In this sermon, Pastor Dave Capoccia examines John 6:1-15 and John’s account of Jesus feeding a massive crowd that included five-thousand men. John presents this sign miracle so that you will not come to Jesus to fulfill your own agenda for temporal blessing but to find eternal life in Jesus.
The passage can be divided under four narrative headings:
1. A Massive, Expectant Crowd (vv. 1-4)
2. An Impossible Food Problem (vv. 5-9)
3. The Miraculous, Satisfying Feast (vv. 10-13)
4. The Disappointing, Unbelieving Conclusion (vv. 14-15)
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Note: This rough transcript was automatically generated by YouTube’s AI algorithm. We provide it here for your convenience, but know it will surely contain errors as it has not been proofread or edited by a human.
let’s pray Lord God we thank you for your word and we thank you for Jesus Christ we do pray Lord all glory be to Christ as we go to your word now and we hear more about Christ we want it to be so that Christ is lifted up in our minds in our hearts that we can testify truly with the words of the songs we’ve just sung that it’s all about Jesus Christ and if we lose everything else but still have Christ that’s okay because he is our life Lord you know that we can easily move away from that so I pray that with this sermon you’d bring us back you’d bring us right back to where we need to be centered on Christ Living for him and nothing else in Jesus name amen well thinking about today’s passage I was reminded this past week about a certain notorious incident that took place in the kosha household growing up you see we had a dog a papon named jedadiah whom we called Jetty or Jed for short I don’t know if you or if you don’t know what a papon is just imagine a long-haired Chihuahua with a slightly longer snout butterfly shaped ears and extra fluffy tail and you’ve got a papon anyways Jetty was not a good dog he was cute but he was also a depraved food worshiping CK and one day we found Jetty limping around the house staying off of his back right leg and uh my siblings and I were immediately filled with compassion toward our dog we said oh poor Jetty did you hurt yourself we started to Baby him gave him extra pets extra treats made sure he was comfortable after all the little dog looked so distressed however later that same day my siblings and I happened upon jedy again walking around without his limp and we said to him oh Jetty are you feeling all better and you know what he did as soon as he heard our voices the back leg sprung right back into the limp position except there was a problem it was the wrong leg he lifted his back left foot instead of the originally injured back right foot well you can imagine we did not feel the same compassion for jedy the second time as we did the first time rather we marveled at the selfish lesson that our little dog learned in his brain instead of learning the lesson that he should have learned that his owners truly care about him so maybe in return He should become a more loyal and well- behaved dog Jetty learned that he could manipulate his owners into giving him what he wanted if he simply pretended to be injured and pretended to be in distress but that was the wrong lesson to learn As proved when his owner’s compassion evaporated when jett’s efforts to manipulate them were exposed for what they were now Jetty was just a dog we might excuse his learning the wrong lesson in the face of compassion but what about people what about people with God is it possible for people in selfish Pride to learn the wrong lesson from God’s acts of Mercy instead of after receiving undeserved kindness from God instead of worshiping God in true repentance and Faith for who he has demonstrated himself to be a person when actually trying to manipulate God to force God to continually give them what they really want it isn’t God but some of the things of this world in our next passage in the Gospel of John we’re going to look at one of Jesus’s most famous sign Miracles a miracle born from compassion and demonstrating Jesus divine power and Messianic Authority yet it’s a miracle that for most of its Witnesses it led to the wrong lesson being learned our author John tells us about this miracle so that we not we might not be like the original misunderstanding crowd but might learn the true lesson taught by the miracle even so that we will believe in Jesus and you find eternal life in him and not in the gifts that he can give us please open your Bibles to John 6 John 6 we’re looking at verses 1 to 15 today the sermon title is Jesus feeds a massive crowd Jesus feeds a massive crowd John 61-15 is on page 1065 if you’re using the Bibles that we’ve provided a few Bibles let’s read the passage John 61-15 after these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee or tiberias a large crowd followed him because they saw the signs which he was performing on those who were sick then Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat down with his disciples now the Passover the Feast of the Jews was near therefore Jesus lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to him said to Phillip where are we to buy bread so that these may eat this he was saying to test him for he himself knew what he was intending to do Philip answered him 200 dinar e worth of bread is not sufficient for them for everyone to receive 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 