JOHN 6:22-29 (NIV) REASONING, WHY MIRACLES, WORKS

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.

Even though Jesus had dismissed the crowd, many of them stayed long enough to see the disciples get in the only boat and leave. They realized. This is important to understand. While our reasoning has been flawed by the fall, it doesn’t mean we can’t add two plus two and come up with four. The fall has negatively affected our reasoning when it comes to spiritual matters. Even though Romans 1:19-20 says we should be able to look at creation and understand that God exists and that he is omnipotent, we still don’t come to God or respond to God in a way consistent with moral righteousness. Then there are also times when it is apparent that our reasoning ability aisre terribly lacking as evidenced by people believing lies and conspiracy theories on social media. Even Christians have succumbed to believing the internet instead of the Bible. We have become unable to apply the Bible to our lives and discern when out and out lies are repeated until we believe them.

23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

Continuing with their reasoning, they concluded that Jesus was not around either. They made the correct conclusion that wherever the disciples had gone was where they would sooner or later find Jesus. Although I can imagine the theories they may have floated about Jesus’ disappearance.

We need to remember that in all of this, God is sovereign. The boats from Tiberias didn’t just happen to land there at the correct time for the remnants of the crowd to use to search for Jesus. This was a divine appointment to further God’s plan of bringing the message of salvation to the people.

When we can’t make sense of things, we need to understand that God does. He is the one in control of all the circumstances of life, whether it is the destruction of one nation by another, global pandemics, the unexpected death of a baby, or a diagnosis of cancer. We can speculate and try to apply human reason to everything. But there is only One who really knows the complete truth and we need to trust him.

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Perhaps they were truly shocked to discover Jesus was already with the disciples. With the reasoning they had and without knowing Jesus had walked on the water, they would have assumed he was somewhere along the shore on the way to meet the disciples. Did they understand that his arrival had been the result of a miracle? Most likely not. However, their question does reveal that they were still trying to make sense of what had happened. This is what our minds do. We try to put what we see, hear, feel, and experience together to make sense of it, to form what we believe is reality. Fortunately, when we know Jesus, we look at things through the lens of the Bible and we can gain a better perspective of reality that includes God and his plan for us.

26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

Here comes the revelation of reality from the lips of Jesus, “I tell you the truth.” Jesus never lies and he knows exactly what motivates people. The miracles were all given to the people and to us to let us know that Jesus is the Messiah. He is God incarnate. But the sad truth is that they saw the miracles as only a way to relive their immediate needs, whether that was feeding, healing, or freedom from Rome. They didn’t come to be spiritually fed but physical fed. If they recognized God working through Jesus, it was only to satisfy their temporal desires. James explained that we often ask God only to get something to spend on our own pleasures (James 4:3). Jesus sets them straight.

The miracles are God’s seal of approval on Jesus. They aren’t there just to satisfy desires, even Jesus’. If you are going to ask God for something, make it eternal. I’ve heard people say we need to pray kingdom prayers, and this is what Jesus is telling them to do. Work or pray for things that will make an eternal difference, first of all for your own salvation, then the salvation of others. What we do in our daily lives must have an overarching goal to bring the message of the cross and salvation through Jesus Christ. Then we will be storing up treasures in heaven and not on the earth (Matt 6:19-21). This doesn’t mean that we don’t have and use things for our own, but heavenly goals should consume a significant portion of our time and resources (Col 3:1-3).

28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Wow! It sounds like they got it. Their attention has been turned from trying to make sense of the circumstances around them to what they need to do to what God wants. But they have been ingrained with the ideas that having eternal life depends on what they do. Jesus has to pry this away from them so that they will have faith in him alone for salvation.

29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

Here it is. They need to believe in the one (singular) whom God sent.  The word believe is pisteuo(pist-yoo'-o) meaning to have faith in Jesus or to entrust your spiritual well-being to Jesus.[1] This kind of belief is more than just having facts. It requires acceptance that the facts are true. Then it also requires trusting the facts. In this case, it is trusting your eternal destiny to Jesus to save you. This has nothing to do with works that bring merit that must be rewarded. This kind of belief can only come if God gives it to your first (Eph 2:8-9).

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[1]NT:4100, Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003, 2006, 2010 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.

 

JOHN 6:15-21 (ESV) TRIALS, JESUS WITH US

15 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.

Can you imagine this? Here is the One who created the universe, our sovereign King, and the people think they can force him to be king of a piddly little country that is oppressed by Rome. He is omniscient and lets his human nature know what the people are about to do. Even in his human nature, it was no problem for Jesus. He simply left town. More details about this are provide in Matthew 14:22-23. Jesus didn’t just leave town; he went up on the mountain to pray after he dismissed the crowd. He also made the disciples leave in the boat.

Do we have the presence of mind to get away from the crowds and even the closest friends and spend time in prayer when we face hostilities? I would venture to say that most of us say a quick prayer and then try to maintain control of the situation. Jesus did control the situation and then went to pray – alone.

