1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near. 5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” 8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6:1-9
Our text today is couched in the spring of the year. The multitudes were following Jesus everywhere despite the fact that it was the Passover season, when the Law required them to have been on their way to Jerusalem. Due to the signs and miracles that the Lord Jesus was performing, they followed the Lord Jesus to the Sea of Galilee.
But miracles do not change hearts. Throughout history, people’s hearts haven’t changed because they see or experience a miracle. Pharaoh is the perfect example of this truth. Miracles simply reveal if we are hard-hearted toward God or if we have placed our faith in Him.
The Lord Jesus, along with the disciples, according to v.1, boarded a boat to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. As the boat left to cross the lake, the people ran along the northern shore to get an idea where the boat was heading. Jesus and His disciples went up on the hillside together. The Lord Jesus uses this occasion to teach the disciples. At this point, the disciples had been with Him for two years.
Now, according to v.5-6, as the crowd is approaching, the Lord Jesus addresses Philip who was the quiet, and deep disciple. The Lord Jesus said to Philip "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" Philip immediately thinks of money. As he estimated the resources available, he made known they could not feed all of the people who were there. Some estimate there was as many as 15,000 people. Philip essentially says, "We don't have enough money. We can't do this. It takes more money than we have to buy bread."
The principle being illustrated here and throughout all of the Scripture is this: ministry comes first, then the resources follow. I have been the joyful observer of this principle over the last year and a half. As you already know, I coached baseball and football and taught the Bible for thirty-one years at a local Christian school here in Columbia, South Carolina. When I decided to leave that ministry, I met with two different individuals, asking them if they would help me do BYM financially. Both of them said, "no." I was blown away, but the Lord had something special for me. In fact, after I left the second guy, I asked the Lord, "what am I doing wrong?" The Lord responded with, "let me do the asking." Well, I agreed and He has not missed a beat. He has provided in some of the coolest ways, and through these experiences, He has granted to me a deeper walk with Him. I have discovered His goal isn't the provision, His goal is the relationship.
According to v.8-9, Andrew identifies a boy who had five small barley loaves and two small fish. Andrew is always bringing people to the Lord, he brought his brother Peter to the Lord. In addition, Andrew brought the donkey to the Lord upon which He rode into Jerusalem.
I love the accentuation of "small" in v.9. The smallness of these fish and loaves is accentuated with the mention of the word "great" in v.2,5. The great crowd is quite challenging in the light of such lack. Of course, small is all the Lord Jesus needs. He never asks us to start accumulating more before we begin to minister. All He wants is what we have right now. As soon as he found out what was available in the crowd, that is all He needed; just one boy's lunch was all it took.
The Lord Jesus performs miracles, pointing us to the spiritual realm, and how often do we miss what He is really doing. His aim is the growth of our faith in Him, so He highlights both the deadness of unbelief and the greatness of faith in Him. We will only be able to see that the Lord Jesus is full of grace and truth when He is all we have. It is not until we see the Lord Jesus crucified for sinners and risen from the dead that we taste and see that that the Lord is good.
