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“A Portrait In Compassion And Concern" • 7.21.19 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
“A Portrait In Compassion And Concern" • 7.21.19 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- John has just provided us with a
tremendous, theologically rich, treatise, captured in the response of Jesus to
His detractors in Jerusalem.
- In it, Jesus has claimed equality
with God the Father, having authority to give life as well as the power to
exercise judgment upon the world.
- He has not been shy with regard
to these claims and in the section before us, He again proves them by doing what
only God can do!
- John tells us in the beginning of
this gospel that Jesus "exegetes," the Father's character to us. (John
1:18) As such, let's look at "God's Compassion Upon The Multitude."
Verse 1.
Text
• John 6:1-3 : "After these things Jesus went over
the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. Then a great multitude followed
Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.
And Jesus
went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples." : The Lord had been in Jerusalem,
dealing with the unbelief of the religious leaders, who sought to drive Him
away by harassment.
- Jesus was actively being opposed in the
South, but He was happily received in the North. Interestingly, more than half
of His miracles will take place in this region. There is a correlation.
- When He came into town a "great
multitude" began following Him. The language seems to indicate a group
that kept following Him around.
- I can imagine a small crowd turning into an
ever greater crowd, as Jesus moved about.
- In a few verses, we'll find that this particular
group grew to multiplied thousands! Most of these people have attached
themselves to Him because of what they had seen Him do.
- Remember that John is not writing about every
sign that Jesus performed, otherwise, by his own admission he'd be unable to
gather enough paper to complete his work!
- The Lord's works were so well known, that
these people gathered just to see what He would do next. To many of these
people, Jesus represented their only hope for healing.
- If you were a person with an incurable
disease, would you not go out to seek this Man? If there is a possibility of
being made well, wouldn't you have wanted to be around?
- As the crowd gathered, the Lord took up a
station on one of the hills surrounding the sea with His disciples, who were
all wondering what Jesus would do as well. Verse 4.
• John 6:4-6 : "Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and
seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, 'Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?'
But this
He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do." : Passover crowds meant a boom in
tourism for this region. Jews traveling from northern countries came through
Galilee to get to Jerusalem.
- These crowds were about to empty out into
Judea, but they were here right now and the Lord has a great opportunity to
teach this massive crowd that had gathered around Him.
- At this moment, the Lord singles Philip out
with this question regarding where to purchase food for this crowd. Philip was
from this area, specifically Bethsaida. (John 1:43)
- Some have suggested that Jesus asked him
because he was the most familiar with the area. He would have known where to
purchase bread for the best price.
- Philip doesn't understand this in the moment,
but the Lord is not asking for the sake of information. He asked this in order to
test or evaluate his response of faith. You and I bristle at this.
- We want God to take us at our word. We want
Him to buy into our conception of our faith, because we believe we are pretty
strong and spiritually reliable. This is generally the problem!
- Our faith in Him is what it is, but it is
never what it should be! Jesus doesn't need the test for His own sake. He
already knows what He has in us.
- His tests are meant to expose us to what we
will grab ahold of when the pressure rises! Without His testing, we would be
fooled into thinking we have made it! His tests prove otherwise!
- This is why Pastor James will later tell his
scattered congregation to rejoice in the trials and tribulations that come our
way knowing that their was being built up and added to!
- Our tests are designed for the same purpose!
God is working in His disciple the practice of looking to Him first before
reaching to any other resource. He wants our reflexive trust placed in Him!
- Besides, when it comes to thinking that we
are integral to God's plan or that we can affect anything without Him, we'd
best memorize verse 6.
- He asked Philip, but He Himself knew what He
would do! He has already determined His course. God never needs our help!
Philip, like us, offers his suggestion anyway! Verse 7.
• John 6:7,8 : "Philip answered Him, 'Two hundred
denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may
have a little.' One
of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 'There is a lad here who has five
barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?'" : What would Philip offer in the face
of a large gathering crowd? What came to his mind immediately? A natural,
financial, worldly solution. This should be encouraging to you and I.
- Philip had the advantage of being an
eyewitness to the various miracles that John has included and excluded from
this record. You'd think that the question would be pretty elementary!
- "Where would we buy bread? Why buy it when
You can make bread in assorted varieties!" It's comforting that a disciple
that physically lived with Jesus missed the answer.
- Amazingly, Philip's answer was that they
didn't have the resource to deal with this present crisis. They needed more
money than they presently had for every one just to have a taste!
- A denarii was a single day's wage for the
average Israeli employee. Two hundred days, more than half a year's labor wage,
would be insufficient to the task!