fish what are these for so many people Jesus said have the people sit down now there was much grass in the place so the men sat down and number about 5,000 Jesus then took the Loaves and having given thanks he distributed to those who were seated likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted when they were filled he said to his disciples gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost so they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten therefore when the people saw the sign which he had performed they said this is truly the prophet who is to come into the world so Jesus perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him King withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone the account that we just read is of the biggest Miracle Jesus ever did yes Jesus did other more powerful more poignant Miracles besides this one like in raising Lazarus from the dead or certainly raising himself from the dead but in terms of the largest Miracle the miracle directly directly affecting the most amount of people this is it commonly this miracle is called The Feeding of the 5,000 since the text tells us specifically that there were 5,000 men present but Matthew’s gospel tells us that there were also women and children present too and they also ate so really this is not a feeding of only 5,000 but perhaps as many as 20,000 or 25,000 and how many is 20,000 I know when we start talking about thousands of people it’s hard to visualize but 20 ,000 is about the number of seats in an NBA basketball arena imagine all those seats filled that’s how many people were there or maybe even more with Jesus this is a lot of people and they not only were there but they ate and they not only ate but the text says they ate as much as they wanted so Jesus didn’t just provide food for these people he provided an all you can eat feast and then notice there was plenty of food left over too so this is a huge Miracle no wonder that this miracle is the only miracle that appears in all four gospels apart from Jesus resurrection you see it also in Matthew 14 Mark 6 Luke 9 clearly the Miracle made a significant impression upon the people and Upon Jesus disciples who were there yet as we can tell from our reading all the way down to verse 15 even this great sign Miracle is significantly misunderstood if you just read down to verse 14 we might think that the crowd witnessing the miracle it grasps the proper lesson and came to the proper conclusion that Jesus is the long- awaited prophet and Messiah but verse verse 15 reveals that Jesus knew the Jews didn’t understand the sign and that he could not go along with their seemingly Pious plan to install him right then and there as their Messiah King really to understand the significance of the sign of Jesus feeding this massive crowd we cannot simply look at verses 1 to 15 for the narrative is immediately tied to the explanatory discourse that comes later in this chapter we read part of that earlier in our service today actually John 5 and John 6 parallel each other there significantly when it comes to their structure and even to the events that occur in John 5 we had a sign Miracle followed by an extended speech from Jesus explaining the true significance of that sign and notably that explanation was ultimately rejected by the Jews they hated Jesus for what he claimed on the basis of that sign We have basically the same setup here in John 6 we have a sign we have Jesus’s later explanation of that sign and and then we have the Jews rejecting Jesus on the basis of that explanation why does John show us these two situations that are so similar based on two Miracles back to back well this is part of John showing us the Jewish Nation turning against Jesus turning in opposition to Jesus despite his miracle ministry remember John 1:4 we had Jesus presented as the Son of God to Israel and Isel didn’t quite know what to make of Jesus presentation to them in the beginning but starting in John five and it’s going to extend all the way to John 12 the Jews are going to increasingly reject Jesus they’re going to say now we know what you’re really about we don’t want you in John 5 we saw it begin to happen to Jesus in Judea Jesus had gone South to attend one of the feasts in Jerusalem one of the religious feasts and he was rejected there but now we see the rejection happening in the North in Galilee in Jesus home region the Jews are turning against them there too the Jews love Jesus miracles they can’t get enough of them but increasingly they cannot stomach the teaching that goes along with the Miracles teaching that proclaims Jesus to be the Son of God and that eternal life is only in him considering then the Fuller context of this miracle we can summarize John’s main idea here in this way in John 61-15 John presents the sign Miracle of Jesus feeding the massive crowd so that you will not come to Jesus to fulfill your agenda for temporal blessing but instead come to find eternal life in it John wants you to see by this sign miracle that you will that you should not come to Jesus to fulfill your own agenda for temporal blessing just prosperity in this world but instead find eternal life in Jesus himself The Narrative is pretty straightforward we can describe the unfolding events under four main headings and those would be the points of my sermon outline let’s look at those as