Beyond Our Wildest Dreams
Jesus, more than, satisfies our every need.
John(84) (Part of the Believe(74) series)
by Stuart Johns(233) on September 1, 2019 (Sunday Morning(337))
Faith(18), God's Will(9)
Believe
Beyond Our Wildest Dreams
(John 6:1-15)
INTRODUCTION
“You just never know how God might call you to serve him. For instance, in August of 2011 a 12-year-old boy named Gaelen from Vancouver Island, Canada, was hailed as a hero after he helped deliver his new baby brother. It all started when Gaelen's mother woke up in hard labor at 2 A.M. She had planned to deliver the baby in the hospital, but when the time came she couldn't even get out of bed. "I was already in the process of pushing," she said. ‘There was nothing I could do.’
Her cries for help woke her son who was sleeping in the next room. When he entered his mother's room, he said he could already see his baby brother's head.
Gaelen later reported, ‘I grabbed [the baby] by the shoulders and his head was resting on my wrists. Then I gently pulled him out and laid him on the bed.’ Gaelen then went to the kitchen to find some scissors, so he could cut and clamp the baby's umbilical cord.
The family made it to hospital about 45 minutes after the birth. Danielle Edwards and her new baby boy, her fifth child, stayed in the hospital until Sunday morning.
When asked how he knew how to do all of this, Gaelen nonchalantly replied, ‘I watch a bunch of medical [TV] shows.’ He also said that after this experience he is considering a career in medicine.”
Matt Woodley, managing editor, PreachingToday.com; source: CBC News, "Boy, 12, helps deliver baby brother" (8-22-11).
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2011/november/1112111.html].
BODY
ME
Compound Bow
We were living in Ohio and I was serving as State Director for CEF
I’ve been hunting with a shotgun or rifle since I was 12 years old, but I was interested in learning how to bow hunt
As a faith-based missionary, I knew that I couldn’t buy a compound bow on my own
One evening, while meeting with a local CEF board, we were sharing about our lives, just getting to know each other
I shared about being a hunter and wanting to learn how to bow hunt
One of the board members, whose house we were meeting in, said he had a compound bow with a case and a bunch of other accessories with it
He couldn’t use it anymore
Long story, short, he gave me his compound bow for free
That was beyond my wildest dreams
I still use that compound bow today
God provided something that I thought I would never have
WE
God’s provision
Take a moment to think about a time when God provided for you
When we’re struggling financially, God can and will provide just what we need
When we’re dealing with relational difficulties, God can and will provide the solution to our problem
Have you ever found a time when God’s provision for you has been inadequate?
Has there ever been a time when His provision has been late?
Faith
Many times our faith in God’s provision is weak
We may think the problem in front of us is too big for God to handle
We may think that what we have to offer Him, to help with the problem, is insufficient or insignificant
The feeding of the 5,000 is the only story that is shared in all four Gospels. It was a significant miracle that each Gospel writer did not forget. We will see through two disciple’s responses, to the problem, that there was not enough money to take care of the problem, and that what they did have was not sufficient to deal with the problem. The disciples already knew that Jesus could do the miraculous, but perhaps their faith was continuing to develop. What John wants us to understand today, through this passage is that . . .
BIG IDEA – Jesus, more than, satisfies our every need.
Let’s pray
GOD (John 6:1-15)
The Setting (vv. 1-4)
Some time after this
This is just another way for John to change to the next story about Jesus so that people will believe He is the Son of God and by believing they will have eternal life
It doesn’t carry a particular time frame with it (days, months, years, etc.)
Crossing the Sea of Galilee
Most of the time in Scripture, the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, is referring to the eastern shore (going from the Jewish side of the sea)
It is also referring to the fact that those traveling, to the far shore, are going from west to east across the Sea of Galilee
John gives us what was probably the modern name for the Sea at the time he was writing this Gospel
The Sea got the modern name from the city of Tiberius that was founded by Herod Antipas around 18-20 A.D.
