Is Jesus Enough?

Again, just make sure that you have the Bible open at that passage. Keep it open there. About the feeding of the 5,000. Like Andy said, it feels like the 5,000 just went out.

And we few who are left, we have God's word, don't we? Let's pray and ask him to speak to us through it. Lord, we thank you that your word is sweet to our taste when you enable us to know that.

We thank you that it is sweeter than honey. But we do need you to experience that. We need your Holy Spirit to help us. So we pray, Lord, would you send your spirit to work in our hearts.

Lord, we pray that he would help us to think and to listen, to eat and to believe. In Jesus' name. Amen.

No matter how much I do, it never seems to be enough. Do you ever have that feeling? I do. No matter how much I have, I never seem to have enough.

Somewhere inside us there's this insatiable hunger, the hunger that doesn't go away. No matter how much we eat, no matter how much we have.

How much is enough? How much is enough? Well, interestingly, there was a book written with exactly that title, How Much Is Enough, by a couple of gentlemen called Robert and Edward Skidelsky, a philosopher and economist.

And it was really about, well, what is a good life? How much do you have to have to have enough? And the reason they wrote this book is because in the 1930s, possibly the greatest ever economist, a man called John Maynard Keynes, predicted that within a century, about six years from now, in other words, that the income that we each enjoy would have gone up steadily and people's basic needs would all have been met so that we would only have to work about 15 hours a week.

Clearly, he was wrong, wasn't he? Because although the income's definitely gone up the way that he said, our wants and needs don't seem to have been satisfied.

And I don't know about you, but I don't work a 15-hour week. There isn't enough, is there? And we can see that everywhere around us if we stop and pause.

What's our new government saying? Our new government is saying there isn't enough money. And what are people in our community saying? They're saying, I don't have enough support. I can't make ends meet, financial, emotional, whatever it may be.

Even around here. And what's the Ukraine saying? Ukraine is saying, I don't have enough armaments to resist the Russian invader. I don't have what it takes to fight the enemy.

And those of us who are parents or caring for relatives, don't we often feel like we don't have enough sleep and we don't have enough time and there isn't enough to go around? And what about our kids?

When they're facing the demands of the world out there, as it is now, a lot of them mentally are discovering they don't have enough. Everywhere we look, there's an enormous depth of need.

And we can't possibly meet those needs, can we? In fact, most of us, maybe all of us, are walking around with needs of our own that have not been fulfilled and maybe will never be fulfilled.

Sometimes it's the kind of need that leaves a hole in your bank balance and gives you some sleepless nights. Sometimes it's the kind of need that is aching pain down in your heart and never goes away.

And in some ways, that doesn't change when we become Christians, does it? We still live with our needs, surrounded by a world full of need.

And then this morning in the scripture, we encounter Jesus. Now, who is he in the face of all of this need?

Is he just the next YouTube prophet as it was then or the next Instagram celebrity here today, gone tomorrow?

Or is he more? Is he the one? Is he the one who really gets it? Is he the one who has enough? And that's really our question today.

Is Jesus enough? And if you look at the context for our passage, look at your Bibles, that's exactly the question on everybody's lips. Who is this Jesus?

Is he the one? Is he enough? If you look back to verse 9, Herod wants to know what's going on and he says, I beheaded John the Baptist. Who then is this?

I hear such things about. And even the king says he needs to see Jesus. And then if you look at verse 18, just after our passage, once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, who do the crowds say I am?

It's the question on every lips. Who is this Jesus? Is he the one? Is he enough? And that's the question that our passage answers. So let's look at it together.

Verse 10. When the apostles returned, remember Jesus has sent them out, kind of on the campaign trail for him to introduce the kingdom. When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done.

And then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida. So the apostles come back and Jesus knows that they need rest.

They need rest. So he takes them somewhere quiet. They need rest and time with him. See, Jesus knows their need. Jesus knows our need.

Let's keep reading. But the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and he spoke to them about the kingdom of God and healed those who needed healing.

So Jesus wants to get away, but the crowds follow him. And what does he see? He sees a group of ordinary struggling people who desperately need a loving welcome. They are desperate for a good news kingdom in a bad news world.

And they need healing. And they need relief from their daily struggles. I mean, they'd have to be desperate, wouldn't they, to follow him all of that distance to such a remote place, no food and water with them.

Jesus knows their need. So that thing that your heart is aching for, friend, that you think is your greatest need, he knows. He knows.

I just want to invite you to take a moment quietly to call to mind what you feel the biggest need is in your life. You can express it to Jesus with those words.

