John 6:1-15

[0:00] Had a good time with the men last night, and had a meal, had some good time fellowshipping, and then had some time in here in prayer.

[0:12] Prayed for some things that are on our hearts, and maybe even for some of you. But we had a good time, so I'm grateful to be able to do that, and look forward to doing it again in the future.

[0:27] Remember, in the meantime, we're in John chapter 6, but before we go anywhere there, let's pray and just seek the Lord this morning. So please join me in prayer. Our Father, as we come before you, we come before you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and by the blood of Jesus Christ, and we're thankful that you saw fit to shed your blood to cleanse us from all of our sins.

[0:49] Thank you for giving us access and allowing us to draw nigh, and it's because of our Savior, and it's in His name. We have no merit, and no goodness, and no worth on our own, and we completely are reliant upon Thee.

[1:02] We are reliant upon Your words this morning to feed us, and to teach us, and to grow us into truth. And so please open our eyes, and please give us understanding. Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.

[1:14] And we ask that You'll give us ears to hear, and that You'll grow our faith in You, and in this book, and in an understanding of how we can please You, and what it is You'd have us do in this life.

[1:27] And we pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Together? All right. John chapter 6. And let's dive right in. It's going to get a little heavy to start this morning.

[1:38] I don't want to, maybe I shouldn't say heavy, but this, what we're about to read here is what is commonly called this miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. You've heard of it. All four gospel writers write about it.

[1:49] There's very few things that all four gospel writers address and confirm. This is one of them. Some of the big things, Calvary, obviously, the death of Christ. All four gospel writers identify that and discuss it.

[2:02] They identify or describe the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But there's very few things that you could put on a list that they all four talk about. John has a lot of unique information.

[2:13] Another one I just kind of noticed or thought on this morning was John the Baptist and his ministry and his statement that we read it last Sunday, how he that cometh after me is preferred before me.

[2:27] And that statement there about him not being able to or worthy of loosing his shoe latchet. So there's some things there that are in all four gospels with that baptism.

[2:38] But this miracle, if there's one miracle, this is the one. This is one that stands out. And there ought to be, I mean, it draws your attention if you're considering that Matthew doesn't mention everything John does and Luke writes.

[2:51] So for this one to come out, it's a big one. It's not the only time that Jesus Christ fed multitudes. In Matthew 14, he fed 5,000. In Matthew 15, he fed 4,000.

[3:03] And so there's more than just this one. But this one gets pointed out and it's noteworthy. So maybe there's a reason. And maybe there's not. Maybe I'm fishing here a little bit or just looking for more than is in the text.

[3:16] But I think there's a reason this stands out. And so before we even read it and get into this, I want to take you to an Old Testament passage to just to cause you to think a little this morning.

[3:27] If you can find the book of Micah, find Micah chapter 7. He's toward the end of your Old Testament, one of the minor prophets. He's right before Nahum.

[3:38] And he's right after Jonah. So Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk.

[3:49] Find Micah chapter 7. And let's just consider ourselves for the moment a Jew in this time that has the scriptures of Moses and the prophets.

[4:08] And they would read and study these passages and consider what the Messiah is going to do when he comes. And there's awful lot of talk about some dreadful times for the people because of their sins and captivities and some bad days ahead for them.

[4:28] But there's also promises of triumph and of a kingdom and of a conquering king and God, how he'll destroy their enemies. Now, in the midst, at the end of the end of Micah, there's some negative days and some positive days.

[4:44] He's kind of blending them all together in his prophecy. And let's see here. Verse number 7. He says, Therefore, I will look unto the Lord.

[4:55] I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me. Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.

[5:07] Now, we're not going to run references here, but this would be a real easy one to run about about them sitting in darkness. And even when, I guess it was John the Baptist's dad described by prophecy, he cried out some of these prophets.