The city was named after Antipas’ patron, Emperor Tiberius
The name of the city was then transferred to the sea
There are two other names for this Sea in Scripture
Lake of Gennesaret (Luke 5:1)
Sea of Kinnereth (Numbers 34:11)
This name comes from the Hebrew word, kinnôr, which means lyre (as in the musical instrument)
Many believed the sea was shaped like a lyre
We know then that this story is taking place on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee
Jesus had been healing the sick on the western side, which obviously drew a large crowd
Following Jesus
This crowd that had been with Jesus on the western side of the Sea of Galilee were following Him, because of what they saw Him do with the sick
He had been doing miraculous signs on the sick, which most likely refers to healings
People were drawn to Jesus because of this
We could be really hard and critical of the people following Jesus
We could say that they were following Him for the wrong reasons
They simply wanted to be around Jesus for the “magic show” that He was doing with the sick
But, I want us to be cautious that we don’t do that
The miraculous signs that Jesus was doing were to draw people to Him, so He could share about the Kingdom of God with them
His intentions were genuine and true
John shared just a few of the miracles that Jesus did, so that his readers would believe that Jesus is the Son of God and by believing they would have life (John 20:30-31)
Jesus and His disciples had been ministering to crowds of people, non-stop
They needed some time to rest and connect
Rest and connection
Jesus went up on a mountainside
A specific mountain is not in view here
It is probably referring to the hill country on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee
It is identified today as the Golan Heights
He sat down with His disciples
This was perhaps a time for Jesus and His disciples to take a breather
To catch up on all that had been happening
We know from Mark (6:6-12) and Luke’s (9:1-6) Gospels that the disciples had just returned from being sent out by Jesus to cure diseases, to heal people, to cast out demons, and to preach the Kingdom of God
Jesus knows the emotional and physical demands of ministering to people, so He wants to help His disciples get some rest
Jewish Passover Feast
John gives us a note about the Jewish Passover Feast being near
This helps us know that it was around April 13/14 that this miraculous feeding took place (spring time)
John has set the stage for us and now he shares the actual miracle story
The Miracle (vv. 5-13)
Great crowd coming
Jesus and His disciples had traveled by boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee
Perhaps some of the crowd used boats to follow Him, but most of the crowd probably walked
Mark 6:32-33, So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them.
They would have walked around the northern tip of the sea, which was a several mile walk
When Jesus looked up and saw the crowd coming, He asks Philip a question
Human solutions – hopelessness (vv. 5-9)
Philip – too big to solve
Jesus’ question – “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
I know what you’re thinking, “Poor Philip! Why did Jesus call Him out?”
Philip had grown up in nearby Bethsaida with Andrew and Peter
He would have been familiar with where the marketplaces were or perhaps the baker’s house
This question was simply a test, though
Jesus was probably trying to determine where Philip’s faith was and/or to gauge Philip’s understanding of who He was, as Messiah
Jesus wasn’t trying to gain just information, because He already knew what He was going to do about the need of the hungry followers
PRINCIPLE #1 – Jesus is all-knowing (omniscient)
Jesus already knew about the need before the crowd followed them around the Sea of Galilee
He already knew He was going to do a miracle to feed the hungry people
He already knew about the 5 loaves and 2 fishes
Application
It should come as no surprise to you that Jesus already knew about the difficult situations you are going through, right now (finances, relationships, health)
You can take comfort in the fact that Jesus already knows what He is going to do about your difficult situation
My Next Step Today Is To: Claim the promise that Jesus knows what He is going to do about my difficult situation.
Guess what? Jesus already knew about the payroll tax debt and the tight finances of Idaville Church
He already knows what He’s going to do about both of these difficult situations in our church
We can trust Him and claim the same promise, corporately
We’ll see this same principle, of Jesus being all-knowing, in verse 15
John then provides Philip’s answer to Jesus’ question
Philip’s answer
Philip had seen Jesus do miracles previously, so He knew Jesus had the power to do something miraculous in this situation
Philip’s response shows us that he is only able to think in the human, natural world
Philip must have been really good at math, because he looks at the crowd, estimates how many people are gathered, and calculates what it would cost to buy just enough bread for each person to have one bite
Then he tells Jesus, that it would take eight months’ wages to accomplish what He is asking
One denarius was the wages for a common laborer in the 1st Century, so 200 denarii would have been eight months wages
The disciples did have a purse of funds, that we later find out was handled by Judas Iscariot, but it didn’t contain 200 denarii
To Philip, the task seemed impossible, because he was looking at it from a human, natural perspective
He probably felt hopeless
You and I are guilty of doing the same thing – looking at our difficulties from a human, natural perspective and giving up because it seems impossible
We feel hopeless, discouraged, depressed, and alone
Our faith is probably pretty weak during those times
PRINCIPLE #2 – Even when our faith is weak, God wants to work in and through us.
