John 6.1-15: Barley bread and pickled fish

  • Mark Hakso
  • Nov 4, 2007
  • Series: Gospel According to John

Barley Bread and Pickled Fish

 

 

 

Introduction

 

For the past couple of months we've been studying the gospel of John.  Last Sunday we learned that Jesus did make some very astonishing claims for his time.  That he in fact is God.  Sam challenged us with the question, "Now that you know that Jesus is God, what are you going to do about it?  No longer can you claim ignorance. 

     Today we're going to hear about another miraculous sign that Jesus performed, the feeding of the five thousand.  This is a miracle which is told by all four of the gospel writers.  If you remember, in the second chapter, John records the first miraculous sign, turning water into wine at the wedding at Cana.  Today's passage takes place about six months after the events at the end of chapter five. Let's read chapter 6: 1-15.  

 

Jesus followed by a large crowd

 

As was customary when Jesus would heal people and do other miraculous signs, people would follow him.  Often times Jesus would get tired because of the pressing crowds and would retreat to be alone so that he would have time for prayer and fellowship with his father.  He also would take his disciples away from the crowds so he could further teach them more about himself and his kingdom.  This time he got on a boat with his disciples and traveled about four miles to other side of the sea of Galilee and went up on a mountain and sat with his disciples.  From there he was probably able to see as an enormous crowd of people, probably more than ten thousand strong made there way around the sea to see more and hear more of Jesus.  Matthew (14:13) tells us that they followed him on foot.  This means that they walked about 9 miles to get around the sea to where Jesus was on the other side.  These folks were very interested in what Jesus was doing.  Not that they were interested in a savior from sin, but they were definitely impressed by a worker of miracles.  Now according to John 2:11 these miracles were actually signs meant to point back at Jesus' divine authority and majesty.  The intent was to lead the spectator back from the deed to the divine Doer.  The signs that Jesus performed in the physical realm also had meaning in the spiritual realm as well.  For example, here by multiplying the bread he is pointing to himself as the bread of life, which he explains later in this chapter.  When he opened the eyes of a blind man he points to himself as the light of the world.  When he raised Lazarus from the dead he was pointing to himself as the giver of both physical and spiritual life.

 

Passover

 

Verse 4 tells us that it was Passover, the feast of the Jews.  No doubt that it was in connection with this holiday observance which included the eating of bread that Jesus performed this sign.  Many of the people who were there would otherwise have been doubtless in Jerusalem celebrating the Jews freedom from bondage in Egypt.  No doubt this put into many the question of who would be the one to release them from the bondage of Rome.    We know that this puts this event during the spring.  He also tells us that there was much grass. 

 

Questioning Philip

 

The other gospels tell us that Jesus had compassion on the crowd, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.  He healed those who needed healing and spent the rest of the day teaching them about his kingdom.  When evening came Mathew says in his gospel that the disciples came to Jesus and said "this is a desolate place, and the day is now over;   send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves."   Here in John  Jesus asks Philip, "where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?"  Jesus knew what he was going to do but asks Philip to test him.  John doesn't tell us why Jesus chose to test Philip. Perhaps it was because this was Philip's home area and he knew where the nearest Costco was.  Or maybe because he was slow of understanding and more in need of testing than the others, or perhaps he had just asked Jesus a question, or maybe he just happened to be the one closest to Jesus at the time. 

     At any rate, Philip doesn't pass the test, for rather than believing in the power of Jesus to be able to feed them, he eyes the crowd and begins to calculate how much it might cost to feed such a mass of humanity.  The amount of money he uses, 200 denarii, was the equivalent to about six months wages.  Though Philip had seen Jesus provide wine for many people when there was no more, he either forgets or doesn't believe that Jesus can do something similar here. 

     Are you ever like Philip?  When you're beset by an enormous test, trial, or problem in your life, do you immediately begin to calculate how much money it will take to fix the problem?  Do you always think strictly in human terms when seeking a solution.  Or do you turn to Jesus and say, "I can't do this but you can.

 

The little boys lunch

 

Andrew must have been doing some checking around and found this young lad who had with him five small barley loaves and two small fish.  More than likely this was his lunch that he had packed for himself.  The barley loaves would have been small and dry.  Barley flour was not even considered to be good back then.  Wheat flour was preferred.  But poor folks would often use it for baking bread.  It wasn't until barley pop was invented that a truly good use for barley existed.  The fish were more than likely pickled fish, as it was hard to keep fish fresh for very long, especially if you were traveling any distance. The sea of Galilee teemed with such small sardine like fish and pickling them was a very common method used to preserve them.  They would be eaten with the dry bread to help put it down. But Andrew, though he now presents them to Jesus, looks at the smallness of the lunch and at the vastness of the multitude, but does not stop to think about the power and love of Jesus and asks, "but what are they for so many?"  

 

 

And now, the miracle

 

John earlier had mentioned that Jesus knew what he would do, and now Jesus goes on with his plan.  He commands the disciples to have the people sit down.  Luke tells us they sat down in groups of fifty.  After giving thanks Jesus proceeds to break the loaves and give them to the disciples who in turn give them to the crowds.  After that also the fish. "And they all ate and were satisfied."

