe in Him.
We saw in chapter 2 that Jesus referred to His body as a temple while He was standing in the temple in Jerusalem. We saw that in chapter 3 Jesus taught Nicodemus about coming into the light when Nicodemus came to Jesus at night time. We saw in chapter 4 how Jesus taught the woman who was drawing water from the well that He was the source of Living Water.
Now here in chapter 6 we see Jesus teaches that He is the bread of life. You have to see here that Jesus is absolutely masterful and Sovereign. The chapter starts with Jesus performing this miracle of feeding more than 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread. He was setting the stage for later in the chapter when He would use this miracle as an illustration that He - as the real bread from heaven - gives eternal life. This is why John records the miracle for us again, so that he can show us the teaching Jesus gave that accompanied the miracle that the other gospels didn’t include.
Thanksgiving is a time where we acknowledge and show thanks for the blessings we have. I love turkey, but, as I’ve studied this passage this week, I’ve realized it’s the bread I’m thankful for. Thank God for the Bread of Life that came down from heaven, Jesus Christ.
Context (1-4)
As chapter 6 opens up we see Jesus has gone north after the events of chapter 5. (This seems to be His MO; going into Jerusalem to stir things up and then getting out of there when it starts getting too hot). He has crossed over the Sea of Galilee and is still growing as the sensation of Israel. It says that great crowds of people were following Him. Verse 10 tells us that on this particular occasion there were 5,000 men (with women and children it was easily over 10,000).
Verse 2 tells us why they followed Him: They were seeing all the miracles He was doing on the sick. This sentence in the Greek emphasizes that they continually followed Jesus because they were continually seeing His miracles. They wanted to keep seeing miracles. At this point in John’s gospel Jesus is in the height of His ministry. He is about as popular as He’s going to get.
But, by the time we reach the end of this chapter we will see the quick decline of Jesus popularity. He begins the chapter with 5,000 disciples and ends with 12. At the beginning of this chapter they wanted to make Him king, by the end of the chapter they quit following Him.
But in verse 3 we see Jesus, as He often does, withdraws with His disciples to the mountainside to get some alone time with them. I sometimes wish there were another 20 chapters in the gospels that included more of these private teachings. John gives us some of that in chapters 13-16.
John has done a great job giving us the timeline of Jesus during His ministry. And here, in verse 4, he says that the Passover was drawing near. John mentions 3 Passovers in the Gospel (2:13; 13:1) and if this is the 2nd Passover here in chapter 6 Jesus is about a year away from His crucifixion. What if you knew you had one year to live?
The Problem Presented (v. 5-6)
“When Jesus looked up and saw the great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.”
We see here that Jesus has three agenda’s. First is supplying food for these hungry people. We see in these verses our Savior is compelled by compassion for them. John doesn’t say it here, but, the other 3 gospels say that when Jesus saw the crowd He had compassion on them. He sees their need and He already knows what He’s going to do.
Do not miss that. You have right here the Omniscience, the Compassion and the Sovereignty of our Lord in one sentence. He knows the problem. He cares about the problem. He knows what He’s going to do about the problem. He is able to do something about it and He is going to do something about it.
The second agenda has is to teach His disciples about servant-leadership. This is the first miracle Jesus had His disciples participate in. Their job was to serve the people the bread that Jesus provided. You have to see that they thought Jesus was the Messiah who would come and establish Israel’s free and glorious kingdom. They thought they had special positions being His 12 disciples and they argued over who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Now they were reduced to waiters serving food to these people? They wanted to send the people away according to the other gospels. They were even the ones who, in Matthew 19, were annoyed with little kids that were trying to come to Jesus.
But, Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 20, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Jesus was teaching them being a great leader, and being a great disciple of His, meant making yourself last and not seeking to be first. Serving others with the love of Christ in your heart instead of trying to be served by them with a love of yourself in your heart. Jesus teaches Peter this specifically at the end of John’s gospel when He says, “Feed My lambs”. Your leadership in the church, in the work place, and most importantly in the home is servant leadership with Christ’s love.
And the third agenda was to teach the disciples that His supply is sufficient. He will supply all that is needed for living the Christian life of loving service. I think that His disciples were His primary targets for seeing this miracle. They needed to know that He, their Lord, sufficiently supplied all they need to serve as leaders.
