Feeding the Five Thousand
For the Lord’s Day:  the 23^rd of January 2005

John 6: 1-14

Introduction:  Our first lesson for the day is the fact that God in and through Jesus Christ oversees all things.  Over the years, I have been asked more than once how a new church is established.  Even though allowance may be made for financial resources, willing workers, a large enough pool of people and time sufficient for the enterprise – still it is entirely the work of God throughout.  Sometimes, all these things come together rather quickly and an instant church is established – in other cases the work drags on for many years.  While I do not swim and would never consider going near water where waves might play upon the shore, the enterprise of starting a church is a lot like that of a surfer.  The surfer must paddle out to sea on his little board to find a suitable rolling wave, and then he must turn his board to catch the wave, and if the wave is strong enough to carry him along, he may point it towards shore and perhaps even stand up straight and take the joy ride in towards the beach.  Along the way, he must also guide the board to take advantage of the shifting waters and thereby any shore bound earthlings are suitably impressed with the whole show.

In the last year, we here have attempted to find God’s will for our future geographic place within His sovereign will.  We have shifted our weight and attention first towards a new sanctuary, then towards an unexpected opportunity and recently towards the availability of a finished building program.  And, while we have been shifting our attention, apparently without rhyme or reason – still we are like that surfer attempting to find where the Lord God of heaven and earth is leading us.  Yes, we know that our property here may be valuable enough to allow us to move on, but it is still a long way towards the shore and thereby knowing what the will of our Father in heaven is for us.

One thing that I have learned over the years is that patience in the midst of this process is the greatest asset that we can claim, while waiting for the Lord’s will to be accomplished.  Yes, there are many ways and means to accomplish our final goal of being truly settled in a growable place.  Yet, every time we think we know the final outcome, we are surprised by the events that inform and lead us on, all the while trusting in Him who calls us and provides for every need.  Recently, in reviewing the budget for our Ashland daughter church, I have learned that enough support has been raised to meet the basic needs for the coming year.  There are of course some things that we could wish more in the way of numbers and finances, but still:  just as the Lord has taught us over the years, the necessary needs have always been met. 

Development:  Now, with that as an introduction, I would like to turn to our text for today, where John records the feeding of the five thousand.  As a farmer, let me note first off – that the feeding of five thousand at any time or place is always the work of God.  But most times, he lets us participate more directly in the process of plowing, sowing, harvesting and processing the necessary raw materials that we finally consume.  The same may be said for reaping the harvest of fish from many waters around the earth as well.  The Lord provides the increase and the means all they way through the process from beginning to end.  In the passage before us, all that John is recording is that sometimes, on rare occasions for a specific teaching purpose – he shortchanges the whole natural process and meets people’s needs immediately and directly.

Our second lesson is this:  we should use every opportunity for witness that God lays before us.  In our text we begin with the Apostle John’s announcement that Jesus and the disciples went to a specific location on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, namely the area near the city of Tiberias.  Calvin notes that according to the reports of the other gospel writers, this was immediately after the murder of John the Baptist – and probably intended to remove Jesus from immediate political harm and attention.  But, the crowds will not be denied the miracles and teaching of our Lord and Savior.  Well does John notes that “a large crowd was following him.”  And as the other gospels allow, Jesus taught them for most of a day.  Again Calvin notes that “so eager was the desire of the people to hear Christ,” that they had taken “no concern about spending the night in a desert place.

Jesus does not wait until they are famished, or until they realize they have nothing to eat, but immediately proceeds to relieve their necessary hunger.  Now you must remember that it was not always the case that everyone was able to enjoy three solid meals a day, as we do regularly here in America.  My mother reported the situation of the poor in Haiti that the finding of a large edible beetle could be blessing indeed for a small child for one day’s forage.  I do not mean that such starvation interest in any living creature was common in Palestine, but missing a meal or two during the course of a busy day would be no extraordinary thing.  Therefore, the final meal of the day would and could be all the more necessary to keep hunger pangs from bothering travelers or workers alike.

Calvin also notes that “Christ unquestionably sought a place of retirement till the feast of the Passover … such was undoubtedly the purpose which he formed as man; but the purpose of God was different.”  Thus, when the crowd continued to seek Him out – He changed His plans to meet their needs.  The lesson that Calvin would press upon us in this regard is that while we may make plans to order our lives, we should always learn to be flexible enough to take every advantage of the events that unfold day by day.  I have often taught that the casual meetings you have with strangers are opportunities that the Lord lays before you to meet their needs, answer sincere questions and as opportunity allow to give testimony to the work of our Lord.  Years ago, I remember having a conversation with a neighboring car on the I270 parking lot.  Directions were the immediate concern, but before I could answer – their car moved forward while mine remained stalled.  I reached into my glove compartment, grabbed a map and enclosed a church pamphlet.  Finally, I caught up with them and handed the small package over to them.  Then I passed them by, only to be caught up with a little later.  They thanked me for both and indicated that their exit was coming up, so I backed off and allowed them into the traffic flow, never to see them again.