we follow the verses more closely the first heading covers verses 1 to four in which we see number one a massive expectant crowd a massive expectant crowd look at verse one again says after these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of gallilee or tiberias excuse me now notice that first phrase after these things what are these things well they would be that what was just mentioned in the Book of John the events in Jerusalem reported in John 5 remember Jesus healed a sick man on the Sabbath and then he used that occasion to declare his own Divine Sun to the Jews after the those things we get what’s coming next but how long after those things well we don’t know the phrase is vague enough that it could be a short time or a long time likely the events in chapter 6 they take place six to 12 months after the events of chapter 5 a feast was mentioned in Jerusalem maybe it was the Feast of Booth maybe it was Passover we have Passover coming up again soon according to John 6 so this is 6 to 12 months later this means that Jesus has been ministering in the north for a while in the region of Galilee in fact if we bring in some information from the other gospel accounts on this feeding of the 5000 we learn that right before this excuse me right before this instance Jesus has received word that John the Baptist has been beheaded Jesus 12 disciples have also just returned from ministering around Israel in Jesus power in name they’ve likely gathered again in Jesus main base of ministry which is the town of capernium that bustling town on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee but now the rest of verse one says that here in John says that Jesus and his disciples go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to the Northeast side a more Rural and empty area why Journey to the other side why go to a desolate Place well for a kind of ministry Retreat Jesus has been affected by John the Baptist’s death and he and his disciples are exhausted from the ministry they’ve done lately Jesus knows that he and his disciples could use a break to recharge for further Ministry so he takes his disciples to the other side of the Sea of Galilee with the Sea of tiberias those are interchangeable terms but verse two a large crowd followed him because they saw the signs which he was performing on those who were sick H despite jesus’ efforts to get away for a short while a large crowd thousands of people keep coming after Jesus to seek him out apparently people saw Jesus get into a boat with his disciples and they noticed the direction in which he was going and so they tried to meet him there people trudged along the North Shore of the Sea of Galilee to where they thought Jesus would land and why are they following Jesus it’s because they love him they believe in him they can’t get enough of his teaching well verse two says because the signs which they which he was performing on those who were sick John tells us the people are impressed by Jesus signs especially his healing Miracles and they are impressive they want to see more especially on behalf of their friends and relatives who were still sick according to the other gospels the people aren’t just traveling by themselves to see Jesus but they’re bringing their sick they’re bringing people to be healed by Jesus too now is it good to seek after Jesus because of his healing signs kind of after all what have we seen so far in this gospel it’s true that Jesus miracles his signs they are meant to point people to who Jesus really is so that they will believe in him Jesus said that in John 5:36 The Works that I do they are the father’s testimony on my behalf so that you will believe but all too often the Jew Jews stop short of full belief in Jesus as their real lord and savior but they embrac him only as a miracle worker they have a lot of enthusiasm for his miracles they believe in him to that degree but they don’t believe in him in a saving way John 2:23 to2 was a sobering example of this this was when Jesus began his ministry in Jerusalem at Passover it says John 223 to2 now when he was injured Jerusalem at the Passover during the feast many believed in his name observing his signs which he was doing great well rest of the verse but Jesus on his part was not entrusting himself to them for he knew all men and because he did not need anyone to testify concerning man for he himself knew what was in man they believed but it wasn’t saving saving Faith they stopped short at just the Miracles uh is the crowd doing the same thing here well while the people are on their way verse three tells us where Jesus settles down verse three then Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat down with his disciples now on what mountain or Hill did Jesus set up with his disciples can’t say for sure he could have gone as far as the Golden Heights which are in the northeast of Israel but more likely he stayed closer to the Sea since he and his disciples are going to be using the sea again shortly now the Sea of Galilee has number of hills and mountains all around it because the sea is actually very low itself it’s 700t below sea level so if you’re sitting on the Sea of Galilee you can actually see hills and mountains basically all around you it’s possible that Jesus it’s actually quite likely that Jesus found a hillside with a U-shaped Bend in it and if he sets himself up in this Bend then he’s basically