Loaves and Fishes

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Passage Breakdowns, SOAPS Format & Instructions (Weeks 1-12)
Passage Breakdowns, SOAPS Format & Instructions (Weeks 13-26)

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8:40 Service | 10:00 Service | 11:20 Service | Sermon Audio

Good morning Chapel family. Norma Jean and I were out of town last weekend, and we were glad we missed the blizzard. But I have to say, we feel like we missed out on something really special by not being here for the baptisms. So if you’re one of those people who followed the prompting of the Holy Spirit and took that step of obedience last week, congratulations and God’s richest blessings on you as you continue walking with Christ.
So…we’re continuing our study of the Gospel of John, and today we come to a passage that’s all about how we respond to hard things. Some of the hard things in life you can handle on your own. There’s another snowstorm, and it’s a pain, but you can deal with it. I just got an MRI that showed a partially torn rotator cuff in my left shoulder, and I really don’t feel like doing physical therapy, but I’ll do it and I’ll get through it. And you can think of all kinds of things that are hard, but you got this—you can handle it. But there are other hard things that are different. A fiancée who deserts you, or spouse who divorces you. A chronic illness. A child with a chronic illness. An adult child who no longer talks to you. A parent with dementia. An accident that disables you. Those are the hard things that aren’t so simple, because there’s no clear way to fix them. And sometimes it can seem impossible.  
In today’s passage, the disciples of Jesus find themselves in a situation that looks impossible. It’s beyond their abilities. And Jesus has them right where he wants them.
John chapter six, starting in verse 1. This is God’s Word for us today…
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?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 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.
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.
14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. This is the Word of the Lord.
Let’s talk first about The Problem. Jesus and his disciples need a break, so they get into a boat on the Sea of Galilee and go to a remote spot on the far shore. But Jesus’ popularity is growing because word of his miracles is spreading, and it’s becoming hard to avoid the crowds. So as Jesus and the disciples sit down on the side of a hill to rest, they look up, and here comes this mob of people—it says there were about 5,000 men—and we don’t know if there were women and children, but let’s just assume it was only men, so 5,000 people. This room seats about 750 people, including the balcony. So picture this room, completely full, times six. That’s a lot of people. So the disciples are watching this throng of humanity converge on the hill, and Jesus turns to Philip and says, “Where should we buy enough bread to feed these people?”
I would call this an impossible situation—wouldn’t you? Jesus was putting them in a situation that was completely beyond their abilities.
You can hear the frustration in Philip’s answer: “You do realize it would cost (in today’s money) $60,000 just to give each person here a bite of food?” Then Andrew speaks up: “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish…” but here’s his assessment: but how far will they go among so many?” Philip and Andrew are good accountants. They work the numbers. They do a quick feasibility study. And you know what? We need people like that. Every marriage; every business; every church needs people who are practical and logical. “Here’s what it’s going to cost. It’s a nice idea, but the numbers just don’t work.” We need people like that to keep us honest.
But here’s the danger: being practical, and being responsible and prudent, can sometimes get in the way of faith. Here at The Chapel, we talk a lot about the difference between an abundance mentality and a scarcity mentality. And sometimes when we’re highly logical and practical, it means we’re operating with a scarcity mentality—which underestimates the resources of God.
Eugene Peterson, the pastor and author, wrote about friends of his named Fred and Cheryl, who adopted a 5-year-old girl from Haiti, named Addie. Her parents had been killed in a traffic accident that left her without a family. So they went through the process to adopt her. So they got back to their home in Arizona, and they sat down for their first dinner together. There was a platter of pork chops and a bowl of mashed potatoes on the table. After the first serving, the two teenage boys kept refilling their plates, until all the food was gone. Addie had never seen that much food in her whole life. And they noticed she got quiet and seemed distressed.
Cheryl correctly guessed it was because of the disappearing food. This is a girl who grew up hungry, so when there was no more food on the table, she assumed it might be a day or two before there was more to eat. So Cheryl did something so wise: she took Addie’s little hand and led her to the bread drawer, and showed her three backup loaves of bread. She took her to the refrigerator and showed her bottles of milk and orange juice and fresh vegetables and jam and eggs and bacon. She took her to the pantry and showed her potatoes and cans of tomatoes and peaches and pickles. She opened the freezer and showed her frozen chickens and fish and two cartons of ice cream.
Addie was amazed. And she got the message: even if she couldn’t see any food on the table, she would never go hungry again, because she now had parents with vast resources.
