Lesson 19

Food And The Multitude

John 6

The three year public ministry of Jesus could be divided up as follows: first year- the year of obscurity; second year - the year of popularity; third year- the year of _______________. The Gospel of John is not intended to be an exhaustive study of the life of Christ. John himself tells us that he has been selective, John 20:30-31.

We have come in our study of this incredible book to the sixth chapter. There are three passover feasts mentioned in the gospel of John - John 2:14; 6:4; 11:55. John 6 basically summarizes an entire year of Galilean ministry. John 5 took place, not in Galilee, but in Judea (Jerusalem). Between chapters 5-6 are the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), the parables of the kingdom (Matthew 13) and all the events recorded between Mark 3:1 and 6:30 and between Luke 6:1 and 9:10. John 6 begins with Jesus being at the height of his popularity and ends with the tide of public opinion turning against him. John 6 then, forms the transition between the second and third year of Jesus' public ministry.

Two themes braid their way through this long chapter. The theme of food and the theme of the multitude both emerge from John 6. The feeding of the 5000 has both food and a multitude in it. This miracle marked both the height of Jesus' popularity and the beginning of his rejection. This miracle is of such magnitude that it is recorded in all four gospels (the only miracle in all four). In the other gospel accounts, the feeding of the 5000 seems to stand alone in its significance. But John's presents the miracle as an introduction to a profound and important message from Jesus.

The easiest way to preach from this chapter, would be to divide it up into 3 or 4 or maybe even 5 sermons. One sermon for each scene. But I feel as though doing that would be like dissecting a rose. I am not nearly so interested in showing you the individual parts as in letting you see the beauty of the whole. To cut it up would be to destroy the beauty of the whole. John 6 is presented to us in four scenes each of which relates to food and a multitude of people.

Scene 1 - The Multitude Follows Christ, 6:1-14

The first four and a half verses of the chapter, set the scene (Sea of Galilee; near passover time). Verse 2 says that "a great multitude followed him". Verse 5 says "Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him." According to verse 10 there were "about 5000 men." Why did they follow Jesus? The answer is in verse 2 - "because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased." Certainly not the best of motives. Their interest was in Messiah, the miracle worker, Messiah, the healer, Messiah, the entertainer.

In spite of their impure motives, Jesus in compassion ministered to their needs. He healed the sick, according to Matthew's account and he planned to feed them.

Now, this created a real problem. How to feed 5000 men and all the rest. First, the disciples suggested (Mark 6:36) to "Send them away." Get rid of the problem. Jesus possessed a question to the disciples, particularly to Philip who was from that area, "Where can we buy food that these may eat?" Philip sort of seems to be the CPA of the group and does some quick calculations and concludes that even if they could find enough grocery stores they didn't have enough money. A penny was a full day's wages (Matthew 20) so Philip says that 200 days wages would be enough to pay for one meal for this crowd. "One lad brought his lunch," Andrew suggested. I'm not sure that Andrew had in mind. Someone has suggested maybe Andrew was thinking that the generosity of little boy might embarrass the others so that they would bring out their hidden lunches and share them all around.

Of course, Jesus knew all along what he was going to do. He was testing his disciples. He wanted them to know that he is the source of all we need. He took the lad's lunch, blessed it, brake it, and miraculously multiplied to feed the masses. Everyone ate until they were full and there were leftovers for some future feeding- 12 basketfuls, one basket for each disciple!

To have seen such a sight would easily have attracted and fascinated many. Some people are attracted to the supernatural. It is a source of fascination and entertaining to them. To these Messiah becomes a very popular entertainer. But it was not the goal of Jesus just to get a big crowd. And it must not become our goal to get a crowd or else we will be reduced to crass methods of entertainment.

This miracle was so incredible that in the emotion of the moment, the people clearly recognized that Jesus was, John says, "that prophet that should come into the world.", that is the fulfillment of Deuteronomy 18:15, a prophecy of the Messiah. They understand that indeed Jesus is the Messiah and they want to take him by force and make him king. They were ready then and there to make him a king. Here was a ready-made crowd of 5000 men, the nucleus of a small army, ready to rise up and follow Jesus to Jerusalem, to overthrow the political reign of Rome over Palestine. They see Jesus as a political messiah. Of course, in just a year, the fickle crowd will cry, "Crucify him."

This leads us to the second scene in John 6.

Scene 2: The Multitude Misses Christ, 6:15-25.

According to the parallel passage in Matthew 14:22-23 "And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.

Understand that Jesus is getting his disciples first and then himself separately away from the crowd. The disciples encounter a storm. Several miracles occurred at this time. Jesus walked on the water, and so did Peter, Jesus stilled the storm and instantly the boat was on the other shore. There was ,perhaps, a practical lesson for the disciples. The disciples had experienced great joy and personal pride in being part of a thrilling miracle. Now they had to face a storm and learn to trust the Lord more.

John mentions two of these miracles but does not make a big deal out of either of them. Instead, John's focal point is on the next day (v. 22) when the people wonder where Jesus is and how He got there.

Jesus refuses to be a political messiah. We live in an age where many followers of Chrsit are most interested in a political overthrow of wickedness. Like these Jews, their hope is in the revolution of human government. They view Christianity primarily as a political force.

That leads us to the third scene.

Scene 3: The Multitude Seeks Christ, 6;24-59.

Verse 24 says they "came seeking Jesus." Verse 25 says that "they found him." In verse 26 Jesus says "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled." Once again, the focus is on food and the multitude. Their interest in Jesus has degenerated simply to the level of food.

But Jesus points out (v. 27) that there are two kinds of food. There is food for the body which spoils, v. 27a. There is food for the soul which endures because it is sealed by the Father, v. 27b. The first kind of food sustains physical life for a while, see v. 49. The second kind of food imparts everlasting life, forever, see v. 50.

