Passover and the Bread of Life
John
6:1-15
Introduction:
John 6 is the longest chapter in the Gospel of John, one of the longest in the
New Testament. We’ll see in this chapter Jesus providing physical bread to a
hungry multitude, and offering the Bread of life to those who had ears to hear…
We’ll see Him walk on the water, further revealing His glory to His disciples,
and we’ll see some difficult teaching as we go on in the chapter, teaching that
divides the crowd, but that also leads the disciples closer to understanding
who He truly is. We’ll see that He did not come primarily to give bread, but
to be the Bread of Life. John wrote to show that Jesus is the One, the only
One, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus will apply and
elaborate the truth later in the chapter, in the “Bread of Life Discourse.” Today
our focus will be on the first 15 verses John 6, and on this, the fourth “sign”
given in detail by John, the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, as Jesus gives
physical bread to the hungry crowd that had come to see Him. This is the only
miracle story, aside from the resurrection, that is included in all four of the
Gospels. That speaks to its importance. As we work through this scene and the
rest of this chapter in weeks to come, John answers for us three questions: 1) Who
is Jesus? 2) Why did He come? 3) What does it mean to believe in Him? He tells
us later, in 20:31, that he is writing his Gospel so that we might believe
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that we might find life in
His name.
The Big Idea: Jesus knows our hearts and as the Passover-King
came to meet our greatest need, to be the way to forgiveness and life. We’ll
look at that from four perspectives, 1) Jesus knew the hearts of the multitude,
and He knew their greatest need (1-4); 2) Jesus knew the need of His disciples,
and He continued to reveal Himself to them (5-9); 3) Jesus reveals His glory
through the fourth sign, the multiplication of the loaves and fishes (10-13);
and 4) It is clear that the significance of His kingship is still misunderstood
(14-15).
I. Jesus knew the hearts of the people, and He knew their greatest need. (6:1-4).
6:1S After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of
Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2
And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was
doing on the sick. 3 Jesus
went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of
the Jews, was at hand.
The Crowd pursued Jesus, and we are told why: “because they saw the
signs that He was doing.” They didn’t understand what the Messiah needed
to do. In a sermon on this passage, John Piper said, “Jesus didn’t come primarily
to give bread, but to be Bread.”
John 6:1 gives us the setting: “After these things…” Sometime after
the events in John 5, the confrontation in Judea in which Jesus revealed his
deity, affirming his equality with the Father, after the unbelief of the
leaders exposed their hearts, we find Jesus back in Galilee, at the lake. The
back and forth between Judea and Jerusalem in the south, and Galilee in the
north is striking, don’t get whiplash! Jesus went to where John was baptizing
in chapter 1, and calls his first disciples. But then in 1:43, “The next
day, Jesus decided to go to Galilee…” where He calls Nathanael and Philip. Still
in Galilee, the wedding in Cana at the beginning of chapter 2, is the scene of
the first sign, His glory revealed. But then in 2:13, we are told Passover was
near, and so Jesus “went up to Jerusalem.” In chapter four we are told “it
was necessary” for Jesus to go through Samaria, and after a few days of
ministry there, he continues to Galilee, and encounters the official who son
was dying, and He does His second “Sign,” healing him from a distance (4:54). Another
feast of the Jews, and Jesus is back in Jerusalem in chapter 5, and Jesus heals
the man who had been lame for 38 years. Confrontation and teaching follow, and
then, “after these things,” (6:1), chapter 6 opens telling us “Jesus
went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.” Each of these trips were
80-100 miles, depending on the route taken. Clearly, Jesus did not linger for
long periods in Judea, the confrontation with the religious authorities was
intensifying, but his hour had not yet come. We are not told if he traveled to
Jerusalem for this Passover…
Here at the lake, we learn that “a great multitude was following him.” They saw the signs, and though it is clear
that they didn’t fully and rightly understand what those signs revealed, and who
Jesus was, they wanted more, they were attracted to Him. No doubt some wondered
“could this be the deliverer they were waiting for?”
Jesus “went up to the mountain,” and there, sat down with his
disciples. We see Jesus frequently withdrawing to a mountain for a time of
prayer, and sometimes to have some personal training time with his disciples. “Sitting
down with His disciples” could imply a personal time of teaching as a rabbi
would do with his followers (although it may be that they were just tired and
were ready to rest!). In the context, Passover is mentioned (v.4) and later the people call him “the prophet who
is to come into the world” (v.14) referring to the prophet like Moses in Dt
18. Only John mentions that this miracle
happened “on a mountain” and I think he is inviting us to reflect on
God’s revelation to Moses in the OT. The difference is, it’s Jesus who is the
great “I AM.”
