John 6:1-14
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Intro/Background
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving break!
Tonight we’re going to read a very familiar story in the NT about Jesus - the feeding of the 5000
My prayer is that you learn something new from this lesson about trusting God to provide for us
Lesson - John 6:1-14
Verses 1-4
Jesus had been starting to get these huge crowds following after Him
We’ll learn in a minute that this was a huge crowd
We know it as the feeding of the 5000, but we’ll see that it says 5000 men, not including women and children, so that number was at least double if not triple the 5000 we think of (10k-15k!)
Here He is headed up on this mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee, and Luke’s gospel tells us that He was trying to get away and be alone
Jesus tried to do that periodically, get away and just pray and seek the Lord - a really good lesson for us when we’re dealing with stuff or looking for answers
Get away from it all (turn off the phone, put away the computer) and just get with the Lord
Open a paper Bible and read, spend time praying or journaling
It might be weird/uncomfortable at first if you’ve never done that before
But the more you do it, the more you’ll find it refreshing and you’ll see God speak to you when you do
Even though Jesus wanted to get away, these big crowds still follow Him, and instead of getting all grumpy about His “me time”, He had compassion on them and started to teach them and healing those who were in need
Also a great lesson for us! - Don’t let your own needs cause you to overlook opportunities to serve others
Our lives should be lived for more than just ourselves. In fact, I’ll argue all day long, and so would Corey and Jesse, that when you live your life focused 100% on self and taking care of your needs, you’re going to be miserable
We were created to live for God and to serve others. Philippians 2 tells us to consider the needs of others just as important as your own needs. When we do that, you’re going to find that life is a lot less miserable and more satisfying
You’ll get your eyes off of yourself and onto how you can serve and take care of others in need around you
Verses 5-7
Mark’s gospel tells us that Jesus spent all day with this crowd and it was getting late. Remember they were in a remote place b/c Jesus was trying to get away from everything to be alone with the Father, so it’s not like they were right in town
The crowd will still have to hike a pretty decent distance to get food, and they were already probably pretty hungry b/c of all the time that they had spent w/ Jesus
Once again we see Jesus’ compassion as He sees the needs of the crowd (hunger) and starts to do something about it
He turns to Philip and asks him a question - “where’s a good spot for us to get some food for these people?”
Philip was from a nearby town, so he was the local Google Maps source for best street bread
And verse 6 is super interesting b/c it tells us that Jesus asked Philip this question to intentionally test him
Think of the logistics and costs of getting food pulled together for 10k-15k people
Who is going to have enough food on hand to make this all work? Who is going to carry all of the food? How far do they have to travel? What is this going to cost?
I’m sure all these questions are starting to circle in Philip’s mind
But verse 6 tells us that Jesus already knew what He was going to do
Spoiler alert, He’s going to do a miracle and multiply the little food they have to feed the entire crowd
If Jesus knew that was already going to be the plan, why did He ask Philip on what to do?
He wanted to test his faith
Do you know that sometimes Jesus will bring situations and people into our lives solely for the chance to teach us a valuable lesson and grow our faith?
He could have just told Philip, “watch this” and then done an amazing miracle, but they had been seeing Jesus heal people and do miracles all day, so I don’t know that they would have learned anything from that
Jesus does that with us many times. He’ll bring along a situation or an opportunity or a person and He already knows how everything is going to work out, but He does it to test and grow our faith
Philip answers Jesus’ question by freaking out - probably the same response I would have given
“How is this going to work?!?!? Do you know how much this will cost?!?!?”
200 denarii = 6 to 8 months wages
Think about it this way, if you say you would buy a $10 sandwich for each person, say you even got a bulk discount and got food for $5 a person, that’s still $50k-$75k!
That’s not even a whole meal. And don’t even get me started on inflation. Wings at Moes cost almost $20 now!
Philip’s response to Jesus’ test is, “It’s impossible”
And many times that’s our response to the tests that Jesus gives us
“There’s no way that can happen.” “I don’t have the ability or the resources.” “Why are you asking me to do this Jesus, it’s hopeless!”