created a natural Amphitheater so when people are there with him he can speak to them he can speak to even thousands of them and they can all hear him this is likely where Jesus sets up though we don’t know what part what particular Hill it was well the crowds are about to show up but before they do John gives us one more background detail in verse four verse four says now the Passover the Feast of the Jews was near why is that detail mentioned well this could simply be an eyewitness time detail that’s part of a abl lishing historical authenticity after all this was a real Miracle part of a real event that happened with real people in a real time and it happened to be a day close to the celebration of the Jewish Passover which is prescribed in the law of Moses okay but there’s probably more to why John mentions this detail for one thing the timing of the Passover explains why the people were in a heightened state of Messianic expectation even ready to proclaim a new king in verse 15 why would that be well as one commentator of the passage notes Passover was for the Jews a bit like the Fourth of July is for us it’s basically a commemoration of the date of establishment of the Israelite Nation how appropriate would it be then in this kind of patriotic day for God to reveal his promised Messiah and have him set up his kingdom so the Jews are extra ready for their Messiah at Passover something else significant though about the mentioning of Passover is that it means that more prominent in people’s minds is the Wilderness experience and the one who led them through it not talking about God I’m talking about the man who led them through it who led Israel through the Wilderness why it was Moses that great that special prophet of God and what was one thing that Moses provided the people with while they traveled through a desolate place food it was through Moses is really God as Jesus explains later but it was through Moses the Jews remembered that Israel was fed that bread from Heaven mana and they were even given Quail so as the people journeyed to Jesus and his disciples and this more out of the way place kind of like the Wilderness if they suddenly get a whole bunch of food you know what they’re going to be thinking about they’re going to be thinking about Moses they’re going to be thinking about that Mana in the wilderness because after all Passover of the Jews is near but what does Jesus do what does Jesus do when he notices this massive crowd crashing his ministry retreat with his disciples we go to our second heading now covering verses 5- n number two we discover an impossible food problem an impossible food problem let’s reread now verses five and six pardon me it says therefore Jesus lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to him said to Phillip where are we to buy bread so that these may eat this he was saying to test him for he himself knew what he was intending to do now because it’s not important for John’s purpose here John doesn’t mention that when Jesus sees the crowd showing up Jesus is moved in kindness to spend the rest of the day ministering to the people despite his plans for downtime with his disciples and those were good plans that that would the disciples and Jesus could really have used that Jesus changes course he decides he’s going to teach the people and miraculously heal many of their sick for pretty much the rest of the day what a kind Lord but as the day draws to a close the disciples get jesus’ attention they say hey Jesus don’t you think we should send the people away to go to The Villages and buy food we’re in a desolate place there’s no food here for them send them away but Jesus as we see here directly in John he’s not interested in sending the crowds away not yet rather in compassion he suggest to his disciples that they should provide food for the crowd Jesus and the disciples will feed these people and he asked Phillip where could we buy bread to feed these 20,000 25,000 people now why ask philli we actually haven’t seen Philip featured the narrative since Andrew called him back in John 1 why does Philip suddenly get name dropped here and we can’t say for sure but perhaps Jesus asks Phillip because Phillip as we’re told pretty much every time he appears in the narrative he is from the nearby town of Betha so he knows the area if anyone knew where someone could buy bread or find bread in this area well philli would know but Jesus question of Philip is only half serious Jesus isn’t really intending to buy bread but he’s testing Phillip what would Philip think of Jesus expressed intent to feed on all these people would Philip conclude that the idea is impossible or would Philip manifest faith in his Rabbi the Son of God well we see Philip’s reply in verse seven Philip answered him 200 gener e worth of bread is not sufficient for them for everyone to receive a little does Philip pass the test no because forgetting who Jesus actually is Philip plainly indicates that feeding this many people at this point in the day is impossible Philip’s quick number crunch reveals that 200 daer e worth of bread or that’s about eight months wages for a day laborer it wouldn’t be enough to give just everybody there a bite let alone satisfy now by the way I’m not exactly sure what eight months wages of a day labor is equivalent to today but if you just calculate minimum wage in the United States right now eight