They were going to be the ones preaching the Gospel after He was raised from the dead. They were going to be establishing and leading the 1st century church. They would be the examples to the 2nd generation Christians who never saw Christ. They needed to be like Him to give a picture of Him to those who would believe the message. They, like Paul said, needed to be worthy examples to other believers. And they needed to know that everything they needed to serve the church as leaders would be supplied by the Lord.
Each time they reached into that basket there was more bread and more fish. Keep going, the Lord will provide. Keep doing what I commanded you to do and I will give you what you need to do it. What are you to keep doing that God has commanded in His Word? A lot of you might be thinking about money, but, this goes way beyond God’s provision of money. You might be in circumstances right now where you don’t have what it takes to make it through. I don’t have the strength. I don’t have the love. I don’t have the patience. I don’t have the faith. I don’t have the wisdom. God doesn’t just provide bread.
The Problem and No Possibilities (v. 7-9)
Did they really need that lesson? Yes! Look at verses 7-9. We see the natural, human, faithless response. “Philip answered Him, ‘Eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’ Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with 5 small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’”
The previous verses said that Jesus was testing Philip. Here’s a simple definition of a test: Making what is inside of you come out. Putting you in circumstances and situations that bring out what is truly inside of you. Jesus was going to bring what was going on inside the disciples to the surface by asking them to do something that is impossible for them. Their response is exactly what Jesus knew it would be – anxiety, overwhelmed, confusion, and fear.
Now, apparently Matthew isn’t the only accountant among the disciples. Philip has already crunched the numbers. He knows the fair market value of bread at volume discounts, and the average wage adjusted for inflation in that region of Galilee. He knows that it’s going to cost more than 8 months wages to feed this many people. He’s done his homework! He’s keeping the books – he had to because Judas was the one in charge of the money and we all know how dishonest Judas was. Philip is counting the cost and sees that the cost is way too much! Do you ever feel like Philip? You see the odds stacked up and get overwhelmed and depressed?
Andrew at least tried. He found some kid and brought his lunch to Jesus. You see, when the kid wanted to come and meet in Matthew 19 the disciples were annoyed, but as soon as the kid has got food he gets put in the front of the line But even Andrew was at a loss, he says, “how far will this kids 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish go among so many?”
There just isn’t enough Jesus! We can’t do what you’re telling us to do. Jesus you don’t know what you’re talking about. We can’t do what you’re telling us to do! I think they wanted to say to Him, “You’re so heavenly minded your no earthly good right now.” What you’re saying is impossible! And Yes! It is impossible – with man. I think that is exactly the conclusion Jesus wanted to bring them to. It is only when you know the painful reality of your own insufficiency that you can learn the glorious reality of God’s total sufficiency. But, thank God this thanksgiving that according to Mth 19:26, it says that with God –and that is who they were with – all things are possible. There is no asterisk in that verse. There is no fine print. God either is able to do all things or He is not. He is. When the odds are stacked up against you you must see that your God is stacked up over and against the odds.
How can I see that? Well you see whatever it is you look to. Jesus gives us the perfect example. Notice verses 10 and 11.
The Problem’s Perfect Possibility (Verses 10-11)
“Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down about five thousand of htem. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.”
Notice that whereas the disciples turned their attention to the problem, Jesus turned His attention upward. The other gospels say He “Looked up to heaven and gave thanks”. Jesus knew that with man, yes, this is impossible. But, with God all things are possible. With God, one boy’s lunch was going to feed more than 10,000 people. God is not limited by anything or anyone.
Where are you coming up short? Are the odds stacked up against you? Does it seem like there is no way out? Is there no way that you can see how things are going to work out? Maybe it’s the circumstances in your life. Maybe it’s the bills. Maybe it’s a relationship. Are you like the disciples? Is your attention focused on the problem? Do you keep telling yourself there’s no way this is going to work?
OR, are you like Jesus? Are your eyes upon the Father from whom every good and perfect gift comes down out of heaven? Are you looking to Him with trust in your eyes who according to Matthew 6 “knows what you need” and do you believe what Philippians 4 says, that God “will meet your every need according to the glorious riches in Jesus Christ”?