We need to remember that Jesus already knows the outcome
Verses 8-9
Andrew (Peter’s brother) comes up to Jesus and says, “Hey Jesus, some kid here has some bread and some fish in his lunch pail, maybe we could use that?”
It’s easy to chuckle at this - steal this kid’s lunch - but there are actually so many beautiful lessons to learn
Lesson #1 - See a need, meet a need
I don’t picture Andrew dragging this kid kicking and screaming to Jesus to demand that he gives Jesus his lunch
The gospels don’t come out and say it, but I see that situation where Jesus is asking the disciples what do to and how to feed the people and they’re freaking out and this little boy overhears the commotion and willing comes up to Andrew and offers what he has in his lunch
He’s hungry too I’m sure. And 99% of us in the same situation would hide our food and keep it to ourselves to eat - take care of ourselves first
Offering his food up to Jesus to help meets the needs of the crowd would mean he would have to sacrifice, but it was putting others first ahead of himself
Lesson #2 - It doesn’t matter how much you have to offer, we still need to give it to Jesus
5 loaves of bread and 2 fish aren’t anywhere close to being able to feed everyone, yet the boy didn’t go “that’s not enough, I shouldn’t even offer it”
He still offers what little he has to Jesus to use
On top of that, barley was considered simple food that the poor would eat, and these two fish are probably just little pieces of fish like sardines, they weren’t big fillets or anything
So not only did this boy have very little to offer, what he had to offer was of low quality
But he offered it anyways
Verses 10-14
Jesus tells the disciples to get the people to sit down and get ready for a picnic
I’m sure they’re going, “Why? We have no food! What is happening Jesus?” - sound familiar to how we respond when we are tested?
Jesus thanks the Father for the food, and then starts to multiply it - more lessons!
Lesson #3 - Jesus can take what little we have to offer and multiply it and use it for His glory
Jesus doesn’t need us at all to get His work done, but He offers us the opportunity to be a part of what He is doing
We may not have much to offer Him, but He can take that and use it
Don’t be afraid that you can’t offer Jesus enough! It’s not about how much you know/don’t know, how talented you are, how strong your faith is, offer Jesus whatever you have and He can use it!
Lesson #4 - Be obedient to what Jesus is asking, even if it seems crazy
The disciples probably thought Jesus was crazy when He asked them to make the people sit down and get ready to eat. I’m sure they could have come up with all kinds of excuses as to why they shouldn’t. They could have argued with Jesus or told Him a different plan that they thought would actually work
But instead they were obedient, and b/c they were obedient, they got to see Jesus do an amazing miracle
Lesson #5 - Jesus can not only use what little we have to offer, but He can multiply it greatly
Not only was there enough food for everyone, there was good left over
That means everyone got stuffed, not just had a snack, and there were leftovers!
I’ve been amazed at my life how many times Jesus doesn’t just work in a situation, He works way above and beyond anything I would have ever expected
But that all starts with trust. Trust Jesus to move. Trust Jesus that He has a plan. Trust Jesus that He can use what little we have to offer. And trust Jesus that He will do a great work
Small Groups
Sample Small Group Questions
Sample Small Group Questions
What was something new or interesting you learned from this familiar story?
Why does focusing only on yourself actually make you less happy or content?
How does serving others make us feel less depressed or anxious and more joyful?
Why didn’t Jesus just tell Philip the plan to feed the large crowd, why did He have to test Philip’s faith?
Why does Jesus test our faith and what situations have you seen that happen in your own life?
Do you feel you ever hold back from giving Jesus what you have because you think it’s not enough or not very good? Give an example of when you may have done this in the past.
Why shouldn’t we be reluctant to give Jesus what we have?
How did trust play into this story for the disciples?
How does trust play into our lives when Jesus is testing our faith?
What is one thing from tonight’s lesson that you’re going to apply to your life this week?
Prayer Requests & Group Prayer
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