months wages is about $10,000 and this should provide a single meal for this crowd of people do you imagine spending $10,000 on a meal that’s an expensive dinner that’s because it’s so many people well probably Jesus group doesn’t have $10,000 doesn’t have 200 dener e 8 months wages but even if they did where would they find that much bread even to buy it and if they somehow did find bread well it still wouldn’t do any good because you’re only just giving everybody a tiny piece of food tiny piece of bread that won’t satisfy them so un sure philli expresses that Jesus intent to feed the people is impossible it’s a nice sentiment Jesus but we just can’t do it sorry ph’s friend Andrew chimes in in verses 8 and N has some additional information that he thinks Jesus should know verse 8 one of his disciples Andrew Simon Peter’s brother said to him there is a lad here who has five barley Loaves and two fish but what are these for so many people here’s another testimony basically declaring the goal of feeding the crowd to be impossible you might be wondering where did Andrew find this lad and why is he stealing his food well we don’t get the full story here in his accounts of this miracle that Jesus specifically told his disciples to find out how much food they already had and it’s there like here that Jesus learns oh there’s a lad here who has these Loaves and fish so this lad then probably was a servant boy or a young man who was traveling with Jesus groups of group of disciples this wasn’t some random boy in the crowd probably this is somebody part of Jesus group who had some Provisions for the disciples had some still left he’s carrying food but it’s not that much and when you read barley loaves here think dis shaped bread cakes so kind of flat disc shaped with a hole in the middle so that you could tear off pieces of it the Jews didn’t cut bread they just tore it off so you’ve got five of these bread cakes and then you have these fish fish and these would have been small pickled fish that kind of serves as a side dish to the main meal of bread by the way barley bread was considered poor people food if you are welltoo you ate wheat bread but we’ve got barley bread here now on the surface this discovery of breed and fish seems helpful hey we don’t have zero food look We’ve Got Five Loaves and two fish we’re not stuck at square one but even Andrew asks rhetorically but what are these for so many people translation this doesn’t really change the situation in a significant way feeding the people is still impossible I mean this takeout dinner wouldn’t even feed the 12 disciples let alone 20,000 people so by presenting the testimonies of Philip and Andrew John establishes for us just as those disciples established for Jesus that naturally speaking feeding this crowd is impossible you can’t do it but do not the scriptures say what is impossible with man is possible with God we come now to the third section of the narrative in verses 10 to 13 where we see number three the miraculous satisfying Feast look at verse 10 and 11 Jesus said have the people sit down now there was much much grass in the place so the men sat down and number about 5,000 Jesus then took the Loaves and having given thanks he distributed to those who were seated likewise also the fist fish as much as they wanted you have to love the confidence of our Lord Jesus right he’s not Disturbed At All by the impossibility of this situation or the lack of faith of his disciples Jesus simply as the disciples tell the people sit down literally to recline which I think is interesting reclining for a meal that’s the preferred posture of the Jews that means it’s going to be a relaxing dinner Jesus says how the people recline and it turns out that reclining uh laying down propping yourself up on one arm it wasn’t uncomfortable in that environment because we’re told there was much grass in the place this is a nice place for a reclining picnic even though there’s not food there I mean at least it’s comfortable so we’ve got these 5,000 men probably plus another 15 20,000 women and children that are being organized into groups and now reclining on the mountain side before Jesus and Jesus then does what is customary for any Rabbi or head of a Jewish household to do when entertaining guest for a meal he offers a prayer of thanks and blessing to God the typical prayer for the period went as follows it’s short blessed be the Lord Our God the king of the universe who has caused bread to Spring out of the Earth to which the rest of the participants at such a prayer would respond amen Jesus prays something like this in verse 11 says Jesus no doubt via his disciples then distributed the bread and the fish to those who were reclining as much as they wanted and I’m sure the people wanted a lot they had worked up quite an appetite hoofing it all the way to the Northeast side of the Sea of Galilee then spending all day with Jesus they were hungry at dinner time and so they get to Chow and down some nice bread and fish and apparently it’s a lot how is Jesus able to distribute so much not told the precise mechanism but whatever Jesus did it apparently wasn’t flashy it’s not like his hands started glowing Heaven opened up all these lights there’s sounds there’s music there’s Jesus is saying some special formula words Abracadabra no none of that apparently though somehow between leaving Jesus hands and showing up