[5:25] I think Isaiah, he was quoting that the people that sat in great darkness, or had sat in darkness, have seen a great light. And this Micah's prophecy matches. There's the Jews in darkness without the word of God.

[5:35] And there's going to be a future period where it's even darker. We call it the tribulation. In verse 9, And now verse 14, Now that's obviously Israel, the flock of thine heritage.

[6:29] You can cross-reference that with several psalms. And there are his people, the flock. And he's their shepherd. And he's going to feed them. The flock of thine heritage, which dwells solidarily in the wood, in the midst of Carmel.

[6:44] Why are they dwelling solidarily in the wood? They're hiding. They're hiding from somebody who is seeking to kill them. From a man that's called the man of sin. In the future, he's called the son of perdition.

[6:56] That antichrist, as we call him, that beast. He's seeking to kill them. And so they're hiding from him. They're fleeing from him. Yet God is feeding them and sustaining them.

[7:09] And I'm going to stop there in this passage. But now take your Bible and go all the way back to Revelation chapter 12. And let's cross-reference what John the Revelator has to say about this time we call the tribulation.

[7:22] And what the condition of this remnant of Israel is going to be at that time. As they are literally running for their lives from the dragon that is persecuting them, from the serpent.

[7:35] In Revelation 13, there's a woman. Sorry, chapter 12 is where I want you. Chapter 12 and verse 1, there's a woman. And she's in prophecy.

[7:47] This is Israel. She's going to bring forth a man-child. And the devil, the dragon, wants to take this man-child out.

[7:58] Let's see the verse I want. In verse 6 says, So breaking that down, that's 42 months by 30-day months.

[8:15] And that makes it three and a half years that she's going to be fed in the wilderness. All right, a little bit later, let's look at verse 13. And the dragon saw that he was cast to the earth.

[8:30] He persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place. Same thing as we just read in verse 6.

[8:41] Where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time. That would be a year and two years. And half a year makes three and a half again from the face of the serpent.

[8:52] And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as of a flood after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away the flood. The earth helped the woman. And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.

[9:04] And the dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed. Which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. Now I'm just giving you little bits and pieces here.

[9:15] We're not cross-referencing all of these phrases and words. But it'd be real easy to put this all together. This is a Jewish remnant in the tribulation in the future. Where the man of sin, he shows up in chapter 13 as the beast.

[9:29] That the dragon gives power to speaking great things and blasphemies. And he's going after them. And it's in verse 5 where he's got power to continue 40 in 2 months. There it is again.

[9:40] And he's coming after that woman. And he's trying to kill and wipe out the seed of the woman's Israel. Now what's happening there is that God is supernaturally sustaining and nourishing those Jews.

[9:54] If we read Matthew 24, Christ tells them when you see this happen in the temple, you better get lost. You better flee to the hills. You better run. And pray that it's not on the Sabbath.

[10:05] And pray that you're not pregnant or having a child at that time. Because it's not going to be easy for you. And they're going to flee from the persecution of the Antichrist. Now back in John chapter 6, they have a promise.

[10:19] They have a foretelling of some very grievous times and days where they're going to be persecuted and sought to be murdered. And in that time, God is going to sustain them in the wilderness with food and nourish them.

[10:32] And so in John chapter 6, much like Matthew, Mark, and Luke, here comes an account of the Lord Jesus Christ miraculously feeding his people Israel.

[10:44] Not at Panera Bread and not with some food truck pulled up, but with his own hands out there in a desolate area in the wilderness.

[10:55] And I'm not saying that he's fulfilling the prophecy, but at the very least, he's foreshadowing, he's proving, he's showing himself to them that he can sustain them.

[11:06] That it's just his hands alone can feed them and can take care of them. And so he's showing them his power once again. Chapter 5, he did it verbally, discussing his authority and telling him that God is his father and that he's honored of the father.

[11:23] And he's got the power to raise the dead and all of that. And now in chapter 6, he's going to show with his own hands some miraculous thing that only God could do. And something that God even promised that he was going to do.