Missionaries overseas – in places where the press of business and living is less frantic, have often told me that there days unfold unexpectedly and that often they find themselves many miles from where they started and thereby the learn directly the leading of the Lord to a specific house in a specific village that they could never have found on their own accord.  New converts seemingly insist upon taking them to the next village to see another relative or acquaintance.  In all of lives travels and day to day activities, we need to learn that God is sovereign.  Here in the wilderness of a remote sea shore, God arranged a spiritually hungry crowd larger than what ordinarily might be found in any of the urban centers of Palestine.

Our third lesson is the fact that God is able to do all things, with or without our participation.  Sensing the opportunity, Jesus asks the disciple Phillip “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”  John tells us, that Jesus already knew how to handle the matter, but He decided to test not only Phillip but also the rest of His disciples.  Calvin calculates the value of “two hundred denarii” in the coin of Geneva.  And even if the disciples had had such a sum at their disposal – it would have allowed precious little per person for provisions.  In addition – there would have been no neighboring market that could have immediately provided for such a number of people.  Over the years, it has been calculated that the reason ancient armies down to the time of Napoleon could not remain in any neighborhood longer than several weeks without eating the local population out of food and home.  Thus, even finding fresh bread for such a large crowd would have been exceptionally difficult in the majority of neighborhoods.  Have you ever pulled into a fast food restaurant behind a busload of passengers?  Even the most efficient restaurant staff is temporarily overwhelmed and a long wait is guaranteed.

Like Phillip, we would all tend to be appalled at the feeding of five thousand or more souls!  The disciple Andrew reports that at least one of the crowd had brought a small amount of food with him, but what would even that be in the midst of so many?  Interestingly enough, the liberal commentators always play up the smallness of this boy’s packed lunch as indicative that if everyone in the crowd would only share what they had with them, everyone would be satisfied.  Let us not take them serious for even a moment because the Lord intended to feed the whole crowd and thereby challenge the smallness of faith in the hearts not only of His disciples, but also in the crowd at large.

The crowd was seated in the comfort of the grass in that region.  “Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated.  So also the fish, as much as they wanted.”  That last phrase “as much as they wanted,” puts the lie to the liberal agenda!  Now we do not know the exact details of how the multiplication was accomplished, but as the baskets were passed – more and more food was taken out than they could possibly ever have held.  It was as the Bible reports: a wondrous miracle, plain and simple!  Not only was there enough for the large multitude, but there were also baskets enough to see the disciples through several more days on the left overs.

Application:  Our final lesson for today is that the work and knowledge of God is wrapped up in the history that has brought us to this point in time.  Calvin gives us our final summation for the day.  He quotes Matthew 6: 33:  “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”  Not only are these words sufficient for that day and place, but also for the whole population of the earth in every place since.

The verse from Matthew has often been taken as a theme for the time of the Reformation.  In the course of the development of Western Civilization at least a goodly portion of the world has been reorganized on biblical principles.  Because of the Reformation, men in many places took the admonition pointed out by Calvin seriously.  They put their personal lives and their congregations in good spiritual order, and then they began to apply the lessons learned in church towards their economic relationships and even as the turmoil of Europe in the sixteenth through nineteenth centuries indicate: to the political relationships as well.

And from the spiritual revival that came through the Reformation, we have had added to the European and American cultures the civilizing aspects of the scriptural admonitions.  As a result, we all around the world have realized the incredible blessings of basic capitalism and republican based democracy.  Than biblical foundation has served to multiply the use of resources time and again and today there is enough for a world population ten or twenty times as large.  Why even in the aftermath of the great disaster in south Asia a few weeks ago, there was never any doubt that food, medicine and such could be found.  The whole problem related on how to get it there in a timely fashion.  Air ports in the region were overwhelmed with aircraft flying in food, naval task forces from several countries descended upon the region to deliver food that had been airlifted onto their decks even as they traveled over the far seas.  Yes, in this case the worldly princes gave of their bounty, but without the miraculous development of infrastructure and technology since the Reformation – the rescue of several millions around the Indian Ocean would scarcely have been possible.

But, what of the worldly reaction on the other side of the globe?  Several countries do not want missionaries, they do not want American military forces bringing the necessary gifts!  And why?  Because they know from prior experience that along with the gifts of God, there must also come a greater knowledge of just who He is and what He intends for all mankind, and that information they intend to keep from their people.  But, the wider world of public information makes it harder and harder to keep the prosperity of the west a state secret and even as our own president has announced his intention – it is our job to share not only the blessings of freedom founded upon the gospel, but also the gospel as well: even to the ends of the earth.  May the Lord give us opportunity to do great works in our day and time, and through our witness, thereby proving the source of all our blessings in the very hand of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

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PREACHING RESOURCES
Calvin, John:  Commentary on the Gospel of John.
Tasker, R.V.G.  Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: The Gospel According to St John.
The Holy Bible:  English Standard Version.

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