before the people the food much food miraculously appeared it multiplied so that the people could eat as much as they want and Jesus makes sure that people don’t miss that Jesus is doing a sign because we read verses 12- 13 when they were filled he said to his disciples gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost so they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten now notice the first part of verse 12 says that the people were filled they were satiated they had eaten and they were fully satisfied and then Jesus commands the disciples to gather up the meals leftovers and why does he do that well it could be partly to be responsible not waste any food that’s something that a Jewish host would typically do but more importantly Gathering up the fragments would make clear to everyone what just happened this was no illusion this wasn’t like I don’t I don’t know where did the food come from did we even eat it this is going to become clear as the disciples go and they gather up what is left of each tear and sh sh Loaf and what’s left of the fish the other gospels mention that and when they do the disciples fill 12 baskets 12 baskets with the leftovers and notice John is emphatic in verse 15 that these leftovers they came from the original food they came from the Five Loaves and the two fish nobody else brought out secret stores of food this wasn’t a big pot luck that everybody’s just like oh look that kid is sharing his lunch let me get my food out too that is not what happened here as we can tell from verse 13 it was from the five barley Loaves and again the other gospels mentioned the two fish also it was from the original food that the disciples gathered in the end 12 baskets full of leftovers and this is after 20,000 people or so ate as much as they wanted where did all that food come from why are there 12 baskets left it’s clear to everyone now Jesus has just performed a miracle this is the powerful compassion of the son of man Son of God doing like he did in the beginning creating out of nothing multiplying food to meet the needs of the crowd did the crowd get this and if so what did it cause them to do look at verse 14 as we come to our last heading uh covers verses 14 and 15 number four we see finally the disappointing unbelieving conclusion the disappointing unbelieving conclusion verse 14 therefore when the people saw the sign which had which he had performed they said this is truly the prophet who was to come into the world now first glance verse 14 sounds like wonderful news this was exactly for what Jesus was hoping the people realized that Jesus had performed a sign a miraculous act pointing to his true identity and they conclude he is definitely the special Prophet foretold by Moses even in Deuteronomy 18: 18- 19 where God said to Moses there let me quote those verses for you Deuteronomy 18: 18- 19 I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you and I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them all that I command him it shall come about that whoever will not listen to my words which he shall speak in my name I myself were required of him that’s what God said to Moses Jesus is a prophet like Moses and could it be any more obvious to the crowd Moses was God’s chosen leader miraculously fed the people in the wilderness now Jesus look is doing the same thing as Moses he’s God’s chosen leader he just mirac fed us in this otherwise Barren place they conclude he’s the prophet he’s even the Messiah because verse 15 says that the people were even ready to make Jesus king so they didn’t just see him as the promised Prophet Jews at that time some of them were like oh yeah there’s the prophet and then there’s the Messiah they’re not the same but other Jews they kind of saw it being together which is actually the truth according to the scripture Jesus is the promised prophet and the promised King apparently some of the Jews were making that same conclusion they were concluding correctly in part who Jesus is so that’s perfect right the people get it the sign worked Jesus they believe in you aren’t you pleased verse 15 so Jesus perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him King withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone does that surprise you well verse 15 shows us there’s more to the story than what was reported in verse 14 see Jesus perceives something literally knows something about this enthusiastic crowd now how does he know is he just overhearing their conversations is he just a very observant person possibly but we’ve seen already multiple times in the Gospel of John Jesus has Supernatural knowledge doesn’t have to overhear a conversation he just knows all men he knows what they’re thinking thinking he knows what they’re intending what does Jesus know about this wellfed signed witnessing newly believing group of Jews verse 15 says he knew they were about to come and seize Jesus so they might make him king that’s a very revealing statement isn’t it what does it reveal about these Galilean Jews it reveals that the people don’t ultimately care what Jesus agenda is or even what God’s agenda is for Jesus what they care about is what they can make Jesus do for them how Jesus can serve their own agenda you see they’re learning a lesson from what Jesus just did but it’s the wrong lesson Jesus has just shown them they think what life under his rule will be like abundant