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

Jesus is the Light that came into the world (John 1:9). Yet here, we see Jesus leaving the disciples and letting them go off without him as darkness comes upon them. How often do we march off into the darkness without Jesus? The results can have long reaching negative effects as it did for Israel (Josh 9:14). It is only when we are doing things without first consulting him that we do it. The difference between us wandering off and this example is when Jesus intentionally sends us to into a situation that will test us. Testing the disciples on how to feed the 5,000 was to see how they would trust in him while he was with them. This time, they would be tested in how they would react when he was not with them.

18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.

To the disciple’s credit, they kept on going in the direction Jesus has designated. Their progress was labored and slow. When Jesus came to them it was the fourth watch of the night (between three and four in the morning according to Matthew 14:25). I can’t imagine ministering all day long to a crowd of people then straining at the oars for another six hours. They must have been totally exhausted. This is the prime time for any of us to let circumstances frighten us or misinterpret what we think is going on.

Then Jesus appears walking on the water. The wind is blowing; the waves are high; a figure appears in the dark walking on the water. No one has walked on the water before. They don’t have the Gospel accounts to inform them that this is Jesus. Matthew 14:26 says that they believed him to be a ghost, (translated from the Greek phantasma, meaning specter, appearance, or phantom). In other words, they didn’t believe what they were seeing belonged to their reality. I would suspect that they would have classified these in the category of demons and other malevolent creatures, or they would not have been terrified.

When we are doing the Lord’s work and we don’t seem to see Jesus working with us, we shouldn’t give up (1 Cor 15:58). We shouldn’t be terrified when things get rough because we now know that he is always with us (Matt 28:29).

20 But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

What a comfort it is to hear a reassuring word from the Lord. The Lord had to repeat this to people from the beginning of time and still does now. Don’t be afraid. We don’t need to be afraid when we know that Jesus is with us. We don’t need to test Jesus the way Peter did by asking to walk on the water (Matt 14:28). We simply need to be willing to let him into our boat. We must trust him completely or we will never reach the shore. Salvation only comes by trusting Jesus alone for our salvation. Our hard work and rowing may seem to get us closer to God and salvation, but salvation comes only by trusting Jesus. When we do trust him completely for our salvation, we immediately reach our destination.

See how Jesus made up for all their toil and trouble by taking them to the shore immediately? While it demonstrates our immediate salvation, it is also a truth and no less a miracle that feeding 5,000 and walking on the water.

JOHN 6:1-14 (NIV) TEACHING, TRIALS, THE PROPHET

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 miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

In the previous chapter, Jesus was in Jerusalem and now he is somewhere near the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee. Therefore, we can assume that the “some time after this” could have been weeks later or almost a year if the feast Jesus attended in Chapter 5 was the Passover, as some believe. What is obvious is that enough time has passed that crowds were following him, not just a few disciples. This episode occurs after he had been somewhere else along the lake ministering to people and healing the sick. It is notable that this crowd is following Jesus for one primary reason. He had healed a lot of people. When he sits down with his disciples, it is an indication that he is ready to teach this crowd as he assumes the position of teacher.

In today’s world there is such a strong disbelieve in supernatural healing that I don’t think unbeliever flock to Jesus for healing. While Christians still pray for healing and there are some self-professed healers on TV, there isn’t this same kind of following or curiosity among unbelievers. Within Christian circles, there is a tendency to follow Jesus for the promises made by the health and welfare preachers with the big emphasis on welfare. But we must notice that Jesus’ first inclination is to make this a teaching situation. However, what he taught the crowd at this time was less import (and not recorded) as that he was spending time teaching his disciples.

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.

Teach your disciples before you teach the crowd. What a wonderful moment for Jesus to teach. He taught by example. The crowd had not arrived when Jesus challenges Philip to think about other people and the power of God to take care of all circumstances. I don’t think Philip was aware of this being a teaching moment. There are times in our lives when we face test from God which are teaching moments and we are unaware of it.

7 Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

How do we respond to those trials? Do we do what Philip did and calculate the cost of accomplishing what we believe God might want us to do and believe it to be impossible? I have to identify with Philip because this task was enormous. But the truth is that I more often fail on much smaller tests. Do I take two minutes longer to encourage someone or do I think that getting to my next task or appointment is more important? Every day, we face hundreds of decisions that could be tests of our faith and trust in the Lord to accomplish his purpose in our lives and those around us. We can’t limit our thinking and our perspective to worldly calculations.

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?"

Andrew either sensed that Jesus was going to do something miraculous, or the Holy Spirit prompted him. Either way, he speaks up. It is also remarkable that it is Andrew who responds and not Peter, who usually can’t keep his mouth shut.

You may have heard a dozen sermons on this passage. They usually focus on the fact that God can use whatever resources we have and do much more with them when we willingly yield them to him. This a great conclusion.