The Problem and the Plenty of God (v. 12-13)
“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are leftover. Let nothing be wasted.’ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves leftover by those who had eaten.”
Jesus supplies enough. The disciples saw that each person had enough to eat and that there were still leftovers. They ended with more than they began with (start with 5 loaves and end with 12 basketfuls). God adequately supplies all we need out of His abundance and He has more than we could possibly need.
The Disciples would forget this and Jesus would rebuke them for it in Mark 8:14-21. Those God knows the need, He has enough to meet the need, and He will meet the need just as He has always met His people’s needs.
Listen, you’ve got to see past the bread and fish here. This is a lesson in the unquenchable grace of God. There are some of you who need to realize that you cannot exhaust the grace of God. Your prescription hasn’t run out. You haven’t fallen out of God’s grace. You need to know that the grace of God you tasted when you were saved is the grace of God you can taste today. “My grace is WHAT?” SUFFICIENT! Where sin increased WHAT increases even more?” GRACE! God’s grace is always sufficient to meet your every need. “Let us approach the throne of WHAT?” GRACE! Nothing will renew you like God’s grace.
The Problem and the Prophet (v. 14-15)
“After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”
After they saw this sign the crowds began to say that Jesus was the prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy 18 that God promised was to come into the world. You see, at verse 14 they’re on the right track, but, by verse 15 they’ve already messed it up. They saw all the miracles and all that Jesus could do so they wanted to make Him their king on their terms. But Jesus withdraws because He will not have anyone come to Him on their own terms. In order to have what He is offering a man has got to go to Jesus on Jesus’ terms.
When Jesus began to preach “The Kingdom is near” what did He say before that? “Repent!” Repent for the kingdom of God is near. There is no being a part of God’s kingdom without repentance. There is no getting into God’s kingdom without changing your mind and admitting you are a sinner and that you need God’s salvation. There is no getting into God’s kingdom without being born again and having your sins washed away. This comes by believing. This comes by believing. This comes by believing in the name of Jesus Christ
Conclusion
The purpose of the signs of Jesus were to reveal His glory. But did you ever stop to think about the nature of His miracles? Healing the sick. Giving sight to the blind. Making the deaf hear and the lame walk. Miraculously feeding people. His miracles always met peoples needs. He made people well.
When He was in Galilee and needed to go to Jerusalem did you ever wonder why He didn’t fly in the air? Why didn’t He just catch His disciples up and float over the temple walls and down into the courts there for all to see? Why didn’t he make fire come down from heaven? Why didn’t He transfigure Himself in front of all the Jews instead of only Peter, James and John in private?
He revealed His glory in the signs He did to show that His power is matched by His compassion. His miracles were to point up to His ultimate healing that would come at the cross. There He would make men well from the sickness of their sins. The miracles that made people physically well point to the miracle of His death and resurrection that make people spiritually well.
These crowds had no concern for their spiritual sickness because they were so caught up in getting the physical, earthly benefits of Jesus miraculous power. They saw His miracles but ignored His message, “He who believes my words and believes the Father who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life.”
You know what’s sad? Living crippled, diseased, in pain and suffering, hungry and alone or broken. You know what’s more sad? Living wealthy, healthy, and happy for your short life on earth, and then dying and going to hell for all of eternity. That’s really sad.
Jesus came so that no one has to die and go to hell. He came and died for us on the cross. We can believe on Him and have eternal life and escape hell. We can believe on Him and be made new in Him, be made spiritually alive and healthy in Him. We can feed on the Bread of Life and receive eternal life in His name. If you have this Bread, give thanks with all your heart. If you don’t, then receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and make this Thanksgiving one worth giving thanks.
Thank God for the Bread of Life
Introduction
Someone said that God is the God of the cattle on a thousand hills, and sometimes we’ve gotta ask Him to sell one.
This is the 4th miraculous sign of Jesus recorded by John. This is a very important event as it is the only miracle recorded in all 4 gospels. John knew all 3 other gospels had mentioned it. He was intentionally avoiding writing the same things over again, and, supplementing what was missing in the Synoptics. Over 90% of John’s gospel is information that the other gospels did not record. If that’s the case, then, when he chooses to write something that was already recorded by the other 3 gospels, it calls for our attention.
