“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 a mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.” John 6:1-4.
If the feast of the Jews mentioned in John 5:1 was the Passover, then the events being described here in chapter six take place about a year later.
Whatever the time lapse, the words, “After these things…” means that the feeding of the five thousand occurs in sequence after the events of chapter five. The feeding of the four thousand, recorded only in Matthew 15:32-39 and Mark 8:1-9 comes later.
Herod had built a city on the shore of the Sea of Galilee named Tiberias in honor of Tiberius Caesar so the sea became known as the Sea of Tiberias, an older name yet was Lake Gennesaret, see also Luke 5:1.
This sea was sixteen miles long by six miles wide with a depth of anywhere from 80 to 160 feet deep.
Other gospel accounts of this event show a number of things that are not mentioned here in John 6. The point though is that the narrative fits the message of the gospel of John, which confirms Christ’s deity, omniscience and creative power. It is also, as shown in verse 14, one of the seven signs of the book.
The scene before us is as follows; the Lord took His disciples to a mountain in the region of Bethsaida to rest apart from the crowds. As He taught them, He, “lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him…” then Jesus asked His disciple Philip a question.
Visualize this lovely spring day, perhaps you can remember one of your own out in the peace of the country, now see and hear the Lord talking to you.
Next imagine a large crowd amassing in the fields below you. With these things in mind, let us return to verse 2 for a clarification of the motivation of the gathering crowds.
“Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.” John 6:2.
Many in this multitude followed Him because they saw His signs performed on the sick; not because they recognized those signs as His credentials to being the Christ, but because of the entertainment value of such a healing event.
Folks like to be amazed, to be titillated by the sight of a missing limb growing back before their eyes, but all the healing tent meetings in the world will not produce faith, for, “…faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17.
A healing ministry will not produce fruit without the gospel of Jesus Christ being given at the same time. And Jesus did preach the word of God to this group, but for the majority their cold hearts of unbelief became stronger.
If they did not believe Jesus, do not be disappointed if they do not believe you. As we saw in the story of the rich man and Lazarus; when Abraham was asked to send Lazarus back from the grave to tell the rich man’s brothers of the torments of hell, he gave this reply.
“Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’” Luke 16:29-31.
“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17.
“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. 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?’” John 6:5-9.
Jesus asked Philip this question to test him, do not be amazed at his lack of faith for the disciples seemed continually to fall short in their estimation of the Lord’s abilities.
Philip’s answer betrayed his lack of faith. When asked this question he might have done better if he had remembered Ezekiel’s reply to God when he was asked the following.
“Son of man, can these bones live? So I answered, ‘O Lord God, You know.’” Ezekiel 37:3.
The Apostle John is asked a similar question by one of the elders in heaven in the book of Revelation, notice his cautious reply.
“Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, ‘Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?’ And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’” Revelation 7:13-14.
So the safest answer Philip could have given would have been Lord You know. This would have kept the disciple’s lack of faith hidden though, and we would have learned nothing from the incident.
There are at least two things to be learned here. The first being that we should not be frustrated by our lack of faith because we are in good company; we should not remain in that condition though, which is the second lesson; what do we do when tested.
The test does not have to consist of a question; instead it may be a situation that needs to be resolved.
Such things as should I buy this house or that one, do I take a promotion at work that will move me and my family out of state, am I called to preach or teach the Bible?
Other things like shall I remain faithful to my spouse even though I am unhappy and another has promise to make me happy.
Should I take advantage of a loophole in a contract to avoid fulfilling my responsibility, or can I give away or sell my employers legal proprietary secrets?
Some of this is readily apparent; others seem to be in a gray area. Tragically, most of us will try to solve these tests on our own with “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient” answers instead of “O Lord God, You know.”
As soon as it arises every question should be taken to God in prayer; more than once if necessary. The godless may call you a gutless child, but after carefully listening to God you buy a sturdy house and he buys one over a sinkhole, his words will seem to carry less weight.
“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7.
Use care when praying for God’s guidance in a matter, we have to listen to Him, not ourselves. Too often we decide that God wants us to have something because that is what we are lusting for.
Then as we pray, the reasons and rationalizations come from our heart rather than God’s Spirit. This is a dangerous thing and people blame God for steering them wrong on a bad decision that they actually made, not Him. I guarantee this from personal experience.
If you pray about all the little things throughout the day you will start to get the hang of hearing God, and when the big things come along, you will be in a better position to make a godly decision.
Another thing about godly decisions, God will not have you do anything which conflicts with Scripture. If you are unhappy with your spouse and another comes along who seems to be just made for you this does not mean that God took pity on you and sent your soul-mate to you.
It means you are being tempted by the devil and you are about to break one of God’s commandments. God does not bend the rules, and Scripture covers everything we need to know.
This is why you must live godly and pray earnestly about the decisions which will impact your entire life.
“Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name Jabez [literally he will cause pain], saying, ‘Because I bore him in pain.’ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested.” 1 Chronicles 4:9-10.
If you cannot find the answer, get counseling. If you are unhappy with your spouse, get counseling.
After Philip gave his answer above, another disciple, Andrew came to the Lord and told Him about a lad he had found who had five barley loaves and two small fish.
Five Loaves Two Small Fish, John 6:1-9 taken from godisrevealed.com posted on 9-12-12, updated on 8-9-17.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version, copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission, all rights reserved.