food freedom from disease and come on look at this powerful Miracle this guy can overcome the Romans Jesus in short can offer the prosperity and the power that the Jews have been wanting for centuries so what are we waiting for they say let’s make this guy our King and if he doesn’t want to be king well talk because obviously this is what God would want for us he would want to bless us because we’re his holy people now the intention of the crowd is flattering in a way and if Jesus were seeking the approval of men if he were seeking an Earthly Kingdom right then and there he would not dissuade the Jews from their course Jesus told the judeans in John 5:41 I do not receive the glory of men he also told them I have come in my father’s name I’ve come to do his will not your will not even my own will so Jesus knows what he must do he must walk away from this unbelieving crowd ultimately unbelieving crowd who are ready to make him King the other gospels tell us that after this miracle Jesus dismisses the crowds he sends his disciples to sail across the lake without him and he withdraws alone to the mountain to pray to his God kind of a disappointing conclusion isn’t it certainly the people were disappointed no doubt Jesus was disappointed and you could say even we readers are disappointed this wasn’t the conclusion we were looking for and yet it is a very instructive conclusion because as I said to you at the beginning we see clearly that we are not to be like the overzealous crowd whose mind was set on Earthly things rather than the things of God Jesus is going to say more to the crowds later about this miracle he performed and why he didn’t go along with their efforts to make him King particularly in Sall the statements that we see in John 627 and John 6:35 I’ll just read those to you we’ll say much more about them later John 6:27 Jesus tells the crowds when they catch up with him do not work for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to eternal life which the son of man will give to you for on him the father God has set his seal verse 35 Jesus said to them I am I am the bread of life he who comes to me will not hunger and he who believes in me will never thirst this is what the miracle is really about this isn’t Jesus proving to you that he’s about making your life comfortable he’ll give you the food that you want he will heal all your diseases he’ll deliver you from all your problems he’ll make life easy for you no that’s the wrong lesson that’s not what Jesus Jus was saying with that Miracle rather he was saying look at how I’m able to provide this miraculous bread for you I did this by the power and approval of God but you know what I can give you much better bread than this you know what that bread is it’s me I’m the bread you should be looking for because I will actually satisfy you I’ll be the bread that no matter how many pieces you tear off there’s more more there’s more to enjoy you’ll never be hungry again you’ll never be thirsty again why seek after the bread that perishes why seek after the little Comforts and blessings and Provisions of this world with all your heart and might when that’s ultimately going to fail I will never fail I am life and myself come to me feed on me and you will be saved that’s what this is really about the crowd doesn’t see it yet and when Jesus explains it to the crowd they don’t like it which is going to reveal something about their hearts despite what they say despite what these religious zealous expectant of the Messiah Jews are demonstrating outwardly they don’t really love God they don’t really want God they want what God can give them what about you we got to bring this to a personal application don’t we Brethren why are you a Christian why do you follow Jesus it’s because you think Jesus is the the key to fulfilling your agenda in this world Jesus will grant you health he will grant you wealth he will grant you success he will deliver you from your problems he will give you friends he will give you a great marriage he will give you perfectly obedient children he will fulfill all your goals and dreams isn’t that the Jesus who’s preached in many places Jesus is all about you and what you want is that why you are a Christian or is it because you recognize that Jesus just as he declares he is life in himself and that you want to follow his agenda whatever it is for your life because that means you can have him and Jesus has already told you what part of that agenda includes trials persecution rejection suffering why would anybody choose that because Jesus is true bread yes Jesus I’ll take the suffering I’ll accept that I’m not going to be able to fulfill my dreams in my life because I’m giving all those up Jesus if you do fulfill some of those things great but if not that’s also great because I have you you have the words of eternal life you have the Living Water you are the true bread so if you don’t fulfill my agenda that’s perfectly okay is that you is that your heart testifies because it’s only those Brethren who come after Jesus for Jesus who really get Jesus everyone else who comes after Jesus for something else they only get the Jesus of their imagination they don’t really have God God has withdrawn from them just as Jesus has withdrawn from the crowds and it will be a rude awakening for many of those religious people when they meet the Lord Jesus as Jesus testifies elsewhere many