One of the most fascinating accounts recorded in the Scriptures is the feeding of the five thousand. The feeding of the five thousand was such an impressive miracle that it is recorded in all four Gospels. As we begin to glean what we can learn from this account, it behooves us to be reminded of the purpose of John’s Gospel. The goal of the Apostle John is not to give a chronological account of the life of Christ. Rather, his purpose is to highlight those things that point his readers to who Jesus is. The purpose of John’s Gospel is that we may know Jesus and make Him known. Warren Wiersbe points out, “Since John’s Gospel is selective (John 20:30–31), he does not record events in the life of Jesus that do not help him fulfill his purpose. Between the healing of the paralytic (John 5) and the feeding of the 5,000, you have many events taking place, some of which are mentioned in Luke 6:1–9:10 and Mark 3:1–6:30. During this period our Lord preached “the Sermon on the Mount” (Matt. 5–7) and gave the parables of the kingdom (Matt. 13).”[1] One must approach the Gospel of John as a survey providing an overview of the ministry of Jesus with the intent of revealing who Jesus is.
The feeding of the five thousand begins with a great multitude of people that had been following Jesus for a number of days. This was a busy time in the ministry of Jesus. Mark 6:31-34 says, And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.[2]Jesus could not get away to rest because the needs of the people were great and He had compassion on them insomuch as He could not turn them away. The disciples recognized a potential problem. There were too many people, they had been there a long time, they were getting restless, and they were hungry. The disciples offered three possible solutions. (1) Send them away. They wanted to eliminate the problem. They wanted to ignore the needs of the people and send them away because it was causing an inconvenience. How often do we do the same? There are certain problems and people that we do not want to mess with. We ignore the needs of certain people because we do not want to get our hands dirty. Yet, Jesus was so filled with compassion that He could never just send them away. (2) Raise Money. Philip counted the cost. He figured how much money it would take to feed the multitude. It would take the equivalent of 200 days’ wages. Essentially, it would cost a lot of money. The answer that we often give for various needs is ‘money.’ We tend to think that money solves everything. This happens too often in the life of the church. Instead of actually physically helping someone, we take up a love offering. Instead of coming together to work on a project or to lead a certain ministry, we think we need to hire a new staff member to do the work. Now, I am going to say something here they may be a bit controversial so take it for what it’s worth. For the life of me, I do not understand why a church that is made up of believers in Christ with different talents and abilities must hire someone from outside the church to come in and do a job that someone in the church can do as a ministry. Too often we use money that could go to missions and reaching the lost in order to pay someone to do something that church members are capable of doing themselves. The Holy Spirit places people in the church with various talents and spiritual gifts to be used in the church. How can we expect people to serve, if we do not give them the opportunity to serve? The answer is not to spend more money. The answer is to stop being lazy and serve! Philip’s heart may have been in the right place, but his solution was faulty. The answer was not to throw money at the problem but to take what little you do have and serve! (3) Give what you have. Andrew is not mentioned a lot in scripture. However, when we do see Andrew, He is always bringing people to Jesus. Andrew found a little boy who was the only one smart enough to bring his own lunch. He brings the boy to Jesus and shows Him the five loaves of bread and the two pieces of fish. Andrew confesses that it is not enough, but, he brings to Jesus what little was available. My friend, you may not have a lot to offer, but, Jesus can take what little you do have and work a miracle. As the old gospel song says, “little is much when God is in it.”
Following the purpose of John’s Gospel, there are several things we learn about Jesus that provides comfort and encouragement to us today.
Jesus sees. In verse 5, Jesus lifted up His eyes and saw the multitudes. Mark’s Gospel mentions that when He saw the crowd, He was moved with compassion. Jesus did not just recognize that there was a large crowd. He saw them. He looked into their hearts. He saw their need. He saw the blind. He saw the lame. He saw their hurt. He saw their pain. Never forget that Jesus sees you. He sees you right now. He knows what you are going through. He is omniscient and He is omnipresent. He sees and knows everything about you.
Jesus cares. Jesus knew that the people had not eaten. He turned to His disciples for a solution in order to test them and teach them a valuable lesson. However, the fact that Jesus saw the need and wanted to do something about it, shows that He cares. Just as He cared for the 5,000 that day, Jesus cares for you. When you are hungry, He cares. When you are sad, He cares. When you are confused, He cares. When you are sick, He cares. When you lose your job, He cares. When you have nowhere to turn, He cares. When everyone else turns against you, He cares. When the world closes in on you, He cares. I love the words to this old hymn:
Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song;
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?
O yes, He cares- I know He cares!
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?
O yes, He cares- I know He cares!
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief I find no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?
O yes, He cares- I know He cares!
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
Does Jesus care when I’ve said goodbye
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—
Is it aught to Him? does He see?
O yes, He cares- I know He cares!
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
My friend, never forget that Jesus cares. He may seem distant right now, but know He cares. The stress keeps piling up, there is no end in sight; but know He cares. Jesus cares!
Jesus is sufficient. I love the response of Jesus in verse 10. Andrew brings the little boy to Jesus. He tells Jesus about the small lunch the boy has and states the obvious and says, “what are these among so many.” Andrew says, “Jesus, I found some food, but it is not sufficient.” Then notice what Jesus says in verse 10. “Make the people sit down.” I can picture Jesus just smiling at His disciples with a wink and says, “Give me the boys lunch, just sit down and watch.” Where I come from I can sense Jesus with a smirk on His face as He says, “Hey bubba, watch this!” “Let me show you what I can do.” Jesus tells the people to sit down. Oh, listen my friend! When Jesus tells you to sit down, look out! A miracle is coming! When Jesus says for you to give up and sit down and watch. Something big is about to happen! When what you have is not enough. When your way is insufficient. Just give it to Jesus, because He is always sufficient. When you have Jesus, you have all that you need! Not only were all the people fed, but there were 12 baskets leftover. When Jesus cooks up something in your life, there is always leftovers. There is plenty to go around! He is sufficient.
Jesus is humble. As we look at the account of Jesus feeding the 5,000 we often skip over verse 15. It is a transitional verse that leads to the next account recorded in John’s Gospel. After the miracle is witnessed by all the people, Jesus perceives that the people were conspiring to force Him to be their king. So, Jesus departed to a mountain by Himself. He quietly slipped out to be by Himself. Though Jesus is the King of kings, the time had not yet come for His Kingdom to be established on earth. He came for a different purpose and that is to die on the cross and save the world from sin. Therefore, He humbly avoided taking the throne too soon. It is important to know who we are talking about here. Jesus is the creator of the universe. He is all-powerful and all-knowing. Yet, He left the wonders of Heaven. He came down to us. He humbled Himself and became one of us. He humbled Himself all the way to death on the cross. He lowered Himself for you and me. Oh, what a Savior! One can preach 10 sermons on the feeding of the 5,000 and have different applications. There is so much to learn from this account. However, keeping with the theme of who Jesus is, we learn from this account that Jesus sees, Jesus cares, Jesus is sufficient, and Jesus is humble. What a wonderful Savior He is! Thank God for Jesus!
[1] Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 1, p. 309). Victor Books.
[2] The New King James Version (Mk 6:31–34). (1982). Thomas Nelson.
Pastor Chris Noland 