“Now the Passover of the Jews was
at hand…” (6:4). There is something of an ominous note here. Since the
first chapter the reader has been told that Jesus is the promised Messiah, the
King of Israel and Son of God, but also the Lamb of God who takes away the sin
of the world. The first explicit mention of Passover is in 2:13, when Jesus
went up to the feast at Jerusalem. There He cleanses the Temple, and predicts His
death and resurrection, albeit somewhat cryptically. As an aside to the reader, John there tells us
that, “When therefore he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered
that he had said this, and they believed the Scripture and the word that Jesus
had spoken” (John 2:22). Just as few verses later, at that same feast in
Jerusalem, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night, and Jesus says that to see and to
enter the Kingdom of God, New Life is required. Nicodemus doesn’t yet
understand, He could not see the King before him. At least at that Passover,
Nicodemus was still in the dark.
The second mention of Passover is here in John 6. Later in the Gospel, the
crowd will laud Jesus as the King of Israel in 12:13 at the Triumphal entry,
the beginning of that last Passover week (see Jn 12:1-8). It will be the theme
discussed between Pilate and Jesus in John 18:33-38, when Jesus says, “For
this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world…” (Jn
18:37). The people reject King Jesus, and then in John 19:14-16,
14 Now it was the day of preparation for the Passover; it was about the sixth
hour. And he said to the Jews, "Behold, your King!" 15 They therefore cried out,
"Away with Him, away with Him, crucify Him!" Pilate said to them,
"Shall I crucify your King?" The chief priests answered, "We
have no king but Caesar." 16
So he then delivered Him to them to be crucified...”.
The Passover-King. He came to own,
and his own people did not receive Him. *Jesus knows our hearts and as the
Passover King, both Sovereign and Sacrifice, He came to meet our greatest need,
providing the way to forgiveness and life.
II. Jesus understood the need of his disciples, and continued to reveal
himself to them
(6:5-9). The Disciples show they still haven’t grasped the meaning of the
signs.
5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was
coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so
that these people may eat?" 6
He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
Jesus “lifted up His eyes…” In an earlier context He had used that
phrase as He taught His disciples at the well in Samaria, “Look, I tell you,
lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” He had a
plan for the crowd, but as always, this was a teachable moment, and He “tests”
the faith of Philip. Jesus is a Rabbi, asking questions, but he is also the
omniscient Son of God, he knew the situation, he knew the heart of Philip, and
he knew what he was about to do. The sign would be misinterpreted by the crowd,
but it would serve to stretch the faith of his disciples and to reveal his
glory.
6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he
would do. 7 Philip
answered him, "Two hundred denarii1 would not buy enough
bread for each of them to get a little."
8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother,
said to him, 9
"There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are
they for so many?"
Look at the reaction of the disciples in 6:7-9. Philip’s reply focuses
on the depth of the need: a denarius was a day’s wage for a common laborer. The
crowd was 5,000 men (see v.10), with women and children likely over 10,000. Andrew
points to an unlikely option (v.9). Five small barley loaves, and couple of
tiny fish. A boy’s lunch. It is hard to
say if he was showing a glimmer of faith or half-heartedly being a little
sarcastic, but Jesus already knew what he would do. A small lunch, but
little is much when God is in it.
Faith like a mustard
seed, and a kid’s “Happy Meal.” Do we really believe the Lord is able to meet
any need in any situation? Or are we like Philip, seeing only the scope of the
problem (the crowd is so big!), or like Andrew, seeing our meager resources (we
have so little!). Remember Rom 8:32 “He who
did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things?” Know this: *Jesus knows our hearts and as the
Passover King came to meet our greatest need, providing the way to forgiveness
and life.
III. Jesus reveals his glory through the fourth sign: The Multiplication
of the Loaves and Fishes (6:10-13).
10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there
was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in
number. 11 Jesus then took
the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were
seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.
Jesus
instructed that the people sit down on the grass. Five thousand men, plus women
and children. Everything would be done decently and in order. There would be no
rushing, no grabbing, and no question about what was happening We see the
“sign” in v.11-12. There is no elaboration or many details, Jesus took the
loaves and fish, gave thanks, distributed to the people, and they had all they
wanted. It would be hard not to think about Moses and the provision of manna
from heaven in the wilderness (Exod 15). Now, One greater than Moses was
present, the One of whom Moses wrote!