[11:36] And so this should trigger in their mind the Micah prophecy, the feeding. I think it's in the Psalms as well, a similar line. And before we get through with this chapter, I doubt we get to it today.

[11:48] Look at chapter 6 and verse 31. And look at a connection that they make to something like this. Verse 31, our fathers did eat manna in the desert.

[12:01] So they recognize this feeding and they connect, even make this statement, well, God did that, Moses did that back in the day, fed us in the wilderness. And so they're on to something, but they're looking kind of the wrong way maybe.

[12:17] And he's going to use that to tell them that he's that bread of life that came down from heaven. And he can give them eternal life and he's going to spiritually offer to them eternal life rather than just to fill their belly.

[12:27] But in the future, he's going to be keeping them alive by filling their belly when the whole society and the entire economy is set up to force them to be in the system and to worship the beast or to take the mark of his name.

[12:43] And they're going to refuse that. So somebody's going to have to get them food. All right, John chapter 6, we'll begin there. I hope you can see that and understand that. I know it's a little bit of a heavy concept maybe to you, but it's the Bible and it's an amazing book.

[12:57] And it's got a lot more in there than you think. All right, verse 1, after these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee. And by the way, it has another name, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

[13:09] Now, that's not the only name that this sea has. Anybody off the top of their head know another name given to that sea? There's another one too.

[13:19] Yeah, that's a good one. There's another one. Let me see. Yeah, I have it written down there. That's Mark chapter 6 where it's called Gennesareth. There's another one, a fourth one. It's similar to that.

[13:30] This one's Chinareth in John 12. Let me just see real quick. I have it marked down as John 12, verse 3. And that's not right. That's why I don't...

[13:43] Yeah, not John 12, 3 at all. It's somewhere in John. Joshua. And that's what it says, J-O-S-H. Yeah. There's those readers, Gary.

[13:55] That's what I need. Yep. Yep. Okay, so Joshua. He's called the Sea of Chinareth. So that's the Sea of Galilee.

[14:07] And John says, oh, it's also called this. And as you study your Bible, there's multiple names for the sea. No big deal. That's happened with men too. It's not a contradiction and it's not a mistake. All right, verse 2.

[14:18] And a great multitude followed him because they saw his miracles, which he did on them, that were diseased. And that'd be a natural response. This guy's got miracles. He's come from God.

[14:28] And so they followed him. And that's part of what Jesus Christ is doing, is gathering these people to follow him and learn from him. And verse 3. Jesus went up into a mountain and there he sat with his disciples.

[14:41] And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great multitude come unto him, he said unto Philip, When shall we buy bread that these may eat?

[14:55] And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. I find this fascinating. That the Lord, in all of this, I'm talking like his 12 disciples, but on top of that, this great multitude of verse 2 that is following him.

[15:13] A great multitude comes. That he goes up into a mountain with his disciples and he's looking down on this multitude and he's like, Hey, Philip, I've got a question for you. What are we going to do?

[15:25] What are we going to do to feed these people? Now he knows what he's going to do. He knows full well what's going to take place. This is like, I wonder, as a man, walking through life in this ministry and having the knowledge and understanding, if he just kind of anticipates certain days or certain events as he gets near a city knowing this is going to take place, or I'm going to fulfill this.

[15:47] And in this case, he knows what he's going to do. But I'm going to ask Philip, Philip, what are we going to do? What do you think we should do, man? Tell me. Like, this is wild.

[15:58] Look at all these people. And when shall we buy bread? From where? It means whence. From where? Where are we going to buy bread that these may eat?

[16:09] And so Philip answers in verse 7, 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may take a little. So he doesn't even give them an answer of where, because he doesn't know where.

[16:21] He gives them an answer of quantity. Even this much, which is obviously not anywhere that they could get a hold of easily from the context of it.