And we sometimes forget that we have a Father with vast resources. Infinite resources. So when we lean too much on the practical, rational, bean-counter perspective, we close ourselves off to what God wants to do. The numbers and the spreadsheets are important, but there has to be more than that.
So…that was the problem. From everything they could see, this was impossible. But did you notice what it says about the motive of Jesus? He asked this only to…what? Test them. When you take a test in school, what’s the purpose? To reveal how much you’ve learned. So the disciples have been with Jesus for a while now. They’ve seen him turn water into wine; they’ve seen him heal several people; now it’s time to see how much they’ve learned about who he is and what he can do. Stop for a minute and think about a hard thing in your life—something that’s not so easily solved; maybe something you’ve been dealing with for a while. Is it possible that Jesus is testing you? What would it mean for you to step out in faith and fully trust in his power and his provision?
So the problem was clear: how do we feed all these people? Let’s talk about The Solution. When I look at the way Jesus solves this problem, I see three lessons.  
First, God uses what we offer. A boy pushes his way through the crowd, and he says, “I brought this.” Little basket. Five small, flat loaves of barley bread—which was considered poor man’s bread—it was the cheapest of all breads—and two little fish. And he’s willing to offer it. Probably thought it was for Jesus—right? At least we can feed the teacher. So he hands it over.
Jesus uses what we offer. Even when we feel like we don’t have very much to offer.
Remember when God called Moses? “Go down to Egypt and let my people go!” And Moses had all kinds of excuses—I can’t do it; I’m a terrible public speaker; I’m not qualified; they won’t listen to me…Impossible!” Remember what God asks Moses? “What’s that in your hand?” Moses says, “It’s my staff. My walking stick.” And God says, “Throw it on the ground.” And the staff miraculously turns into a snake, and then he picks it up and it turns back into a staff. And God says, “When you go down to Egypt and you stand before Pharaoh, bring this stick along—because I’m going to show my power through the thing you’re holding in your hand.”
What do you have in your hand? What has God given you?
Elizabeth Elliot lost her husband tragically, at a very young age. Left alone with their young daughter. She wrote this:
If the only thing you have to offer is a broken heart, you offer a broken heart. So in a time of grief, the recognition that this is material for sacrifice has been a very great strength for me. Realizing that nothing I have, nothing I am will be refused on the part of Christ, I simply give it to him as the little boy gave Jesus his five loaves and two fishes—with the same feeling of the disciples when they said, “What is the good of that for such a crowd?”
Naturally in almost anything I offer to Christ, my reaction would be, “What is the good of that?” The point is, the use he makes of it is none of my business; it is his business, it is his blessing. So this grief, this loss, this suffering, this pain—whatever it is, which at the moment is God’s means of testing my faith and bringing me to the recognition of who he is—that is the thing I can offer.”
If you know anything about Elizabeth Elliot, just that willingness to offer God her broken heart, through her writing and her speaking, has helped probably millions of people. Maybe you don’t feel like you have much to offer! But whatever you have, just say, “Lord, here it is. Use it for your purposes. I’m putting it in your hands.”
Here’s the second lesson: God uses a delivery system. Here in the Gospel of John, it says Jesus distributed the food to the crowd. In Mark, it adds another detail: it says Jesus actually gave the bread to the disciples, and the disciples gave it out to the people. Here’s the point: Jesus utilizes a delivery system. It’s his miracle! It’s his provision! But he delivers it through people!
I remember a conversation with someone who was struggling with a medical issue. And she said, I’ve been taking this medicine, but I feel so guilty. I feel like I’m not trusting God.” Have you ever heard that kind of thinking? In other words, “If God’s going help me, he has to do it directly! He can’t use people, or medicine, or anything else—he has to just zap me and heal me.” You know what I said to her? “Thank God for the medicine! It sounds to me like that’s how God is providing for you.” If I were a little more blunt, I would have said, “Stop overspiritualizing this, and just say ‘Thank you’ to God! He’s the giver of all good things.”
Is it possible that you’re in a hard situation, but you have so narrowly defined how God can work, that you don’t see the solution he’s bringing? Lift up your head and open your mind to how God may be bringing you a solution through a divinely appointed delivery system.
So…he uses what we offer. He uses a delivery system.
Here’s the third lesson: God responds to our obedience. There’s some mystery to how this miracle actually happened. It doesn’t seem like the food multiplied right after Jesus prayed. They didn’t say “Amen” and open their eyes, and just “bam”—there was this giant pile of bread and fish. I think probably, the disciples each got a basket with some bread and fish in it, and every time they reached into the basket, there was just more.