- In the meantime, Andrew was eavesdropping and
thinking while Philp presented his plan. He came at this from a different angle
and offered his suggestion apart from the Lord's solicitation.
- We should always be careful not to offer the
Lord something that He hasn't asked us to look into! That usually doesn't end
well.
- Philip had looked at the question from a need
to procure supplies. Andrew looked at enlarging the supplies that they had on
hand!
- Among the crowd was a young man that had
brought his own lunch. His lunch proves his poverty. His lunch would have been
a few english muffins with a little sardine accent!
- You just have to love Andrew. It seemed like
a feasible plan when he thought of it. It's even likely that he hadn't even yet
looked in the bag before bringing it to Jesus.
- "They might be really big fish and
really large barley loaves!" When he saw what was in the bag, he wondered
out loud, "What are these among so many?"
- I have to say that I really like where Andrew
was going here. He was ready to hand the bag over to Jesus, but then, he looked
inside, looked around at the crowd and lost sight of his initial faith.
- We are often guilty of the same mentality. We
should view what we have in the light of Jesus, not view Jesus in the light of
what we have! That was the fatal mistake for Andrew.
- You have to wonder if both men weren't mocking
each other's plan silently! "What a stupid plan!" What we have are
two disciples who walked with Jesus, with two different perspectives.
- One offers the Lord a practical, worldly
resolutiion. The other anticipates a miraculous intervention.
- One cannot conceive of an action until he has
the resource to act. The other believes that God will simply enlarge what he
has to offer.
- Both men have a plan and both men believe
that the Lord will work. Both are learning and that is what it means to be a disciple
in the first place!
- How do you think Jesus responded to these
men? Do you think He frowned with displeasure? Did He look impatient, ready to
unleash a verbal tirade upon them?
- I think that the Lord just smiled at them
warmly. Jesus knew their limitations when He picked them. He's not worried
about their plans. He has plans of His own. Verse 10.
• John 6:10: "Then Jesus said, 'Make the people sit down.' Now there was much grass in the
place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand." : The place that the Lord chose for the
occasion was a perfect place for a picnic. The spring rains made the hill a
pleasant place to plant oneself in.
- John, writing years after the fact, remembers
the number of the men in attendance.
- Generally, when scholars account the total
number of people, they add in a gal and a few kids per man. Just adding women
would bring the total to 10,000 people. How many kids were there?
- Joseph and Mary eventually had 6 children.
That may or may not have been a big family during this period of history,
meaning that this crowd could easily have numbered 15,000!
-
However many people there are, they have no idea what is in store for them! Verse
11.
• John 6:11-14 : "And Jesus took the loaves, and when
He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to
those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said
to His disciples, 'Gather
up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.' Therefore they gathered them up,
and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which
were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did,
said, 'This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.'" : Andrew was quite proud when Jesus
actually took the loaves from the boy that he had pointed out! He probably gave
Philip a little teasing glance too!
- Before they could really understand what was
happening, the Lord, having given thanks, just started to hand the disciples
loaves. Imagine Peter taking out a handful of loaves and fish.
- He delivered it to the group at the edge of
the grass and then came back up to where Jesus was stationed. Several of the
others were on their way out with a similar looking tray in their hand.
- This went on until every person there got as
much as they wanted! Jesus wasn't handing out sample platters. Each person
could not have asked for more! They were "filled."
- The word speaks of being glutted, unable to
eat anything more even if they wanted to!
- Philip's practical idea would have given
everyone a taste, a Costco sample. God's idea was to fill every single person
to the point of complete satisfaction!
- The heart of God for the multitude was not to
give them a simple taste of His goodness, but to thoroughly satisfy their need,
to leave them full! Isn't that His desire in salvation?
- Religion will give them a taste of something,
rationed out exactly, proportionate to it's own richness. Jesus fills you full
so that you could not ask for more!
- These people couldn't eat any more if they
wanted to and there was still enough for the disciples to fill 12 personal
sized wicker baskets!
- Philip and Andrew looked at each other, each
carrying a basket on their heads, laughing and remarking that the answer to how
to get enough bread to feed the crowd was "Jesus!"
- That was indeed the prevailing sentiment
among those men that had walked away satisfied! They said, "There isn't an
ounce of doubt. This is the Prophet who has come into the world."
- They identified, correctly, the Lord as the
Prophet that Moses predicted would come to Israel in Deuteronomy 18:15.
He would be "like" Moses and Jesus had just made bread.
-
"This is the kind of man that should be King!" They had the right
idea, but came to it from the wrong perspective.