[16:31] Even if we got a hold of this much, it's not enough for them. So he doesn't have an answer. But what I find so striking is that Jesus Christ, it says in verse number 6, that this he said to prove him, to test him.

[16:46] He's checking him out. Just a little one-on-one check with, not Thomas. You know Thomas. Later on, he's called Doubting Thomas. He's infamous for that. But this guy is Philip.

[16:58] Philip's got something in him that needs to be checked. Look at chapter 14 of John. And even though it gets checked right here, it still doesn't get fixed.

[17:09] Look at John chapter 14. And verse number 7 will begin right after he tells Thomas that I'm the way, the truth, and the life.

[17:20] Verse 7, If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

[17:33] Just let us see what you're talking about, and we're good. Jesus saith unto him, verse 9, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip?

[17:45] He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, show us the Father? Believest thou not? And he's going to go on.

[17:56] He's chewing him out. For his lack of faith, and his lack of understanding, and he's one of his disciples. You've been with me this long, and you still don't get it? And you don't even believe?

[18:08] You don't comprehend what I'm teaching, and what I've displayed? And so back in chapter 6, this is not by accident that he's calling out Philip. Because Philip has a problem. And Philip needs to have a little one-on-one.

[18:20] This is probably just a... I wouldn't doubt that they all... I mean, there's several times where they're fearful. Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? The disciples were greatly afraid, or his disciples had little faith.

[18:31] That happens multiple times. They all probably could have been called out. But Philip has something here that God is trying to help him with. The Lord's trying to one-on-one show him something.

[18:42] Call his attention to it. You make the call here, Philip. And when you're wrong, and I show you what I do, you're going to believe on me. You, because you're going to remember that. You tried to think about this in your mind. So Jesus Christ is checking him and testing him.

[18:55] And it's a thing that God does. Come back to Judges. All the way back to Joshua, then Judges. And chapter number 2. Judges chapter 2.

[19:11] God has every right to test his children and to check us and to see how we are going to react and to see what comes out of our mouth, to see if we respond in faith, to see if we practice what we preach or if we're hypocrites.

[19:32] And this is a good way to do it. Just by a little test. That's exactly what teachers do at the end of the chapter, is they test the students to find out if they've grown, if they've received anything, if they know what this material is, or if they've failed, if they don't get it, if they need it again.

[19:52] And that's what approving is, is a test. So Judges chapter 2. Come to verse 20. Verse 20. And the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel. And he said, Because that this people hath transgressed my covenant, which I commanded their fathers, and have not hearkened unto my voice, I also will not henceforth drive out any from before them of the nations which Joshua left when he died, that through them, through the nations, the heathen nations of Canaan, that through them I may prove Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord to walk therein as their fathers did keep it, or not.

[20:32] Therefore, the Lord left those nations without driving them out hastily, neither delivered he them into the hand of Joshua. Now, keep going forward. Now, these are the nations which the Lord left to prove Israel by them, even as many of Israel as had not known all the wars of Canaan, only that the generations of the children of Israel might know to teach them war, at the least such as before knew nothing thereof.

[20:58] And he names the nations, and then in verse number 4, it says, they were to prove Israel by them, to know whether they would hearken unto the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses.

[21:10] So this is a people that have not been trained or necessarily ever had to face battle. And so it's time to see, are you going to stand up on your own and fight?

[21:21] Because you're going to do what I said. And you should take this and apply it personally into your own Christian life, that God will test you, just like he tested Philip and his own children back in Judges.

[21:32] He'll test you by just saying, put you in a situation and just step back and watch. Are you going to honor me in this? Are you going to speak up for me in this? Or are you going to cower?

[21:43] Are you going to fail? Is your faith strong? Do you want me? Are you going to cry out to me? Or are you just going to go your way alone and try to figure this thing out on your own?

[21:54] And he will do that. He will, you'll find yourself praying about something and feeling like I just can't get an answer. And maybe that's just God just stepping back for a little bit and trying to prove you just to see how bad do you want an answer?

