The Hungry Are Fed
Gospel of John • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 37:58
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· 23 viewsIf we want Jesus to fix all of our problems but we don’t want to have to follow Jesus, we’re missing everything about who He is and who He is making us into. Followers of Jesus are cared for by Jesus - he meets our needs.
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Key Texts:
Key Texts:
REFLECTION: Psalm 34:8-10
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! 10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
SERMON READING: John 6:1-15
MEMORY: Mat 5.43-44
43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
BENEDICTION / CLOSING: Romans 15:13
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
There are some really popular accounts in Scripture:
Moses and the Plagues
Israel at the Red Sea
Joshua fit the battle of Jericho
Job’s life
Jonah
David & Goliath
Daniel in the Lion’s Den
(NT)
The Nativity Scene
The Baptism of Jesus
…so many others that bring us up to our timeline now
This one ranks up there. The feeding of the multitude.
It’s recorded in all four Gospels.
It’s another sign that Jesus is the Messiah.
This sign points us all the way back to EXODUS!
Where God fed His people with manna.
Moses led the people…God provided food for their bellies.
Here Jesus is leading and feeding.
In fact, the crowd will reference this very thing from Exodus in verses 30 & 31. It’s the next day; but it is worth peaking at:
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
Moses didn’t give them bread - God did.
We see our God in flesh - and NOTHING IS TOO HARD FOR HIM!
all these people / no workable solutions
We see this little boy and we’re reminded that NO ONE IS TOO SMALL FOR GOD TO USE!
a little boy with a little food in a little sack
We see the crowd and we’re reminded that there is NO HUNGER THAT JESUS CAN’T SATISFY! THE HUNGRY ARE FED in a miraculous way, right in front of our eyes this morning.
TRANSITION
TRANSITION
NOTICE THE FIRST 2 WORDS OF VERSE 1
1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.
“After this”
We don’t exactly how much time has passed here…
Mark’s Gospel fills in some other ministry activity that led up to this
But this could be up to AS MUCH AS 6 MONTHS since the previous event.
Our text this morning opens with a problem, a problem stemming from the success of Jesus’ ministry.
Jesus and his disciples were so popular that they drew unwieldy crowds.
Mark 6 gives us some insight into why they were headed this way.
31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
When Jesus saw how tired his disciples were, he knew it was time to get away.
So they withdraw to this mountain - in the hill country somewhere in the Golan Heights.
33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.
Jesus had compassion on this crowd.
We are nearing the Passover Celebration in the timeline of events.
Jesus Has it All Under His Control
Jesus Has it All Under His Control
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. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”
Sometimes he will let things seem so out of hand - like they’re so far gone…but He knows exactly what’s up.
Ashlie reminded me of a Pastor friend we had years ago - he’s in Heaven now - but he had a strange view about this text.
He ignored John 6:7 and got hung up on Mark 6:37
37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?”
He said to us, “I wonder why the disciples couldn’t do it!”
Couple thoughts:
They’re not Jesus!
God wasn’t trying to enable the disciples to DO BIG THINGS He wanted them to see that HE WAS A BIG GOD!
It’s a Messianic sign that points back to Moses…that’s enough for now.
THE BIG CROWDS DON’T SCARE JESUS!
5,000 men
could have been up to 20,000 total including women and children
He had compassion on each and every one of them and He knew them by name!
He has compassion on each and every one of us, too. He knows you by name.
CONTRAST JESUS WITH PHILLIP.
Phillip freaked out a little bit. A Denarii represented a day’s wage. Phillip knows if they spent 8 months salary on bread, it wouldn’t be enough for each person to get a bite.
By the way, they were hungry, but they weren’t going to starve!
take note of that
ALL THESE PEOPLE! Jesus Had It All Under Control!
Even without severity...The SCOPE AND SCALE of the problem can shake any man or woman to their core! BUT JESUS IS NOT ANY MAN!
He is God!
He’s in charge!
He’s got this…whatever this is! BE ENCOURAGED THIS MORNING…There’s no crowd Jesus can’t handle...
…even a bunch of hungry church folk!
1. GOD HAS IT ALL UNDER CONTROL - Nothing is TOO HARD for HIM!
GOD CAN USE ANYTHING AND ANYONE
GOD CAN USE ANYTHING AND ANYONE
- NOTHING AND NO ONE IS TOO SMALL!
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?” 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.
Notice Andrew’s realistic take on the matter…YES, it’s a lack of faith; but they had never seen or encountered ANYTHING like this before!