Philip’s faith was weak, because his focus was in the wrong place
Our faith is weak, because our focus is in the wrong place
We have to look to Jesus for His plan, His will, His purpose in the difficult times
The first step in changing our focus is admitting that it’s in the wrong place
My Next Step Today Is To: Admit to God that I have not been focusing on Him and seeking His solution to my difficult situation.
God wants to work in and through us as we go through our current financial difficulties here at the church
He wants to do the supernatural through us as we offer to Him the resources that we have, even if they seem insufficient
What we see next is another disciple offering a solution, but still struggling with his faith in what Jesus can do
Andrew – insufficient resources
Bringing people to Jesus
Andrew comes to Jesus, but he doesn’t come alone
This is Simon Peter’s brother, and if you remember from John 1:41, the first thing Andrew did, after he followed Jesus, was to go get his brother and tell him that they had found the Messiah, then he took him to Jesus
Andrew finds a boy with a small lunch and he brings him to Jesus
Andrew is known in the Scriptures for bringing people to Jesus – what a great role model for us!
The insufficient resources
Andrew explains what resources he found to deal with the problem of the hungry crowd
John makes it clear that the loaves were small – these were not large, long Italian loaves
They were small barley loaves
Barley was the grain of the poor
“Barley was common food for the poor, its ‘lower gluten content, low extraction rate, less desirable taste, and indigestibility’ rendering it ‘the staple of the poor in Roman times.’” [Köstenberger, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, John, 201]
Wheat was reserved for those who were wealthier
The two fish were also small
Again, these were not the large catfish that Alger Melton, CJ Armolt, Jim Toms, and Warren Baum catch in the Susquehanna River
These were probably the size of the shiners that these guys use as bait to catch the catfish
They were probably preserved by drying them
So, Andrew brings the boy with his small lunch to Jesus, but he adds his own commentary to the resources he has found
His faith is weak
“How far will they go among so many?”
We see again the weak faith of another disciple, who has seen Jesus do the miraculous in the past
That just leads us back to the second principle, PRINCIPLE #2 – Even when our faith is weak, God wants to work in and through us.
What happens to us is that we sometimes forget how God has worked miraculously in the past
We allow the size of the problem before us to cause us to have temporary amnesia
We have to stop starring at the huge problem in front of us and begin to look upon the face of Jesus
We need to change our focus and remember the miraculous things that Jesus has accomplished in our lives in the past
We have to remember that nothing is too hard for Jesus – no problem or difficulty is beyond His ability to deal with
What we see next in verses 10-13 is that Jesus does something beyond the wildest dreams of the disciples and the crowd
We’ll see that Jesus, more than, satisfies the needs of the hungry people
Supernatural solution (vv. 10-13)
Organized
We know that God is a God of order and not chaos
Jesus has the people sit down on the grass
Mark tells us that they sat in groups of hundreds and fifties (Mark 6:40)
That would certain make it easier to count how many people were there
We know that there were five thousand men in the crowd
Most scholars believe that the total count of men, women, and children could have been around ten to twenty thousand
The mention of grass, simply lets us know that it was still spring time and the hot summer sun and not yet scorched the grass
The miracle
Jesus took the “insufficient resources” gave thanks and started to distribute the bread and fish to the people who were sitting down
PRINCIPLE #3 – Jesus is all-powerful (omnipotent)
He is able to do anything
There is nothing that is too hard for Him
Nothing is impossible for Him
In fact, Jesus is able to take what we offer Him and do more with it than is humanly possible
What are you offering Jesus?
Time, talent, resources
Are you holding back anything, because you think it’s insufficient?
“I can’t do special music, because I feel like my singing voice is insufficient.” (offer it to Jesus!)
“I can’t teach Sunday school, children’s church, or a discipleship group, because my teaching skills are insufficient.” (offer it to Jesus!)
“I can’t give a tithe or offering, because I have insufficient funds due to being on a fixed income, or because I lost my job, or because I have more bills at the end of the month than I have money in the bank.” (offer what little you have to Jesus!)
“I don’t feel like I have sufficient skills to visit people in their homes, greet worshipers on a Sunday morning, help as an usher, or man the Welcome Center.” (offer it to Jesus!)
“I don’t have sufficient funds to give to the GROW Capital Campaign or to help with the tax debt or the tight finances at the church.” (offer what you have to Jesus!)
Jesus is able to take what you offer Him and do more with it than is humanly possible
Jesus is looking for those who will step out in faith and trust Him to do the miraculous
He can and will do something that is beyond our wildest dreams
Notice what each person received
More than enough
Philip had calculated what it would cost for each person to have one bite of bread (200 denarii, impossible!)