Chapter 6 focuses on Jesus as the bread of life. In verse 35 He declares “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never go thirsty.” Now Jesus often used the immediate setting around Him to illustrate His message. He has been sent by God to be the Savior of the world and the One who gives life to all those who would believe in Him.
We saw in chapter 2 that Jesus referred to His body as a temple while He was standing in the temple in Jerusalem. We saw that in chapter 3 Jesus taught Nicodemus about coming into the light when Nicodemus came to Jesus at night time. We saw in chapter 4 how Jesus taught the woman who was drawing water from the well that He was the source of Living Water.
Now here in chapter 6 we see Jesus teaches that He is the bread of life. You have to see here that Jesus is absolutely masterful and Sovereign. The chapter starts with Jesus performing this miracle of feeding more than 5,000 people with 5 loaves of bread. He was setting the stage for later in the chapter when He would use this miracle as an illustration that He - as the real bread from heaven - gives eternal life. This is why John records the miracle for us again, so that he can show us the teaching Jesus gave that accompanied the miracle that the other gospels didn’t include.
Thanksgiving is a time where we acknowledge and show thanks for the blessings we have. I love turkey, but, as I’ve studied this passage this week, I’ve realized it’s the bread I’m thankful for. Thank God for the Bread of Life that came down from heaven, Jesus Christ.
Context (1-4)
As chapter 6 opens up we see Jesus has gone north after the events of chapter 5. (This seems to be His MO; going into Jerusalem to stir things up and then getting out of there when it starts getting too hot). He has crossed over the Sea of Galilee and is still growing as the sensation of Israel. It says that great crowds of people were following Him. Verse 10 tells us that on this particular occasion there were 5,000 men (with women and children it was easily over 10,000).
Verse 2 tells us why they followed Him: They were seeing all the miracles He was doing on the sick. This sentence in the Greek emphasizes that they continually followed Jesus because they were continually seeing His miracles. They wanted to keep seeing miracles. At this point in John’s gospel Jesus is in the height of His ministry. He is about as popular as He’s going to get.
But, by the time we reach the end of this chapter we will see the quick decline of Jesus popularity. He begins the chapter with 5,000 disciples and ends with 12. At the beginning of this chapter they wanted to make Him king, by the end of the chapter they quit following Him.
But in verse 3 we see Jesus, as He often does, withdraws with His disciples to the mountainside to get some alone time with them. I sometimes wish there were another 20 chapters in the gospels that included more of these private teachings. John gives us some of that in chapters 13-16.
John has done a great job giving us the timeline of Jesus during His ministry. And here, in verse 4, he says that the Passover was drawing near. John mentions 3 Passovers in the Gospel (2:13; 13:1) and if this is the 2nd Passover here in chapter 6 Jesus is about a year away from His crucifixion. What if you knew you had one year to live?
The Problem Presented (v. 5-6)
“When Jesus looked up and saw the great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.”
We see here that Jesus has three agenda’s. First is supplying food for these hungry people. We see in these verses our Savior is compelled by compassion for them. John doesn’t say it here, but, the other 3 gospels say that when Jesus saw the crowd He had compassion on them. He sees their need and He already knows what He’s going to do.
Do not miss that. You have right here the Omniscience, the Compassion and the Sovereignty of our Lord in one sentence. He knows the problem. He cares about the problem. He knows what He’s going to do about the problem. He is able to do something about it and He is going to do something about it.
The second agenda has is to teach His disciples about servant-leadership. This is the first miracle Jesus had His disciples participate in. Their job was to serve the people the bread that Jesus provided. You have to see that they thought Jesus was the Messiah who would come and establish Israel’s free and glorious kingdom. They thought they had special positions being His 12 disciples and they argued over who would be the greatest in the kingdom. Now they were reduced to waiters serving food to these people? They wanted to send the people away according to the other gospels. They were even the ones who, in Matthew 19, were annoyed with little kids that were trying to come to Jesus.
But, Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 20, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Jesus was teaching them being a great leader, and being a great disciple of His, meant making yourself last and not seeking to be first. Serving others with the love of Christ in your heart instead of trying to be served by them with a love of yourself in your heart. Jesus teaches Peter this specifically at the end of John’s gospel when He says, “Feed My lambs”. Your leadership in the church, in the work place, and most importantly in the home is servant leadership with Christ’s love.
And the third agenda was to teach the disciples that His supply is sufficient. He will supply all that is needed for living the Christian life of loving service. I think that His disciples were His primary targets for seeing this miracle. They needed to know that He, their Lord, sufficiently supplied all they need to serve as leaders.
They were going to be the ones preaching the Gospel after He was raised from the dead. They were going to be establishing and leading the 1st century church. They would be the examples to the 2nd generation Christians who never saw Christ. They needed to be like Him to give a picture of Him to those who would believe the message. They, like Paul said, needed to be worthy examples to other believers. And they needed to know that everything they needed to serve the church as leaders would be supplied by the Lord.
Each time they reached into that basket there was more bread and more fish. Keep going, the Lord will provide. Keep doing what I commanded you to do and I will give you what you need to do it. What are you to keep doing that God has commanded in His Word? A lot of you might be thinking about money, but, this goes way beyond God’s provision of money. You might be in circumstances right now where you don’t have what it takes to make it through. I don’t have the strength. I don’t have the love. I don’t have the patience. I don’t have the faith. I don’t have the wisdom. God doesn’t just provide bread.
The Problem and No Possibilities (v. 7-9)
Did they really need that lesson? Yes! Look at verses 7-9. We see the natural, human, faithless response. “Philip answered Him, ‘Eight months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’ Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with 5 small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’”
The previous verses said that Jesus was testing Philip. Here’s a simple definition of a test: Making what is inside of you come out. Putting you in circumstances and situations that bring out what is truly inside of you. Jesus was going to bring what was going on inside the disciples to the surface by asking them to do something that is impossible for them. Their response is exactly what Jesus knew it would be – anxiety, overwhelmed, confusion, and fear.
Now, apparently Matthew isn’t the only accountant among the disciples. Philip has already crunched the numbers. He knows the fair market value of bread at volume discounts, and the average wage adjusted for inflation in that region of Galilee. He knows that it’s going to cost more than 8 months wages to feed this many people. He’s done his homework! He’s keeping the books – he had to because Judas was the one in charge of the money and we all know how dishonest Judas was. Philip is counting the cost and sees that the cost is way too much! Do you ever feel like Philip? You see the odds stacked up and get overwhelmed and depressed?
Andrew at least tried. He found some kid and brought his lunch to Jesus. You see, when the kid wanted to come and meet in Matthew 19 the disciples were annoyed, but as soon as the kid has got food he gets put in the front of the line But even Andrew was at a loss, he says, “how far will this kids 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish go among so many?”
There just isn’t enough Jesus! We can’t do what you’re telling us to do. Jesus you don’t know what you’re talking about. We can’t do what you’re telling us to do! I think they wanted to say to Him, “You’re so heavenly minded your no earthly good right now.” What you’re saying is impossible! And Yes! It is impossible – with man. I think that is exactly the conclusion Jesus wanted to bring them to. It is only when you know the painful reality of your own insufficiency that you can learn the glorious reality of God’s total sufficiency. But, thank God this thanksgiving that according to Mth 19:26, it says that with God –and that is who they were with – all things are possible. There is no asterisk in that verse. There is no fine print. God either is able to do all things or He is not. He is. When the odds are stacked up against you you must see that your God is stacked up over and against the odds.
How can I see that? Well you see whatever it is you look to. Jesus gives us the perfect example. Notice verses 10 and 11.
The Problem’s Perfect Possibility (Verses 10-11)
“Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down about five thousand of htem. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.”
Notice that whereas the disciples turned their attention to the problem, Jesus turned His attention upward. The other gospels say He “Looked up to heaven and gave thanks”. Jesus knew that with man, yes, this is impossible. But, with God all things are possible. With God, one boy’s lunch was going to feed more than 10,000 people. God is not limited by anything or anyone.