In other words: the miracle didn’t start happening until they started…what? Obeying. As they offered what they had, and they started stepping into the crowd of hungry people—something beyond them started to kick in.
Have you ever noticed in Scripture, many times God’s power is contingent on people taking the first step?
In Joshua, chapter three, God’s people are heading toward the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, and they have to cross the Jordan River at flood stage. And God tells them, “Step into the river.” That’s a scary command—“Walk into the raging river!” But they take God at His Word, and as soon as they take one step into the water, the river stops, and they’re able to cross over. But they had to take the first step!
Or Peter in the boat—remember? Jesus says, “Come to me on the water.” And Peter holds onto the side of the boat, and lowers one foot over the side. And I always think about that moment when Peter took his weight off the boat foot, and shifted his weight onto the water foot. That’s where faith kicked in—right? And by the way, all the other disciples were very rational and very logical, and they were cowering in the back of the boat. But as Peter obeyed Jesus and put his weight onto the water foot, something incredible happened. It held! And he started walking on the water toward Jesus.
So many times, we don’t see God’s miracles or God’s provision until we start obeying! That’s just the way he works! Maybe you say, “I’ve never seen God do anything great in my life!” Well, Have you ever trusted him enough to step out in obedience? When is the last time you took a scary step of faith—and you knew it was kind of impossible!—but you went for it anyway?
Jesus uses what we offer, he uses a delivery system, and he responds to our obedience.
Okay—so is this just the story of a miracle that fed a bunch of people? Of course not! It’s never just about the miracle; it’s about what the miracle points to. So let’s talk about The Point. What do you think the people in the crowd were saying, after all this had happened? Man, that was good bread!? The fish was a little salty. No. Verse 14 tells us what was really rippling through the crowd: 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.”
At the end of the day, ultimately, this wasn’t about bread of fish; it was about Jesus. And everybody knew it! It was his teaching and his healing that drew the crowd in the first place, and it was his miracle that fed the crowd. And they walked away from that day, and went back around the lake to their families, and they said, “I’ve never seen anything like this. Surely, this is the One—the prophet who is to come into the world—the Messiah—the Savior.”
A few years ago, a Muslim man in the Middle East told this story. He said, “One night the only food my wife and I had was a small portion of macaroni. My wife prepared it for dinner. Then one of her friends knocked on the door. I told myself, This macaroni is not enough for even the two of us, so how will it be enough for three of us? But because we have no other custom, we opened the door, and she came in to eat with us. While we were eating, the macaroni started to multiply; it became full in the bowl. I suspected that something was wrong with my eyes, so I started rubbing them. I thought maybe my wife hid some macaroni under the table, so I checked, but there was nothing. My wife and I looked at each other, but because the guest was there we said nothing. Afterward I lay down on the bed, and as I slept, Isa (which is Arabic for Jesus) came to me and asked me, "Do you know who multiplied the macaroni?" I said, "I don't know." He said, "I am Isa al Masih [Jesus, the Messiah]. If you follow me, not only the macaroni but your life will be multiplied."
See, Jesus is so creative in the ways that he tests us. In the Muslim world, for some reason he seems to use physical miracles and dreams a lot. But he uses all kinds of things to get us through situations that seem impossible, ultimately to show us who he is. That’s why he multiplied the bread that day.
Fast-forward almost to the end of Jesus’ life on earth. The night before Good Friday. He’s in the upper room with his disciples. And once again, he takes a loaf of bread. And just like on that day by the lake, he looks up and gives thanks. And he breaks the bread. But this time he says, “This bread is my body, which is given for you.” And the next day, he goes to the cross and he allows his body to be broken, so we could be made whole.
Do you see what that means? Jesus has already solved our most impossible situation. Our biggest, most ridiculous, most unsolvable problem is our sin. Because that’s the thing that messes up our lives and our families and separates us from our Creator. And on the cross, Jesus did what was required, so we could be forgiven.
He already solved our most impossible situation.
And the more you know that, and the more you believe that, and the more you form your identity by the cross of Christ, the more you will be able to face any situation—an emergency room…a cancer diagnosis…a financial crisis…a hard family problem…a breakup or divorce—you will be able to face any situation with composure and hope, because Jesus is with you. The multiplier of bread is at your side. And if he’s already solved your biggest problem, he’s going to come up with a way to solve this one too. Offer him whatever you have. Open your eyes to the delivery system he may want to use. And step out in obedience. And he will get you through it.