will say to me Lord Lord but I will say to them I don’t know you depart from me you practice lawlessness you never were my true disciple should have been obvious to you you believed in a different Jesus you didn’t want me you wanted what you thought that I would give you terrible irony of everyone who comes to Jesus to be their Genie to give them what they really want in this world is that they’ll never be satisfied ultimately this crowd is going to prove that they just want Jesus’s food but you know what they’re always going to want more and they’re never going to have enough it’s the same with whatever it is that you want Jesus to give you instead of him it’ll never be enough worse it’ll keep you away from the real Jesus it’ll keep you away from eternal life which Jesus do you really want do you want the fake Jesus or you want the real Jesus you want the Jesus who satisfies and actually saves or do you want the Jesus that just soothes your lusts feel good temporarily it won’t feel good in the end if you’ve been pursuing the fake Jesus it’s time to repent because the real Jesus is speaking to you right now from his word is saying don’t be like this foolish unbelieving crowd who learned the wrong lesson learn the true lesson and come to the true Jesus I will satisfy you I will save you but you got to give up your own agenda you got to give up your sin you got to give up your purposes for your life life you got to say Jesus Take It All whatever you want from me in my life that’s what I want because you’re the Lord you are life you’re the true treasure so whatever whatever it costs me to have you I’m willing I’m willing to give because I know that you will never fail come pursue the true Jesus today come feed on the true Jesus and feed on him more that’s what Jesus is also inviting each one of you to do today say get to know me more walk with me more that distracting thing you have in your life that’s keeping me away from you get rid of that so that you can enjoy true food that sin that you keep going back to for Comfort get rid of that that’s food that perishes that’s actually poisonous food but I’m the True Food I will satisfy you whatever’s keeping you away from the true Jesus this morning give it up because Jesus freely offers himself to you as the bread of life the true bread from heaven now we’ll have more to say about this miracle and the true interpretation of it in the coming weeks but next time we’re back in John we have a little aside a little bonus Miracle we just looked at the fourth sign in the Gospel of John the fifth sign with Jesus walking on the water we’ll look at that together next time let’s close in prayer Lord Jesus it’s is interesting how you have made us as humans you are the Creator you declare that in your word we know it to be true nothing came into being that didn’t come into being through you and one thing that’s so evident about the way you’ve made humans is that we are creatures who eat we eat from the beginning we’ve needed to eat it’s part of enjoying life it’s part of sustaining life and yet with the fall which ironically also involved food we got away from what is True Food declaring we knew better we said God I don’t need your food I want to get my own food I’m going to get the food that’s wise and tasty to my own preferences but where did that get us it got us death it brought the curse it brought vanity into this world Vapor everything is vapor even food is vapor we have to keep on eating but we’re never fully satisfied until we die because even the food that sustains Our Lives it doesn’t sustain us forever all those who eat physical food today even those who amass mountains of food and whatever other Treasures are there in this world they will still die because that food cannot sustain them eternally so what is to be done it is to repent and to come back to the god whose food we rejected in the beginning and say no God you’ve had the True Food all along I was wicked and foolish to reject it but Lord you say to anyone who comes to me who comes for this food which I freely offer they can have it they can receive it and it will forever save it will even deliver a person from death this is food that brings about Resurrection we’ve never heard of such food in this world until Jesus declared it Jesus says I’m the food that grants eternal life Jesus you said that to us so God I pray that would be the conviction of every person in this room and the person’s listening online as well that we would say I’m done with the food that perishes seeking after that is my ultimate good I want the true food and you’re not just food who gives life but like you designed food to be in the beginning you are enjoyable food you are satisfying food the psalmist does declare correctly when he says taste and see that the Lord is good Jesus you are sweet you are spiritually speak speaking delicious to our taste but Lord when we get distracted with fast food poisonous sinful food sometimes we think nah I don’t think I really want to feed on Jesus anymore that’s not satisfying God Deliver us out of that broken kind of thinking Jesus you are not only the food that gives life you are the food that truly satisfies I pray God that you would Grant the gift of faith to everyone here today to say I believe that and I’m going to follow Jesus like I believe that because I do Lord be pleased to glorify yourself in this way in Jesus name amen