An interesting point is that throughout Jesus’ ministry he performed many miracles that were foreshadowed in the Old Testament. One is where a man came to Elisha’s company of prophets with twenty barley loaves. It was a time of famine that also affected the prophets. He asked the in the same ways as Andrew did, how can I set these loaves before 100 men? But Elisha said the Lord affirmed they would all eat and have some left over (2 Kings 4:42-44). Jesus would obviously know this Scripture. He was about to show that he is greater than the Old Testament prophets.

Some chide Andrew because he seems to doubt that Jesus could do anything with the meager rations. But I think Andrew knew 2 Kings 4:42-44 also. His answer is unmistakably similar. The phrase, “But how far will they go among so many?” is a way of speaking in the Bible that affirms believe and not doubt. When Abraham wanted to bury Sarah, he negotiated with Ephron the Hittite for the burial cave. They both used the same way of speaking. (Gen 23:1-16). Joab disagreed with David about taking a census and said, “But why does my lord the king delight in this thing?” (2 Sam 24:3) instead of telling him it was wrong and stupid.  

10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

This is reminiscent of Psalm 23:2 and 5, “He makes me lie down in green pastures … You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” Jesus is demonstrating to the people that he is their shepherd.

We’ve all heard that there was probably between ten and twenty thousand people there depending on how many women and children were there. Since there was a boy there with the food, it requires us to consider that there were also others, most likely whole families.

Jesus gave thanks. He did this before distributing the food. He didn’t distribute it then give thanks that it provided all the people wanted. He didn’t give thanks that it tasted good after eating (like some religions).  John doesn’t even record a pray that it would go all the way around. Only that he gave thanks.

Sometimes we get hung up in the right way to pray and forget that we are praying to the almighty God who is in control of all things and knows all things. Maybe we should give thanks more often and let the Lord work out the details.

12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."  13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

Jesus didn’t want anything to be wasted. Though God provided abundantly and even beyond, this is important. We don’t want to waste what God has given us. I’m afraid that we don’t think deeply about this. When God provides for our needs and many of our wants, what do we do with it? I look around the house and see all the stuff we’ve accumulated and wonder if we are using his provisions well. Often, when thinking about purchasing something, we first ask if it is a need or a want. I’ll admit the “need” is quite flexible so that it more often than not includes wants. Yet it is still a way of judging whether something will be used or eventually go to waste.

Gathering what is left over can be translated into repurposing our surplus. One adage says something like, “If you haven’t used it in two years …” Give it to someone who will; sell it or maybe it is just junk.

14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."

The people were starting to get it. The signs point to Jesus as the Messiah and the Prophet was one of the ways they understood him to be. The Prophet was foretold by Moses, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him” (Deut 18:15 NIV).

1.      The Prophet was predicted by Moses. He was to have the same authority and position as Moses. Think of how the Jews idolized and held Moses up as the one who led them out of Egypt. They practically forgot that it was the Lord who did it. Moses was only his instrument. The people idolized this future prophet who would lead them back into their position as a nation over others in the world.

2.      Jesus is indeed the Prophet. Jesus came to fulfill three offices. That of Prophet, Priest, and King.[1]

1.      As the Prophet, Jesus is the only One who can reveal what God has been purposing in history "since the world began" and who can teach and make manifest the real meaning of the "scriptures of the prophets" (the Old Testament; see Rom. 16:25–26). We can expect to make progress in the Christian life only as we heed His instruction and teaching.

2.      Jesus' sacrifice took place once only, but He still continues as our great High Priest, the One through whom all acceptable prayer and praise are made to God. In heavenly places, He remains our constant Intercessor and Advocate (Rom. 8:34; 1 John 2:1). Little wonder, then, that Paul calls for glory to be given to God "through Jesus Christ for ever" (Rom. 16:27). We can grow in our enjoyment of access to God only by a deepening reliance on Him as our Sacrifice and Intercessor.

3.      Christ is the King, ruling over all things. Over His church He reigns by means of His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:30–33). He sovereignly gives repentance to the impenitent and bestows forgiveness on the guilty (Acts 5:31). Christ is "our eternal King who governs us by His word and Spirit, and who defends and preserves us in the enjoyment of that salvation, He has purchased for us" (Heidelberg Catechism, Q&A. 31). As the royal Heir of the new creation, He will lead us into a kingdom of eternal light and love.

When we start to emphasize one of Jesus’ offices over the others, we are the poorer for it. We will be like the people who were fed and look to him only to meet our needs. Yes, salvation is a huge need. But forgetting what Jesus taught leaves us poorer because we don’t learn how to live. Forgetting his kingship leaves us as disobedient citizens. Forgetting his role as priest, we forget he intercedes for us every day and we then end up depending on ourselves and robbing him of glory.

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[1]https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/jesus-threefold-office-prophet-priest-and-king.