Trust the All Sufficient Savior (John 6:1-15)
This morning, we find ourselves at another sign that Jesus performed. These signs exist to point us to Jesus. Remember, they exist to reveal to us who Jesus is. They exist to show to us that we can have life in His name.
“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31 ESV)
This miracle points us to who Jesus is and the salvation that is found in Him. By believing in Him, you will have life.
And in this miracle, we see that we are to trust the all-sufficient Savior.
Trust the Son of God (John 6:5-7)
A fact that we often miss, which should inform this entire passage is that Jesus saw the large crowd coming early on. And when He saw them, He asked Philip where they could buy bread to feed all these people. And John tells us that Jesus was asking this for a purpose. He asked Philip this question to test Philip.
And think about this. Hours passed by after this question was given to Philip. Hours past after this test was put forward.
And what was Philip’s answer? It was dismay. They simply did not have the money to adequately feed the crowd (John 6:7).
The first thing we notice here is that Jesus tested His disciples when He questioned Philip. Would they remember that Jesus turned water into wine? Would they remember the many miracles they had seen? Would they have enough faith to realize that Jesus could feed the many people that stood before them?
Do you? Do you see and understand that this same Jesus that turned water into wine, healed the sick, raised the dead, and fed the 5,000 is the same Jesus that calls you to live by faith in your own life? Trust Him.
When you pray for your loved ones, do you realize that this same Jesus that tested His people and then waited until the last minute to bring about the miracle is the same Jesus that calls you to step out on faith and trust Him?
How many times have you thought about talking with a coworker or friend about Jesus but you just didn’t think God could use you?
How many times do we just think about the physical things right in front of us and forget that Jesus has called us to live by faith in Him?
We are weak. That is true.
“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-12 ESV)
God has given to us, weak vessels, the message of God’s grace and mercy. We are not sufficient in ourselves. He is sufficient, so we trust Him as we go forth with the message of the gospel.
The Lord Does Abundantly More Than We Could Imagine (John 6:8-13)
The child that was brought forward had 5 barley loaves and two fish. The number of people was probably somewhere between 15,000-20,000 people, for the 5,000 given in the text is only men. And how was this to do anything for that many people. And at the end of this, there were 12 baskets of leftovers.
This was a miracle that created food for thousands of people. And all saw the miracle for what it was.
But consider this. The disciples had been tested and failed the test. They knew of the water being turned into wine already. But the disciples had not imagined that Jesus could feed so many people.
The disciples witnessed Jesus doing abundantly more than they could ever imagine.
Trust Jesus with your life. Trust Him with your children. Trust Him with your home. Trust Him with your job. Trust Him with your finances. Give your life to Him. He will provide abundantly more than you could ever imagine.
An illustration of pastoral ministry is readily given to us here. And I do feel it deeply. As a pastor, I sit down with folks in counseling, preach on Sundays, teach on Wednesdays, all doing the best I can with what God has given me. But I understand it to be little. And I think every honest pastor would say the same thing. It’s not that I’m not working hard to do these things, it’s that it seems like little in the face of everything.
Who is suited for such work? I am responsible to deliver the words of Life to the people that sit in the pews before me on Sunday Morning. I am responsible to teach God’s Word accurately to people at other times. I am responsible for dealing with some major problems in the lives of people. It’s not uncommon for me to counsel with multiple people a week that are going through major issues in their lives, alongside the other responsibilities that come with being a pastor. And who is suited for such work?
Like the disciples, I am to take what I have and the Lord blesses it. It is the Lord that multiplies the labor. It is the Lord that brings about miraculous results.
Our whole lives are to be used in this way. We take what we have and entrust it to the Lord. We trust Him and He can do more than we could ever imagine. We trust the Lord and He can do infinitely more than we could ever imagine.
And our church is supposed to function this way.
I occasionally think about this as I think about how our church is to function here in Conway, Arkansas. We’re not just to be here and exist. And I think that if you’ve been here for a while you can probably look around and say that the Lord has been blessing us. But I’m praying for the Lord to do more. I’m praying and working thinking that the Lord will bless abundantly. And I hope that is what you are doing as well.
We should expect, pray, and work, knowing that the Lord will do abundantly more than we could ever imagine.
We should expect, pray, and work to see the lost saved, marriages saved, strong families built, and the blessing of God poured out upon us.
Like Philip we are given a task. Let us not say that it’s impossible.
Trust the Long-Awaited Prophet (John 6:14-15)
The people knew that a prophet like Moses would one day come (Deuteronomy 18:15-19). And there were parallels here to Moses. It was in the time of Moses that manna was called down from heaven (Exodus 16). And Jesus had just created an abundance of food for thousands of people.
And the feeding of the 5,000 is strikingly similar to Elisha’s miracle as well.
“A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the LORD, ‘They shall eat and have some left.'” So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the LORD.” (2 Kings 4:42-44 ESV)
Therefore the people rightly looked upon this miracle as a sign that Jesus was the prophet foretold by Moses. And the fact that Jesus’s miracle was so much larger than that of Elisha’s miracle so that it would intensify their understanding of Jesus as the prophet to come.
And we know that this is the case. But He came as much, much more. Jesus is God the Son who took on human flesh. He lived a perfect life and accomplished all righteousness on behalf of all who would believe. He died on the cross and paid the punishment for the sin of all who would believe. And He rose from the grave and accomplished the justification of all who would believe in Him. And we receive this by repenting and believing in Him.
But we end today with a problem. They believed that Jesus would be the king that would depose the Romans. They didn’t accept Jesus as He came to them. They sought to make Him king right then.
Here is the problem. You don’t get to define who Jesus is and what He accomplished. You must repent and turn to Him.
Many of us were astounded by the lady pastor that claimed Jesus would bless abortions.
She is an example of a major problem among people today. They think that Jesus is and wants what they want and not who Jesus is.
Another example of this is Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton came out a few weeks ago with an op ed that basically called herself the paragon of Christian virtue. It is ironic that a woman who basically believes advocating for the sins in Romans 1 believes she is a model of Christian virtue. But I guess she missed the irony.
But here’s the thing. Jesus won’t be treated that way. You can’t mold Him into whoever you want Him to be. He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He revealed that to everyone with this sign. And then when they attempted to make Him do what they wanted, He left.
Application: And here is the end goal of this miracle, or sign. It is to who Jesus is.
And Jesus demands that we respond to Him as He has commanded. We respond with repentance and faith. And we dare not attempt to make Him something that He is not. For if we do, we will find that Jesus is not really with us.
Conclusion
What do we see in the testing of the disciples and the miracle here? We see the all-sufficient Savior. We see the glory of the Savior that we are to entrust our whole lives to. And He is sufficient for all of it.
He has accomplished our redemption completely. And He is powerful to hold us in His care throughout our lives. So, trust Jesus with your whole lives. Trust Him to do abundantly more than you can ask or think. And trust Him to be your Savior today!