As Jesus spoke these words, his audience picked up on one word - "Labor" and misinterpreted it to mean that they must work for salvation, v. 28. They completely overlooked that Jesus had said that everlasting life is something which the Son of man shall give unto you. There are no works necessary nor sufficient for salvation (Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5). One must only "believe on him whom God hath sent" and this is " the work of God."

"Show us a sign," they said, "we must see if we are to believe", v. 30. "Bring down manna from heaven, like Moses," they said in verse 31 and then added a quote from Psalm 78:24. It is ironic that the passage from which they quote is a psalm of rebellion and unbelief. They are still thinking about physical food. "Give us manna, like Moses and we will see and believe."

In verse 32, Jesus tells them that it was not Moses who gave them bread from heaven but it is the Father that "giveth" (present tense) true bread from heaven. What is the true bread from heaven? According to verse 33, the true bread of God is a person - it is "he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world."

"Alright, Lord, give us this bread of yours from now on," they say (v. 34). They sound a lot like the woman at the well whose first response (4:15) was "give me this water of yours so that I don't have to keep coming back to the well with a bucket." "Give us food so that we don't have to work anymore." Now, they are interested in a Welfare Messiah - a king who will just keep us fed and satisfied.

Notice verse 35. Do you want the kind of food which will impart everlasting life? It is me. Believe on me and you will never hunger nor thirst again. Three times in this passage Jesus declares that He is the bread of life, vs. 35, 48, 51. Seven times he claims to have come down from heaven, vs. 33, 38, 41, 42, 50, 51, 58. In essence, Jesus is saying that the manna of the Old Testament which sustained the physical life of the Israelites during their wilderness journey was a type of Christ who imparts everlasting life. Just as the manna came down from heaven, Jesus came down from heaven. They had said that they would believe if they could see. In verse 36, Jesus tells them that they have seen him (the bread form heaven) but they don't believe!

There is a section here from the lips of our Lord that explains a number of the elements of salvation. Let's read vs. 37-45 and get a list of those elements of salvation.

· Salvation involves coming to Christ and believing in Him, v. 40. In fact, two of the key words of Jesus in this sermon are "come" and "believe."

· It is the work of God to draw men to salvation, v. 44. Salvation is impossible without the wooing of the Holy Spirit.

· The Spirit draws men to the Father who, in turn, gives them to the Son, v. 37.

· Believing also involves hearing God's word, v. 45.

· Those who come to Christ will not be turned away and will be kept secure until they are raised up at the last day, vs. 37b, 39, 40b..

In the middle of this explanation of the elements of salvation comes a little murmuring from the audience. Jesus' "I am the bread which came down from heaven" disturbed them because they knew that it was a claim to deity and they assumed that Jesus was simply the son of Joseph and Mary, vs. 41-42.

In verses 46-51a, Jesus re-iterates and re-emphasizes what He has already said. Beginning at the end of verse 51, Jesus begins referring to "his flesh." In fact, he uses that term 6 more times down to verse 59. When Jesus says, "I will give my flesh for the life of the world", He is speaking of His death on the cross.

This caused more disputing (striving) with his audience. How can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jews knew not to eat human flesh or drink any kind of blood (Lev. 17:10-16; 19:26). Here is another example of misunderstanding a spiritual truth (v. 63) by treating it literally (temple - 2:19-21; birth 3:4; water -4:11.

Listen to what Jesus says, vs. 53-59. To understand this, we must remember that Jesus is using food as an analogy. In chapter 1 he used the Jacob's ladder as an analogy, in chapter 2, the temple, in chapter three, birth, in chapter 4, water and here in chapter 6 it is food.

The point that Jesus is making is that just as food is only of value to you if you partake of it - a beautiful meal prepared and setting on a table is of no value if all you do is look at it. It is not enough to study food and discuss food. For food to be of any value, it must be eater - So it is with Christ. Jesus Christ is of no value to you is all you do is observe him, study him, intellectually know about him. You must receive him within your innermost being so that He can give you life. Jesus is demanding a personal relationship with Him as essential for salvation. It is not enough for you to simply know about Christ and about Christianity. It is not enough for you to be an observer who studies the Bible or theology or the life of Christ or the church. It is not enough to have a general knowledge of Christ. You must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is not enough to know about Christ. You must know Christ himself. You must partake of Christ for everlasting life to be imparted just as you must eat food for physical life to be sustained.

Messiah is more than just a miracle working entertainer. He is more than just a political revolutionary. He is more than just the ultimate welfare provider. He is a personal Savior.

When Jesus told them that it lead to the fourth and final scene of John 6.

Scene 4: The Multitude Forsakes Christ, 6:60-71.

What Jesus had said to them was hard. Not hard to understand, but hard to accept, v. 60. They refused to believe that Jesus had come down from heaven and that they must partake of him for eternal life. There were some unbelieving disciples who were offended at what Christ had said, vs. 61-64. The people wanted the food but not the truth. Jesus lost his crowd with one sermon, v. 66.

A message like this gets disciples in or out. The false disciples quickly defect. The pretenders like Judas who is referred to in vs. 64, 70-71 are revealed when all the superficial reasons for following Christ are eliminated. But this kind of message strengthens the true disciples. An example is Peter who certainly had his share of flubs and failures. This is perhaps Peter's greatest moment, vs. 67-69.

Can you profess with Peter that you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God? Do you understand that there is no where else to go, no one else to go to for eternal life except Christ?

What kind of Christ is Jesus to you? Entertainer, Revolutionary, Welfare provider? He must be a personal Savior?