Jesus, I need more, whatever it might be. Just take a moment to do that. Now, I'd love to invite you to just take a moment to dwell on the fact that Jesus knows the answer to that question for you.

Just use a moment to talk to the Lord about that. Let's keep reading together.

Verse 12. Late in the afternoon, the twelve came to him and said, send the crowd away so that they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging because we are in a remote place here.

Where do the disciples bring this problem? To whom do they go? They have an instinct, don't they? They bring that question, the problem, the need, to the Lord Jesus.

Don't they? And then verse 13. This is possibly the most confusing bit in the entire passage. He replied, you give them something to eat. Now, if I was one of Jesus' disciples, I think I'd be getting a bit annoyed at this point because Jesus has asked us to do some pretty crazy things.

Let's just flick back up to the beginning of the chapter. What does he say in verse 3? Take nothing for the journey. No stuff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. Okay, Jesus.

You're sending me off and you're telling me to basically not think ahead, not take anything with me. That's one thing. And now, I've brought you this problem. There are 5,000 people here. They're hungry. They're thirsty. They need food.

And you're telling me you feed them. Why on earth does Jesus say that? Isn't he supposed to know everything? Doesn't he know that all we've got between us is five loaves and two fish?

And that we definitely don't have the money to go and buy 5,000 people plus women and children dinner. Surely he knows that's impossible.

Well, of course he knows. Of course he knows that. He says it to help them realise and acknowledge that they cannot meet this need. That what they need is him.

And it's here for us to make us realise the same thing, to make us acknowledge that our greatest need we cannot meet. That our greatest need is Jesus.

Jesus. It would be great to be thinking about healthcare Sunday today. Doctors and nurses are wonderful, aren't they?

But they don't know everything, do they? Our youngest daughter, Corrie, is on an exclusion diet at the moment and we try and sort of show a little bit of solidarity with that so she can't have certain things at breakfast and sometimes we try to eat the same things then that she has to eat.

I tell you what, it's a pretty painful process. There's a lot of hungry and grumpy people around the table. It's not very much fun, is it? The reason that they've got her on an exclusion diet is actually they don't know what the problem is.

It's to try and rule things out but even the best human doctors can't just look at you and say, I know what your problem is, it's this. Life feels a bit like an exclusion diet sometimes, doesn't it?

a very hungry way to figure out what really needs to be healed. Jesus knows that what most needs to be healed is our relationship with God, our maker, our saviour and our Lord.

For that we need him, we need Jesus to make that happen and so he is our greatest need. God, that's why Jesus takes the tired apostles away with him to a quiet place.

He doesn't send them off on a spa break for some introvert time, does he? He says, come away with me. That's why Jesus tells the crowd first about the kingdom.

First he shares with them the good news about himself and then he heals them and provides for their need, which is the same pattern in verse two.

That's why Jesus challenges the disciples, yes, look within yourself, look deep within yourself. Have you got the resources to meet this need?

He's helping them to realise what we all need to realise, that Jesus is our greatest need. And then suddenly things begin to make sense, don't they? That's why in response to the deep need and pain that he sees around him, Jesus calls himself, the bread of life and the living water.

He doesn't call himself the bottomless wallet, does he? He doesn't call himself the medicine that cures all ill. He doesn't say, I'm the man who can help you find within yourself your inner power so that you can meet all your needs.

No. Jesus is our greatest need. We're talking about how often people go and see the GP in the UK, six times a year, was that right, Andy?

On average. How quick are we to make that appointment? Is it the first sign of trouble that you ring up the GP? Mind you, I think even if you did ask for an appointment at the first sign of trouble, you probably still wouldn't be quick to see a GP at the moment, would you?

I guess we probably all have times and people that stick in our minds where unfortunately, people waited too long to go to the doctor, didn't they?

The reason we go to the doctor is that they often see more than we do. And so sometimes they come up with a treatment or a solution that we absolutely wouldn't.

And Jesus is a bit like this. He is the doctor that we are too slow to go and see and when we come he sees much more and he prescribes a cure that we wouldn't ever have thought of.

He prescribes himself. And so there is a warning too, don't be too slow to take your need to Jesus. Don't be too slow to go and see the doctor.

Because when we feel that deep hunger and need in our soul, people that we can't meet, then we are beginning to wake up to the fact that we need Jesus. Just take a pause again to just try and remember the last time that you realised that you didn't have what it took.

I don't have what it takes to meet my own needs. Just take a moment. When did I last realise that? Having done that, I invite you to just go to Jesus and acknowledge that he is your greatest need.