[22:07] How bad do you want my will in this? What are you willing to do till you find it? Are you going to go ahead without me? Or are you going to decide that you have to make the call? Or are you going to obey me with all your heart?

[22:20] And the Lord does it. He does it here. He does it in his word. He'll do it in your life. You can count on that. Come back to John chapter 6. And again, I say God has every right to do this.

[22:36] You remember when those disciples, after Christ resurrected from the dead, and then you get to Luke 24 and you read that he's alive and there's rumor that he's not in the tomb. And two of his disciples are going to Emmaus.

[22:48] And he shows up, but their eyes were holden. And it says in Mark that he appeared in another form unto them. So they didn't know it was Jesus Christ. And what in the world is that all about?

[23:00] And he says, What's going on? Why would he do that to them? I mean, what's the point? Why would he show up as a stranger and converse with these men that were his own disciples?

[23:12] And ask them questions like, Why are you so sad? What's going on? He's proven them. He's checking out what's in their heart. What comes out? Well, we thought this was the Messiah.

[23:23] We believed he was the one. And then they crucified him, killed him, and he's gone. And now they're saying he's not here. And what I find interesting in that thing, and this is maybe why he went to them too, was what are they doing going to Emmaus?

[23:36] The rest of them are back in Jerusalem. And these two are going to Emmaus. And it must not have been a big deal because when they realized it was the Christ, they immediately, the same hour, went right back to Jerusalem, where they probably should have been the whole time.

[23:49] So anyway, maybe they were straying off, just frustrated and upset and just moving on. And he shows up and says, Hey, what's going on here? Where are you going?

[24:00] Why are you doing this? And then he says, Oh, fools and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets have... He gives it to them. He was testing them, though, by showing up in another form.

[24:12] All right, we're back in John chapter 6, verse number 7. Here's Philip's answer. Two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

[24:24] Now, maybe if you have a study Bible, you may have a note there or a cross-reference or something that kind of gives you some insight as to the value. In the end, all of the study Bibles and the theologians or scholars are conflicting in what the value of this is.

[24:43] And when it comes down to the word penny, which is in your New Testament several times, in a King James Bible, that is, there's no real way to nail down what's the value of that.

[24:55] Because you hear the word penny and that just is a joke to you. I see a penny, I don't pick it up. I don't care. It's like dirt to me. And it's not because I'm arrogant and proud. It's just, what am I going to do with a penny?

[25:07] Well, a penny saved is a penny earned. Not anymore. It's not worth bending over to pick up anymore. But, what is this penny? Let me show you something here just to help you kind of put the thought together in your mind.

[25:20] Because you read your Bible, you ought to know what you're reading. Look at John, no, look at Matthew 20. Chapter 20. Yeah, Matthew 20. And also get Luke chapter 10.

[25:33] Get these two places. Matthew 20. And Luke chapter 10. And so, a lot of the new versions will get rid of the word penny.

[25:50] And it's not that they replace it with anything that helps you understand anything. They just put a word in there that they think is a, is like a, more, a current, current money.

[26:01] Like, the one word they put in here is denari. It's a Greek, or coming out of the Greek and it just, it doesn't help you. You don't know what that means. And if you don't know your currency of, of every nationality, if I said the currency that they use in, um, Mongolia, it would just be foreign words to you.

[26:21] It doesn't help you at all. And so, they're just plugging in a different word, making a change for no reason. And it doesn't help anybody. And so, here's something we can learn from our Bible by cross-referencing Scripture with Scripture.

[26:32] Matthew chapter 20. And this is a parable where a man, in verse number 2, he agreed with the laborers for a penny a day.

[26:43] He sent them into his vineyard. So, if you know this story, some were, some worked the whole day, some worked just the very last part of the day, but they all got a penny. And what is a penny then?