 

Now the bible doesn't tell us at what point the miracle occur.  Did the bread and the fish multiply in the hands of the savior?  Or did they multiply in the hands of the disciples as they were passing it out to the people?  All we know is that a great miracle took place.  A boys small lunch was transformed into enough food to feed thousands.  Notice here that Jesus did not simply create food but rather he transformed it.  Just like in Cana when he transformed water into wine.   This is why he came to earth, not to create, but to transform, and in the process he shows us his amazing generosity.  Whenever he gives, he gives lavishly. 

 

"Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost."

Notice also that even though over ten thousand people ate their fill, there was still enough left over to fill twelve baskets.  Jesus did not allow that to be wasted, and neither does he want us to be wasteful.  This is a good lesson for us because we live during such a time great resources, and in such a disposable society.  No less than twelve wicker baskets were filled with leftovers.  One for each of the disciples.

 

The crowds reaction to the miraculous sign

 

"When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!""  The crowd did not understand or appreciate the sign in its true character.  It's lesson was not understood.  They identified Jesus as the prophet of Deut. 18:15-18,  which was right.  Many probably also recognized that he was the messiah.  But it's  clear from the following verse that they viewed him as an earthly, political messiah and prophet,  "Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself."  Think about it.  Here is a man from among them who is able to heal the blind, the deaf, the lame, the paralyzed, the lepers, and even raise the dead.  Furthermore, he transforms water into wine and a few small loaves of bread and a couple of fish into enough food to feed thousands.  By golly, this man is worth crowning king even if he doesn't want to be.  Just imagine what life will be like without having to worry about illness or disease, or running out of bread or wine.  Imagine a king who could provide for every physical need. Thus they were ready to kidnap him if he did not come willingly, take him to Jerusalem and crown him as their king so he could throw off the yoke of the Romans and establish the kingdom of God on earth.  But Jesus, because his kingdom is not of this world (18:36) left and went again to the hill.  This knowledge that the crowd wanted to crown him by force if necessary was like a recurrence of his temptation in the wilderness when Satan showed him the kingdoms of the world and their glory and said "All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me"  (Matt. 4:9).

These people missed the point of the miracle, that the sign was pointing back to Jesus as the bread of life.  That is why Jesus teaches them the next day about how if one eats of the bread of life he will never hunger again.  But first he dismisses the crowd and commands his disciples to get back on the boat to cross the sea of Galilee, while he went to spend some time alone on the hill.

 

What kind of king is your Jesus

 

I wonder how many Christians in general and how many of you in specific are following Jesus because of what he can and does do for you in the physical realm?  I wonder how many of you are following him because you love more what's on his table versus loving Him for who he is period?  Unfortunately, in the church today there is much bad teaching concerning this.  People are often converted to Christianity with the promise that if they accept Christ as their savior they won't have to worry about illness or disease, that He will fix their relational and financial troubles, marriages will be restored and in general they will prosper.  All one has to do is watch TBN for a bit and you will usually see and hear exactly what I'm talking about.  Their main pitch is that God wants you to be wealthy, and that to receive his blessing you must sow seeds of tithing first.  Usually, the formula is that God will increase your wealth by ten times the amount that you tithe (usually to their ministry).  So if you only want a 1000 dollar increase, then tithe 100 dollars.  If you want a 10,000 increase then you'll want to tithe 1000.  Ultimately God has been transformed into some sort of spiritual poker machine, where people pour money into ministry coffers, not because they want to bless the poor or are moved by the Spirit, but because they are expecting a jackpot.

 

This is not to say at all that we cannot expect good things and blessings from our heavenly father.  On the contrary, I believe that God loves to bless his children, and I feel that he has blessed me incredibly much.  I cannot think of an area of my life that has not been totally blessed by God.  But I don't believe that it's necessarily an indicator of my walk with God.  Just as I don't believe that if some or all of my blessing were to be taken away tomorrow that would be an indication of my failing in trusting God.  All we have to do is take a look at Job.  He was a very righteous man who God allowed to be tested in the most horrible of ways.  And yes, even back then there were those who believed that Job was sinning horribly because of the loss of blessing in his life.  His friends, no less.

 

Here's the big problem.  If you believe that blessings, good health and prosperity in your life are a measure of the closeness of the relationship that you have with God, what happens when illness comes into your life? Or when a loved one close to you dies unexpectedly?  What happens to your joy and happiness?  Will not these trials cause you to question God?  Will not your very faith in him be sorely tested?

 

The fact is this; we live in a fallen world that has been impacted severely by the effects of sin.  Death came into this world because of sin and with it a host of companions. Therefore we know that the one thing that Christ offers us, namely eternal life through a living relationship with him is something that can never be taken away. His purpose on earth was not just to care for peoples physical needs but more importantly to address the spiritual needs of sinners. That is why he went to the cross. That is why he gave his all, and suffered extreme pain and anguish; to bear the judgement  of God for sin, dying a death that we deserve so that he could give us life eternal.  And he gives this life to any and all who come to him in faith, believing that he died on the cross for their sins.  This is the gospel, my friends.  Do not allow anyone  to change it into a cheap substitute.   And remember the words of Jesus in Matt. 6:33 where he says, "but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." 

 

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