- They wanted a King that would bring them
bread continually, who would be a greater version of Moses. As flattering as
that might seem to be, the Lord was not impressed.
- We have seen the heart of God in the Lord's
compassion toward the multitude. We'll conclude this section by seeing "God's
Concern For His Disciples." Verse 15.
• John 6:15-17 : "Therefore when Jesus perceived that
they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed
again to the mountain by Himself alone. Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.
And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them." : There is a very important principle
that is here for us that we'd best not ignore. God doesn't want us to trust Him
for what He does for us!
- The Lord didn't want a kingdom based upon His
ability to supernaturally perform signs and wonders with followers who are
waiting for His latest parlor trick!
- He wants a Kingdom of priests who have been
supernaturally transformed by His Spirit, men and women who will trust Him and
obey His Word despite what they do or do not see!
- Men and women are always ready to bow their
knee to King Jesus when He meets their need in a way that they are satisfied
with.
- What happens when God decides to do something
a different way? Only a person endowed with the Lord's Spirit can endure that!
- Naturally, Jesus didn't allow these men to
take Him, so He went off on His own, while the disciples got into the boat to
head back toward Capernaum during the early evening hours.
- The other gospel accounts tell us that Jesus
"made His disciples get into the boat."
- Why did He send them out, knowing what was
out in front of them? I believe that the lake, away from the people, was the
safest place for the disciples to be!
- They didn't need anyone feeding their
imaginations of what Jesus could be! They needed to remain dependant upon the
Lord to reveal Himself as He was to them!
- Perhaps you wonder why God has you somewhere
away from "the action." You might resent Him for that, but at least
you won't be led down the wrong path in following Him!
- Jesus told them that He would catch up to
them. They just didn't realize where He would do that! When He does, they will
have something better than a "Bread King!" Verse 18.
• John 6:18-21 : "Then the sea arose because a great
wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus
walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, 'It is I; do not be afraid.' Then they willingly received Him
into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going." : The Sea of Galilee, as I've
previously mentioned, is a glorified lake that is situated nearly 700 feet
below sea level.
- The best way to describe it's topography is
to think of a bowl. The Sea of Galilee is at the bottom of that bowl and is
subject to severe and unpredictable weather patterns.
- When the warm air on the water interacts with
the cool mountain air that flows down from the north, it's not unusual for the
weather described here to become a reality in very short order.
- John recounts that the men had rowed 3 or 4
miles. What he doesn't tell us is how long they had been rowing. The other
accounts record a potential 8 hour rowing session! (Mark 6:48)
- The winds was contrary to them, meaning that
they were basically rowing just to hold their position! I want you to think
about these men admirably.
- Jesus told them to get into the boat and
traverse the lake. That is what they were determined to do! They could have
turned back and let the wind drive them, but that's not what they did!
- The sea of Galilee is about 8 miles wide, so
these men were at the point of no return, equidistant to both shores,
determined to follow their Lord's orders!
- I hope you agree, but if you don't, I'm not
bothered: I'd rather be found by the Lord in the middle of the lake, hopelessly
rowing and getting nowhere than being anywhere He didn't call me to!
- You and I cannot imagine the physical
exertion that overwhelmed these men. Think of their arms, their backs and their
blistered hands.
- We aren't told, but I'm convinced that Jesus
came walking up right at the end of their resolve! When they saw Him, they were
afraid!
- Understandably, the disciples were afraid as
they saw this figure walking toward them. What that must have looked like in
the dark, with the sound of waves crashing all about them is a mystery.
- Their fears lasted until they heard His
voice. "It is I. Do not be afraid!" When Jesus said this, He quite
literally commanded their fear to go!
- When they listened to His voice, they brought
Him into the boat and were immediately at the spot that they intended to go!
That might be the greatest miracle of all.
- Without explaining how it happened, the
disciples were all of a sudden at the shore the moment Jesus entered the boat!
- However long you and I struggle, remember
this: When the Lord chooses, He'll bring us to land without any trouble! That
is what God can do when He's in the boat with you!
Conclusion
- When God
looks out upon the multitude, the mass of people that are looking for hope,
remember that He looks at them with compassion.
- If they will
come to Him, He will not offer them a snack, but will offer them a feast that
will satisfy their deepest and eternal needs, but He will do so on this simple
term: "Believe in Me!"
- When the Lord
looks upon His disciples, He's concerned that they will be influenced by the
wrong ideas, so He sends them into a storm where they will be safe from being
derailed in their faith.
- When the time
is right, He will show Himself and give success to their labor. He simply gives
on condition: "Don't be afraid. Trust in Him!"
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