The sign is revelation to
all who have eyes to see and ears to hear, but we also see that Jesus is still
teaching the disciples. They had to gather up the left overs! I don’t know about you, but we don’t waste
leftovers in our house. We often plan on a meal lasting a couple of days! That day “…twelve baskets were filled with
the left over fragments from the five barley loaves…” In 6:12-13 we see a lesson for the disciples…
12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples,
"Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." 13 So they gathered them up and
filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by those
who had eaten.
Now think about it, twelve disciples,
knowing what they had when they started, seeing the crowds eat till they were
satisfied, and then gathering up 12 baskets of leftovers, enough for each
disciple to have a basket as a reminder before their very eyes: there was no
doubt that a miraculous sign had occurred. Who could do such a thing, bring so
much out of so little? They should have seen his glory. In the light of his
claims in Chapter 5, they should have understood and cried out what Thomas will
finally say after he sees the resurrected Jesus, “My Lord and My God!” They
will make a strong profession of faith at the end of this chapter. But they are
not there yet, Jesus will give them a special class in 6:15-21… Here, *Jesus,
the Son of God, was still teaching his disciples, and He knows human hearts. As
the Passover King He came to meet our deepest need, providing the way to
forgiveness and life.
IV. The Significance of his Kingship is still misunderstood (6:14,15).
14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said,
"This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!" 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.
The “people” saw the sign and responded to it, “surely this is the
prophet who is to come into the world.” They are referring to Dt 18:18, and
the promise God made that one day he would raise up a prophet like Moses. By
the first century, that promise was an important part of the Messianic Hope. They
were correct, Jesus was the final and greatest fulfillment of Dt 18:18. He is
the prophet, and also the One of who the prophets had spoken. But the people only
saw in part, they did not grasp the full picture of the nature of the Deliverer,
and of the work He came to do. D.A. Carson (one of the founders of the Gospel
Coalition) said, Passover was… a
rallying point for intense, nationalistic zeal for Palestinian Jews” and “the sacrifice of the lamb anticipates
Jesus’ death, the OT manna is superceded by the real Bread of Life… (John
268-9).
Jesus was not merely a man, he is God incarnate. He was not a
King like David or Solomon, His kingship was not of this world. He again shows
that he knows what is in the hearts of men and he knows their intentions, and
motivations. They still weren’t where they needed to be, they still didn’t
understand fully and correctly who He is. They got part of it, but they were
thinking materially, they ate, and were satisfied. This is a king they could
deal with, that was great! And so…
“…they
were intending to come and take him by force and make Him king…” Jesus knew their intentions, and he knew
their deepest need. We got a hint of
that need in v.4, Passover was at hand. The people wanted to be free from the
yoke of Rome. But He did not come to be a King like Solomon, or even David. He
came as sovereign and sacrifice. The King of Israel, as Nathanael said at the end of Chapter one,
but also “The Lamb of God” as John the Baptist proclaimed twice in that
same chapter.
Jesus came to carry out the Mission of God, devised in eternity past. Jesus,
as Messiah, Prophet, King, must as Priest enter the Holy Place, not with the
blood of bulls and goats, but with his own precious blood, once, for all. The
crowds didn’t yet understand, nor did his own disciples yet understand.
The greatest need of the crowd was not to eat physical bread and so
sustain life, but, to experience forgiveness from sin and experience Abundant
Life. Later in this chapter Jesus will explain the greatest need of humans when
he says in v.35, “I AM the bread of life, he who comes to Me shall not
hunger and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” Eventually in this
chapter, v.66 we’ll see that “…many of his disciples withdrew, and were not
walking with Him anymore.” None of this of course, is a surprise to Jesus.
He has a plan to carry out, the blueprint laid before the foundations of the
earth. This sign showed compassion, but His primary mission was not to multiply
loaves and give bread to the people. His main mission was not to give bread,
but to be Bread. We’ll see that He came to give Himself as the Bread of
Life….
What is God saying to me in this passage?
After all, Jesus, the Son of God, knows our hearts, and as the Passover
King, both Sovereign and Sacrifice, He came to meet our greatest need, to be the
way to forgiveness and life.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage?
1) Have you believed in Jesus as Savior
and Lord? Because of Him, and what He has done for us, it is as easy as admitting
your need (Rom 3:23; 3:10), believing who He is what he did (John 3:16),
and confessing Him as Savior and Lord (Rom 10:9,10).
2) Believer, “Why do you spend
your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not
satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves
in rich food” (Isa 55:2). He is the Bread from Heaven, the Bread of Life.
The one who alone can satisfy our deepest hunger and fill the longing in your
heart! If you have trusted him as
Savior, like the disciples, you need time with Him in the word, in prayer, meditating
and reflecting on the truth. So too John wrote, to deepen our faith in the Word
who was made flesh… AMEN.
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