And if it's helpful to you, then just use this prayer that's up on the screen, if you can read it. You might be thinking, well, this is all very well, but how do we know that Jesus is telling the truth?

How do we know that he's worth listening to? How do we know that our needs will be met? That he is enough? Just think about the lame man. Well, Jesus, you say you can forgive his sins, but can you actually heal him?

And this good news that you've just told the crowd, well, that won't feed them, will it? Let's look at verses 14 to 17. But he said to his disciples, make them sit down in groups of about 50 each.

And the disciples did so, and everyone sat down, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. And then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people.

They all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. Can you see how Jesus answers our question?

Can you see that Jesus is enough? He has the ability to take that very little, the five loaves and the two fish. and to make it enough.

And today still, he has the ability to take our very little and make it enough. In fact, he has the ability to take our very little and make it more than enough.

Doesn't he? Twelve basketfuls left over. Jesus is enough. He's the same God that we heard providing manna and quail for his people in the desert when we were looking at numbers, isn't he?

After he'd set them free from slavery, because that's their greatest need. Yes, Jesus is that God. Psalm 23, he spreads a table before us in the presence of our enemies.

Jesus is that God. He's the one who feeds our hearts week by week from the Bible, as Andy was helping us understand earlier. It's him that we symbolically feed on when we have communion together, isn't it?

He is the great host who invites us to the wedding feast above. It's a place where we will break our fast, where we will meet our need for the last time, where Jesus will satisfy us always.

So when we say to God, I need more, Jesus says to us, I will be more than enough for you.

And his feeding of the 5,000 is the proof. That's the main reason that Luke puts this story here. He wants to teach us that Jesus is enough.

I want to finish by telling you a story. Once upon a time, there was a woman who went to the supermarket. That's how all great stories start, isn't it?

She went to the supermarket and she was in the frozen food aisle, because that's where all the real drama happens, in the frozen food aisle. And while she was there, she heard an almighty crash two aisles over.

You know, one of those ones that you hear and then suddenly there's dead silence afterwards. And then naturally she wondered, well, what's going on? And everybody's looking at each other and they're all whispering, what's happened?

What's happened? And the woman decides that she's seen enough of the frozen food aisle and she's going to go and investigate what this almighty crash is. And as she rounds the corner of the aisle, what she sees is an old lady in the midst of a huge mess.

See, she was reaching up to take a bottle from the shelf. And as she did it, unfortunately it fell. And what did it take with it? The entire shelf. And everything on the shelf beneath.

And so there is this poor lady in the middle of this mess, desperately trying to clean up. And everyone's whispering. And no one's helping. And life feels like that sometimes, doesn't it?

Just, ah. And everyone's whispering. No one's helping. And the woman from the frozen food aisle has compassion.

And so she goes to the lady and she stoops down and she says, don't worry, I'll help you with this mess. And we start to clean up together. And then the supervisor comes down the aisle and you think, uh-oh, what's going to happen now?

And the supervisor comes over and he says, miss, don't worry. We will clean this up. And the old lady thinks, oh, I need to, no, don't worry.

We will clean it up. And the old lady gets to her feet, very relieved that she doesn't have to clean it all up. And she takes out her wallet because, of course, you need to pay for the damages, don't you?

And she turns to the manager, the supervisor, and she says, how much? How much is it going to be? And the supervisor says, there is nothing to pay. We have insurance that covers all of this and we have a stockroom in the back that we will refill the shelves from.

That's us, friends. We sit among the broken glass of this world and we try and pick out something that is worth eating that will meet the need inside of us.

And all the time, God has a huge storm out the back. And he has insurance to cover the damage, the mess, the clean-up job, because that's what the cross is.

The cross is where Jesus pays for the damage and provides for our needs. The cross is where God proves to us once and for all that Jesus is enough.

Isn't that wonderful? Now, I didn't bring five loaves and two fish to share out today, but we do have biscuits in a moment.

And only today, goldfish crackers as well. So I would love it if each one of you would go up to the hatch afterwards and just take a biscuit or take a fish.

And please just eat one. And as you do that, do that as an act of trust in the Lord Jesus.

And as you eat that, in your heart say, Jesus, you are enough for me. Can you do that? Let's pray.

Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you. We cannot provide for ourselves. We thank you that you have done that.

We thank you that you have put your finger on our greatest need, like the doctor who never makes a mistake. And that you have provided for our need by giving us yourself.

And so, Lord, we thank you that sooner or later, all our needs will be met. And that eventually we will be with you in a place where there are no longer any needs.

There is just a joyful provision for all eternity. Thank you. Amen.