Jesus keeps distributing bread and fish to the hungry crowd until they had as much as they wanted
They ate until they were full
They ate until they were satisfied
Jesus, more than, satisfies our every need.
When everyone had had enough to eat, Jesus told the disciples to pick up the leftovers and not to waste anything
“It was customary at Jewish meals to collect what was left over. Pieces of bread were not to be thrown around (b. Ber. 50b), and food the size of an olive or larger must be picked up (b. Ber. 52b).” [Köstenberger, 202]
The reason they were to pick up the leftovers was so nothing would be wasted/perish
The only previous use of the verb “to be lost” is part of, probably, the most recognizable verse in the Bible, John 3:16, when it says he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life [Michaels, The New International Commentary on the New Testament, The Gospel of John, 350]
Perhaps it is an allusion to what Jesus will be doing through His death, burial, and resurrection
It will be a visual reminder, in the disciples’ memory, about their role in evangelism after Jesus ascends to heaven (they’re supposed to gather followers of Jesus, so they won’t perish)
More than they started with
It’s amazing to me to see that after the disciples pick up the leftover barley bread that they had 12 baskets full
Jesus started with five small barley loaves, but His provision for this hungry crowd more than satisfies their needs by twelve-fold!
God’s provision for Idaville Church
We’re a body of believers that is facing what seems like insurmountable debt and financial struggles
But, I’m hopeful!!!
I’m trusting Jesus to do the miraculous and I know He will!
As we focus on Jesus, He is going to build our faith
As we offer Him our “insufficient resources,” He will do more with it than is humanly possible
I believe, in the end, He will also provide more than what we need, as we trust Him!
You can trust Jesus to do the same for you in whatever difficulty or problem you are facing
The crowd was starting to understand who Jesus was, but their understanding was flawed
The Withdraw (vv. 14-15)
As we’ve seen in John’s Gospel, the miraculous signs were done so that people would believe that Jesus is the Son of God and by believing they would have life
They had the beginnings of true belief, but it wasn’t that Jesus was the Messiah
The Samaritan woman began this same way, “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet.” (John 4:19)
The Jews were waiting for the fulfillment of the prophecy found in Deuteronomy 18:15-19
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.” The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.
Their understanding of Jesus’ purpose on earth was guided by their own personal desires to be free from Roman rule (natural instead of spiritual)
Forcing Jesus into our plans
The crowd wanted to force Jesus to be their earthly King
They wanted Him to be a political leader instead of a spiritual leader
Jesus knew their hearts, because He is all-knowing (omniscient)
He knew that their desires were selfish
PRINCIPLE #4 – We sometimes try to force Jesus into our plans instead of following His leading.
This is human nature, especially in the United States, where we are fiercely independent
We are told to make our own way
Success means having more than the next guy
We want Jesus to do for us what we want, instead of listening to His voice and His leading
“On our way back to Georgia from south Texas, my son and his family stopped in New Orleans. That city has one of the country’s oldest trolleys which carries visitors to the zoo. It looked like a great idea so the whole family – Mom, Dad, and two children – jumped on. Jeff assumed the role of sufficient and dependable leader. He watched his map, looked for landmarks, and told the family when to jump off the trolley. But as they rose to get off, the driver looked right at him and shook his head. ‘You’re going to the zoo, right?’ Jeff nodded and offered a feeble ‘Yes.’ ‘Next stop,’ said the driver. Sometimes we lean on our own maps and fail to consult the source of true authority about what we should do with our lives.” [Gangel, Holman New Testament Commentary, John, 120]
My Next Step Today Is To: Follow Jesus’ leading in my life and not try to force Him into my plans.
Jesus could not allow the crowd to determine and define His plan and purpose on earth, so He left the crowd and perhaps went further up the hillside to be alone
YOU
Claim the promise that Jesus knows what to do about my difficult situation
Admit to God that I have not been focusing on Him and seeking His solution to my difficult situation
Follow Jesus leading in my life and not try to force Him into my plans
WE
As a church we need to claim the promise that Jesus knows what to do about our financial difficulties
CONCLUSION
“Serving God with our little is the way to make it more; and we must never think that wasted with which God is honored or men are blest.”
Henrietta Mears in Dream Big: The Henrietta Mears Story. Christianity Today, Vol. 38, no. 13.
[https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/1996/april/1709.html].