Where are you coming up short? Are the odds stacked up against you? Does it seem like there is no way out? Is there no way that you can see how things are going to work out? Maybe it’s the circumstances in your life. Maybe it’s the bills. Maybe it’s a relationship. Are you like the disciples? Is your attention focused on the problem? Do you keep telling yourself there’s no way this is going to work?
OR, are you like Jesus? Are your eyes upon the Father from whom every good and perfect gift comes down out of heaven? Are you looking to Him with trust in your eyes who according to Matthew 6 “knows what you need” and do you believe what Philippians 4 says, that God “will meet your every need according to the glorious riches in Jesus Christ”?
The Problem and the Plenty of God (v. 12-13)
“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are leftover. Let nothing be wasted.’ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves leftover by those who had eaten.”
Jesus supplies enough. The disciples saw that each person had enough to eat and that there were still leftovers. They ended with more than they began with (start with 5 loaves and end with 12 basketfuls). God adequately supplies all we need out of His abundance and He has more than we could possibly need.
The Disciples would forget this and Jesus would rebuke them for it in Mark 8:14-21. Those God knows the need, He has enough to meet the need, and He will meet the need just as He has always met His people’s needs.
Listen, you’ve got to see past the bread and fish here. This is a lesson in the unquenchable grace of God. There are some of you who need to realize that you cannot exhaust the grace of God. Your prescription hasn’t run out. You haven’t fallen out of God’s grace. You need to know that the grace of God you tasted when you were saved is the grace of God you can taste today. “My grace is WHAT?” SUFFICIENT! Where sin increased WHAT increases even more?” GRACE! God’s grace is always sufficient to meet your every need. “Let us approach the throne of WHAT?” GRACE! Nothing will renew you like God’s grace.
The Problem and the Prophet (v. 14-15)
“After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”
After they saw this sign the crowds began to say that Jesus was the prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy 18 that God promised was to come into the world. You see, at verse 14 they’re on the right track, but, by verse 15 they’ve already messed it up. They saw all the miracles and all that Jesus could do so they wanted to make Him their king on their terms. But Jesus withdraws because He will not have anyone come to Him on their own terms. In order to have what He is offering a man has got to go to Jesus on Jesus’ terms.
When Jesus began to preach “The Kingdom is near” what did He say before that? “Repent!” Repent for the kingdom of God is near. There is no being a part of God’s kingdom without repentance. There is no getting into God’s kingdom without changing your mind and admitting you are a sinner and that you need God’s salvation. There is no getting into God’s kingdom without being born again and having your sins washed away. This comes by believing. This comes by believing. This comes by believing in the name of Jesus Christ
Conclusion
The purpose of the signs of Jesus were to reveal His glory. But did you ever stop to think about the nature of His miracles? Healing the sick. Giving sight to the blind. Making the deaf hear and the lame walk. Miraculously feeding people. His miracles always met peoples needs. He made people well.
When He was in Galilee and needed to go to Jerusalem did you ever wonder why He didn’t fly in the air? Why didn’t He just catch His disciples up and float over the temple walls and down into the courts there for all to see? Why didn’t he make fire come down from heaven? Why didn’t He transfigure Himself in front of all the Jews instead of only Peter, James and John in private?
He revealed His glory in the signs He did to show that His power is matched by His compassion. His miracles were to point up to His ultimate healing that would come at the cross. There He would make men well from the sickness of their sins. The miracles that made people physically well point to the miracle of His death and resurrection that make people spiritually well.
These crowds had no concern for their spiritual sickness because they were so caught up in getting the physical, earthly benefits of Jesus miraculous power. They saw His miracles but ignored His message, “He who believes my words and believes the Father who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed over from death to life.”
You know what’s sad? Living crippled, diseased, in pain and suffering, hungry and alone or broken. You know what’s more sad? Living wealthy, healthy, and happy for your short life on earth, and then dying and going to hell for all of eternity. That’s really sad.
Jesus came so that no one has to die and go to hell. He came and died for us on the cross. We can believe on Him and have eternal life and escape hell. We can believe on Him and be made new in Him, be made spiritually alive and healthy in Him. We can feed on the Bread of Life and receive eternal life in His name. If you have this Bread, give thanks with all your heart. If you don’t, then receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and make this Thanksgiving one worth giving thanks.
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