[26:54] Well, these men, these laborers, agreed. They agreed with the householder to work the entire day for this amount of money, called a penny.

[27:08] So, that penny is what we could say is a day's wage, an honest day's wage. Some people got that penny for not working a whole day and that made everybody mad.

[27:19] So, you can see, it's a fair assessment for a day's work to get the penny for only working part of a day. That's not fair. We did more work than they did and they're getting the same pay. That's the thing.

[27:30] Now, go to Luke chapter 10 and watch this, how it shows up here. A little different context, but it'll help you give, just get an assessment of what the value is based upon how it's used.

[27:44] This is the parable of the good Samaritan. And verse, or maybe not a parable at all, but a story. Verse 33, a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was and when he saw him, he had compassion on him and he went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine and set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn and took care of him.

[28:08] And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence and gave them to the host and said unto him, take care of him and whatsoever thou spendest more when I come again, I will repay thee.

[28:22] Now, he's already took care of him one day and the morrow and he's going to come back. So, this is at least two days wages that we know of, the value of two days of work or it's two days of medical care or of an overnight room and board at the inn and if you try to put that into today's standards and just, I'm just throwing numbers out but you go up to, this is not just a hotel but it's being cared for, binding up his wounds and caring for him but if I just said it was the Hampton Inn for 150 to 180 bucks a night, if I said you go work a job in the field for 10 hours at 18 bucks an hour, that's comparable, I'm just throwing round figures out but you get it, that's kind of in the range of what that is and I'd say that the penny itself is comparable to that in today's society based on its use in the Bible.

[29:16] Now, what Philip says is 200 penny worth is not sufficient. So, 200 days work, a five day week, that comes out to 40, here we go, I'm doing math on the spot, 40 weeks which is about 80% of a year's wage so now we're looking at quite a bit of money for him to just throw out.

[29:38] It wasn't just a random thing, it was like a huge chunk of money of high value would not be enough to feed this many people. So, there's your Bible just kind of, if you allow it to and you study it, it gives you some insight, it's there, it's there to be had if you'll read it carefully, if you'll study it, if you'll cross reference it, it's not just some weird word that you don't or can't understand.

[30:02] So, in verse 7, Philip answered him, 200 penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may take a little. And by the way, just let me give you one more plug for the King James Bible is we did that just by looking at two other references and using common sense.

[30:17] And I don't have any problem with anything I just said. If I was sitting in your seat, I would swallow that hole and say that's sound doctrine, that's good teaching there of what it said there and what it said there and applying it to this.

[30:30] I wouldn't have any problem, I don't have any problem with that. You go listen to anybody else that's on the radio or somewhere that doesn't have a King James Bible, they're going to give you some whack word that you don't know and then they're going to just try to make some dollar value of it without looking at the scriptures.

[30:43] They don't look at the scriptures, they try to look at some chart and try to study history and that's what the scholars do and they never arrive at a conclusion that's even, they always conflict.

[30:54] This Bible won't do that to you. It'll just teach you something that you can receive. Alright, I'm done with that. So verse number 8, one of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, there's a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes.

[31:10] Should have put a period there, should have stopped right there because that'd be real good, Andrew. But he didn't. He said, but what are they among so many? That's true. That's true.

[31:21] On one hand, here's something, but seriously now, it's nothing. That's kind of what he says. And so if he'd have stopped there, boy, he'd be like, Andrew, great faith, Andrew.

[31:34] But no, actually not. But he has the potential. I mean, he's doing something. Andrew's that guy. We saw that back early in chapter 1 where he's the one that left when he found Jesus.

[31:47] He left and went and found Simon Peter, his brother, and brought him to Jesus. Andrew's the guy that's just, he's got that gift, apparently. He's got that mind to see others and to get them to Christ.

[32:01] Peter didn't do it. Doesn't say anything about John or Philip for sure. But Andrew said, hey, here's somebody. There's a lad here and there's five barley loaves and two, I mean, he names what he has.

