Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

The miracles of Jesus:

The meaning of miracle

According to the Bible, a miracle is a divine act.

Through miracles, God reveals His power to people on the earth.

The Greek word for “miracle”—dunamis, literally meaning “power”—indicates that a miracle is an act of God’s power.

Miracles often defy, or overpower, natural law—but not always.

God can also use nature to perform a miracle.

For example, God used the wind to part the Red Sea (Exod.

14:21).

Jesus ask a Phillip a question “Where shall we buy bread,that these may eat?

Miracles Are Easy to Accept

If you accept the first four words in the Bible—“In the beginning God”—believing miracles comes easily.

A miracle is an act of God.

It is an act contrary to natural law as we understand it, but not contrary to natural law as God understands it.

Miracles are actions He performs for the furtherance of His benevolent and redemptive purpose.

God and Miracles

It is quite clear God performed a miracle at Jordan.

Many times I have been asked, “Why does not God work such miracles today?”

The question is not whether He can, but how He chooses to work.

God reveals Himself in terms of people’s spiritual development and ability to receive and comprehend the revelation.

WHO ARE THE BENEFICIARIES:

Having located the miracle geographically, the evangelist introduces those who are to be the beneficiaries: and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.

There are earlier references to miraculous signs Jesus had performed in Galilee (2:11; 4:46–54), and those performed in Jerusalem that had been witnessed by Galileans (4:45).

Because they had witnessed these the crowd followed him.

Unleavened bread

Having located the miracle geographically, the evangelist introduces those who are to be the beneficiaries: and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.

There are earlier references to miraculous signs Jesus had performed in Galilee (2:11; 4:46–54), and those performed in Jerusalem that had been witnessed by Galileans (4:45).

Because they had witnessed these the crowd followed him.

Manna

1.

The evangelist begins his description of the setting for this miracle with the rather vague words Some time after this, which refer back apparently to the healing of the lame man in Jerusalem and the confrontation between Jesus and ‘the Jews’ that followed (5:1–47).

The geographical note Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias) is puzzling because nothing has been said about Jesus returning from Jerusalem to Galilee.

The evangelist provides two names of the Sea: the common NT name, the Sea of Galilee, and the name used later in the first century, the Sea of Tiberias.

The latter is related to the major town, in fact, the capital of Herod Antipas’ kingdom, situated on the western shore of the Sea.

Reference to ‘the far shore of the Sea of Galilee’ refers to the eastern seaboard and places this miracle either in the Gentile area of the Decapolis on the eastern shore, or in the region of Philip the Tetrarch to the north-east.

Offerings of bread

who are to be the beneficiaries

SEEING THE CROWD

See also ; ; ; ; ; ;

The bread of the Presence

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Seeing the crowd, Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples, possibly in the area known today as the Golan Heights.

Perhaps he was seeking some rest or wished to teach his disciples before the crowd arrived—it was Jesus’ custom to sit to teach (8:2; Matt.

5:1ff.; 13:1ff.; 24:3ff.).

The table for the bread of the Presence:

; ; ; ;

THE JEWISH PASSOVER

The evangelist provides his final piece of information to set the scene: the Jewish Passover Feast was near.

This will be significant as the story unfolds, for Passover was a time when Jewish people recalled their deliverance from Egypt through Moses and were looking for the Prophet like him who was to come.

They expected the Prophet to bring deliverance and provide ‘manna’ from heaven as Moses had done (cf. 2 Baruch 29:3–30:1).

It was a time when nationalistic fervour was high.

David and his men eat the consecrated bread; ; ; ; ; ; Jesus Christ and his disciples in the cornfields on the Sabbath;

WHERE SHALL WE BUY BREAD FOR THESE PEOPLE TO EAT?

The evangelist begins his account of the miracle, When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’

In the Synoptic accounts of the feeding of the five thousand we learn that when the crowd came to him Jesus taught them and healed their sick, and then because it was already late in the day he miraculously provided food for them (Matt.

14:13–21; Mark 6:30–44; Luke 9:10–17).

These details are omitted in the Fourth Gospel, but knowledge of them allows readers to understand why Jesus felt a responsibility to provide food for them.

If this episode took place on the north-eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, it would be logical for Jesus to turn to Philip and ask, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ because Philip was a native of Bethsaida, a town located in this part of the country.

But Jesus’ question to Philip had a different purpose: He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do, i.e. he was going to multiply loaves and fish to feed the multitude.

Testing can be negative (cf. 8:6), or positive as it is here.

Jesus’ purpose was to test Philip’s faith in him and confirm it with the miracle to follow.

Not realizing what Jesus intended by his question, Philip answered him, ‘Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’

The NIV’s ‘eight months’ wages’ provides a helpful equivalent to the ‘two hundred denarii’ found in the original (a working man’s wage for one day was one denarius), and highlights how much bread would be needed to feed such a large crowd.

This alerts the reader to the extraordinary nature of the miracle soon to be performed

ANDREW AND A SMALL BOY

The next vignette in the story concerns Jesus, Andrew and a small boy.