Barley Loaves would have indicated a middle-class family here. The poorest wouldn’t have had that…but this was still a SACK LUNCH FOR A BOY.
We don’t know how the discourse went between Andrew and the boy.
“Does anyone have ANY FOOD?”
BOY: “well, I have this?”
Andrew: “Well…that’s hardly anything...”
reluctantly mentions it to Jesus
Jesus doesn’t scold Andrew - he just gives the next instruction!
It doesn’t matter how little you think you are - you can be mighty when God gets His hands on you!
It doesn’t matter how little you think you HAVE - God can use it to bless others in His name.
Give it away!
Give it all to Jesus!
The boy could have kept quiet.
He knew people were hungry.
He offered what he had.
SONGS:
Little is much when God is in it.
Labor not for wealth or fame
There’s a crown and you can win it
If you’ll go in Jesus’ name.
I Surrender All I Surrender All
All to thee my blessed Savior
I surrender all
Think about when pointed Samuel to the fact that He had chosen David:
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
When others see a Shepherd boy, God sees someone that He can use for His glory!
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
NOTE: THIS PASSAGE REALLY CONNECTS TO VERSE 22-60.
Lord willing, I’m going to connect that in a couple of weeks.
Jesus is the BREAD OF LIFE - He alone can satisfy the greatest need that they have.
This morning, though, as we wrap this up; I want you to note the final OBVIOUS blessing here!
Not only does God have it ALL UNDER CONTROL...
Not only can He use anything HE CHOOSES - even the smallest that the world might pass by
JESUS SUPPLIES MORE THAN ENOUGH!
JESUS SUPPLIES MORE THAN ENOUGH!
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. 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.
THEY HAD THEIR FILL!
Not just a bite of bread and a whiff of fish...
…as much as they wanted!
THERE WERE 12 BASKETS FILLED WITH LEFTOVERS
GOD fed the multitude miraculously!
This wasn’t a magic trick.
This wasn’t an illusion.
Jesus prayed, thanked his Father for what he was about to do, and turned five loaves and two fishes into an all-you-can-eat buffet!
When Jesus supplies, it’s never too little.
He never runs out.
He has also poured out his grace and love on us...
It helps us when we’re hungry and frustrated…when we need peace
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Even though one drop of his love would be enough for the whole world. The picture here is not an eye dropper...
…it’s like standing under Niagara Falls!
Jesus loves to go above and beyond not only what we can ask but even what we can think (Eph 3:20).
Jesus has never yet run into a problem he can’t solve.
(One writer noted:)
•No wine at the wedding. No problem.
•No food in the wilderness. No problem.
•No life in the tomb. No problem.
When you follow Jesus, you never reach a dead end…or run out of what you actually NEED!
You know, the disciples knew of Jesus performing several miracles already...
If we stick with John’s account only and don’t fill in any space from the other Gospels:
Water into wine
Nobleman’s son healed from a distance
(Heard about) Jesus healing the paralytic by the pool of Bethesda
But they were so fixated on the problem, it obstructed their view of Christ and what He COULD DO in this situation.
LESSON: Don’t take your eyes off of our miracle-working INCREDIBLE SAVIOR AND KING! When you do, it will affect your view of him.
BEFORE I FINISH, there is a temptation to take a message like this and have it morph into some kind of prosperity heresy.
Jesus will fix all your problems
Jesus wants you to be filled up all the time with the best...
(CALL FOR MUSICIAN)
Look at the last verse...
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.
God works for HIS GLORY alone…ON HIS TERMS!
The people got all excited about Jesus as their Prophet…their view of their Messiah.
He KNEW ALL THINGS - they wanted to turn Him into their ROMAN OCCUPATION PROBLEM SOLVER.
They would have made Him king right then and there...
But there could be no kingdom for Jesus without a cross.
His Kingdom would be given to Him by His Father.
Before He would reign as the Lion of Judah, he had to lay down His life as the Lamb who would bear the sin of the world.
The miracle cannot outsize the MASTER. If God’s in it - His Son will be glorified!
This sign was to point to Him as the TRUE BREAD FROM HEAVEN…WITHOUT WHICH WE WILL ACTUALLY STARVE TO DEATH!
It’s the passage we opened with this morning:
8 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! 9 Oh, fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! 10 The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.
----PRAY---
God has it all under His control!
God can use anything and anyone - nothing is too small!
God supplies more than enough!
JESUS FULFILLED EVERYONE OF THESE!