[32:15] Seems like he's suggesting, maybe. But his faith isn't strong enough when he admits, what is that?

[32:26] But seriously, what is that? So, Jesus Christ, though, he's fine with that. In verse 10, make the men sit down. Now, there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down in number about 5,000.

[32:42] So, the word men there is not a generic term for all of the human beings, but rather, it's identifying men specifically because in Matthew chapter 14 and verse 21, it says that the men were 5,000 beside women and children.

[32:59] So, that puts the number in total, I'm guessing, closer to 20, 15 to 20 or even more depending on the size of the family. It's hard to guess that. But you're looking at a much larger crowd than just 5,000 that were fed.

[33:13] This parable gets, you know, the nickname feeding of the 5,000. But Matthew tells us there was women and children there too. So, there Jesus Christ is fine with 5 loaves and 2 small fishes.

[33:26] And you know what else he's fine with? With using a lad in verse 9 that we don't know his name. We're never going to know his name on this side of glory. But he's just a little lad that obviously was okay to give up his lunch and to give it to the Lord Jesus Christ and let him use it.

[33:43] And just, you can have it. It's all I have and you can have it. And I'm nobody. I can't feed this people. I'm just a lad. I'm not even numbered with the 5,000 men. I'm just one of the women and children.

[33:55] But you can have it. And Jesus Christ says, sit the men down. I'm going to use this little lad's lunch and do something that you need to see, that Philip needs to see and all of you need to see.

[34:08] And so Jesus took the loaves in verse 11 and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples. I like that. And the disciples to them that were set down. And so he uses his disciples, he uses the, like he'll do the miracle, but he'll use the men to distribute and do the work of it, to fan it out across this large gathering.

[34:31] I mean, have you ever seen that many people? I guess if you've been to a sporting event, probably is the closest thing to where you can look around and see 15,000, 20,000 people here, that's a lot. And if you can picture an arena and you see the hot dog vendors going up and down yelling out, hot dog, get your hot dog.

[34:46] Like that's the disciples carrying these breads and they're walking through the rows and through the aisles and they're distributing to everybody and coming back and getting more. And you know what? They had to be wore out. That was a lot of trips.

[34:58] You can do the math if you want to do the math and figure that each guy had to feed probably 12 to 1,500 people or so, give or take. I mean, have you ever done that?

[35:09] Have you ever personally carried bread to 1,500 people and back? How much can you carry at a time? How long did this take? Just allow your mind to fill in the blanks and to see that this was an incredible work, a large scale operation and the men were tired.

[35:27] They were used of God to do something that day but what I like is Jesus Christ used them and put them to work. He didn't just poof, you got a loaf of bread, you got a loaf of bread, it's under your seat, look, and there it is.

[35:40] He made the men do the work and used his disciples. They came to him and they distributed to them and that's a good picture of the ministry even today where God will deal with you and he'll do the miracle with you and then he'll send you to distribute to them and I don't say the man of God, God gives me the miracle and then I give it to you.

[36:03] There may be others that could say that on one side but I'm saying no, you come to Christ, you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and you take what he gives you and you go out there and you feed somebody with it.

[36:15] You give it out. So there's a good thought there from those disciples being employed into this action. Verse number 12, when they were filled, amen, they were filled. Doesn't Jesus Christ fill you?

[36:27] Yes, he does. He said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost. And so there's so much here in each word and I'm skipping some stuff here in my notes just for time's sake but there's no wasting with the Lord.

[36:44] I mean, you see this not just in a statement in a parable or rather in a miracle but you see this in creation. He has designed a planet that cleans itself in a sense now man can do some damage and he has but for the most part when something in a natural order is over in abundance then here comes the critters.

[37:07] If the animals don't eat it, if man doesn't harvest it and use it, here comes the critters and they clean it up. And even, not just the army of ants that will scavenge and clean the entire vicinity which they do by the way but even down on a microbial level he's got them breaking things down and just, he has this thing there's no waste.

[37:31] It's an amazing thing that God did. We won't even know it unless you study it and learn about it but there's just a truth there that comes out of this statement that nothing be lost. Verse 13, Therefore they gathered them together and filled 12 baskets.

[37:47] That's not an accident. That number 12 is associated with Israel. This miracle was an Israeli miracle, a strong connection to the kingdom of heaven, to the future prophecies that we already read and studied and that number you can't divorce from the nation of Israel.

[38:05] It's all over the Bible. And so there was 12 baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

[38:17] Then those men when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did said this, they said, This is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. And not only that but verse 15, When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

[38:38] Now he had already gone to a mountain in verse 3 and then he came down and he fed this multitude and when that went so well, he realized, I've got to get out of here because my time has not yet come and there's a timing that he is on in this ministry.

[38:55] It's a three and a half year time ministry much like a three and a half year ministry of the Antichrist that's going to imitate Jesus Christ's ministry with signs and wonders and on and on.

[39:07] Now when Jesus Christ perceived they would come and take him by force, this is a great multitude of men and they've just been fed and they've seen something that they've never even fathomed could take place and they just witnessed it and participated in it, this is of a truth.

[39:26] He is the Christ. He is the one, that prophet that should come. Moses told us he was coming, there's no question in our minds, this is him. And now they want to do, now they want him to fulfill all of the prophecies that are written about him.

[39:42] Not just the ones about him feeding them and healing their sick but now they want to see him be their king and he says, oh no. And Jesus rightly divided the word.

[39:53] He said, no, it's not time for those prophecies to be fulfilled. These, yes, those are out in the future. And there's a little point there for you to catch there where he's a, 2 Timothy 2.15, rightly divide the word of truth.

[40:09] Now let's contrast something, we'll stop here but look at chapter 8. These people, they believe that he's that prophet and they want him. In chapter 8, take a look at this one.

[40:24] In verse 58, Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am, then took they up stones to cast at him.

[40:37] But Jesus hid himself. So he has to get away from some people that want to make him king and he also has to slide out and get away from some people that want to murder him on the spot.

[40:49] And what's interesting about the two, just to point this out, is when he feeds the one, they love him. You feed me, you take me out to dinner, you're a great guy.

[41:02] I mean, that's just good of you. You're a nice guy and that, I mean, that was really nice. That was amazing what you did feeding all these people and they love him because it satisfied their belly, their flesh, and they saw something spectacular.

[41:17] It's just wonderful. But when he tells them that they're wrong and he preaches against their beliefs, then they want to kill him. Then they want to murder him with stones because he said that they're guilty.

[41:33] The one love him because he fed him. And the other hate him because he attacked him or preached against him. And their pride was injured and insulted.

[41:43] And it just shows you there's a heart problem in man. A real heart problem. If you take care of me, oh, I'll love you. Just like a dog. That's all a dog will do. But if you say something negative against me, who do you think you are?

[41:58] So go pick a stranger out and just, and give him five bucks. Give him a $20 bill and say, here, just wanted to give this to you. And they'll think you're great. Go give them a gospel track and tell them that Jesus Christ died to save their sins and see what they say.

[42:13] See how many of them respond with kindness. And if you tell them that they need Jesus Christ or they're on their way to hell and they're standing before God is bad right now. You're condemned already.

[42:24] You'll see the same thing in them that was here in these Jews. The ones received him. And now he's going to mention this. Last verse this morning. He's going to mention this very thing to them. That's the reason why they wanted him.

[42:34] Look at chapter 6, verse 26. The next day they come looking for him and he says, Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled.

[42:50] And Paul warns about somebody whose God is their belly who mined earthly things. And so we'll stop right there and we'll pick it up next week with that spot. So let's take about a 10-minute break right there.

[43:02] So let's take about a 10-minute break right there. Thank you.