About Five Thousand in Number

John 6:1–21 – That You May Believe
First Sunday of Advent  – December 1, 2024 (am)    

Sometimes we see reflections of ourselves in God’s Word that show us things we desperately need to see. Jesus does some amazing things in today’s text, building on what we saw and heard last Sunday—things that continue bearing witness to Who He is and why He’s here. But we also see reflections of our own very odd responses to Him in those of the people and then of His disciples, reflections that show us just how misguided such responses actually are. Let’s work through this text thinking all along what would be the best response to Jesus in these situations. There are two distinct scenes in this passage.

God Provides For His People – 1-15

1 After this, some indefinite time later, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias because of the city by that name on the western shore that had been named for Tiberius Caesar (Carson 1991 268). 2 And, of course, a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, likely the area we now call the Golan Heights (Mounce 436), and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. And due to the indefinite chronology (1), we don’t know which one this was during Jesus’ earthly ministry. But it’s the second of three… mentioned by John (cf. 2:13; 11:55) (Mounce 436). 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” This question echoes Moses’ similar question to God in the wilderness, “Where can I get meat for all these people?” (Num.11:13) This is [the first] of several parallels between [this passage] and Num.11 (Köstenberger 2007 443) We’ll point out a few of them as we progress. But everything in today’s passage is continuing the witness we heard last Sunday (5:30-47), to Jesus’ identity as God-in-the-flesh. 6 [Jesus asked] this question to test [Philip], for he himself knew what he would do, another significant piece of the witness that He’s God. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii, about eight month’s wages (niv), worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” This seems like a calculated answer more than an exaggerated one, but it alerts the reader to the extraordinary nature of the [coming] miracle (Kruse 162). 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”—recalling the prophet [Elisha’s feeding of] one hundred men with twenty barley loves and some ears of grain (2Ki.4:42-44) (Köstenberger 2007 444), but also the feeding of many more with much less as Israel wandered in the wilderness for forty years. 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place, a familiar image of the bounty of God’s provision (cf. Köstenberger 2007 444). Psa.23:2 He makes me lie down in green pastures. … And later, Jesus Himself will say: 10:9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. These people here were literally finding pasture. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number, not counting women and children. And we know children were present because of the boy who was carrying bread and fish (9). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost,” a common Jewish practice (Carson 1991 271), but also yet another echo of Israel’s experience and unique promises of God’s provision for them: Jer.31:14 … my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord. 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. It’s so tempting to find significance of many sorts in the fact that there were twelve baskets remaining, that’s such a profoundly important symbolic number, but there’s just not a clear enough connection to any of the many, many other appearances of the number twelve. Plus, when four thousand were fed with just a bit more food (Mar.8:1-10; Mat.15:32-39), only seven baskets full (Mar.8:8; Mat.15:37) were left over, another heavily symbolic number, but also one that lets us know that quantity is more the emphasis here, abundance, more than symbolic insinuations. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Put differently, these people knew this was significant. They didn’t know just what to do with it beyond that, how to interpret it, but they knew something truly important was happening here, something from God. They could see that Jesus was providing food for the nation just as God had done in the wilderness and the implications were all but inconceivable! Whatever it meant, longstanding and long-awaited promises from God were being fulfilled! There may be some question when individual sick people were healed (4:46-53), even those who’d previously been unable to walk (5:2-9), but this feeding of a large crowd with effectively no resources at all was a whole new level of greatness!

What might it all mean? Before they were able to be sure, two things happened. The first was immediate: 15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, and well before His appointed hour (cf. 2:4; 4:21, 23; 7:30; 8:20; 12:23, 27; 13:1; 16:32; 17:1), Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. And the second thing played out over the next several hours.

God Protects His People – 16-21

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, and 17 got into a boat. Mark said Jesus made his disciples get into the boat (Mar.6:45). It’s clear that he didn’t want [them] to be caught up in the excitement of the crowd, lest they lend their support to an ill-advised messianic uprising (Mounce 438-9). So, they loaded up and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, quite possibly an assessment of the spiritual conditions, not just the physical (cf. 3:2; 13:30) (Carson 1991 274), and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing, not an unusual occurrence as the evening cool descends onto a body of water that’s six hundred feet below sea level (Carson 1991 275). 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles into a trip that was probably 4 or 5 miles total (Kruse 165), they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat. Some try to use John’s word-choice against him here to say that this wasn’t really a miracle—v.19 could be interpreted either as Jesus walking [by] the sea or as [His] walking on the sea (Carson 1991 275). But we’re helped here by the fact that this miracle alone is recorded in all four Gospels. Mark said the boat was out on the sea (Mar.6:47) and Matthew said it was a long way from the land (Mat.14:24). And surely that’s what John meant as well or I doubt he’d have added, and they were frightened. If they’d spotted Jesus nearby on the shore, I think they’d have been glad to see Him! 20 But he said to them, “It is I, literally, I am. This surely draws the reader’s attention to other uses of this statement in John’s Gospel, ones we’ll talk about as we come to them (cf. 8:58)—Jesus’ clear assertions of being one God with the Father. We should probably hear an echo of those assertions here, but the very same words could also be used to say: It is I; and it seems like that’s probably what Jesus meant here (Carson 1991 275). He was simply saying: It is I; do not be afraid.” 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. This appears to be one final witness in this account to Jesus’ being God; the most natural way to read this is that, once He was in the boat, they immediately found themselves at their intended destination. Only God can do such things. Psa.107:28 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble and he delivered them from their distress. 29 He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. 30 Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven. This is the work of God!

Conclusion

So, what does this mean for us? Three reflections come back at us from this passage.

Three Reflections

Jesus is God and there is no way to miss that demonstration. Jesus posed the key question (5) already knowing what He was going to do (6). He did that to demonstrate Who He is, to confirm the witnesses He just cited (5:30-47). He did something only God could do (feeding people with virtually no food) and then He did something more (waling on the sea). Jesus wanted these people to understand Who He is, so He showed them in undeniable ways. Jesus is God! That leads to a second reflection.

God does whatever He purposes to do whenever He purposes to do it. Showing Himself to be God means He can accomplish whatever is needed whenever it’s needed. That’s just what He did here. And His people can rely on His provision and protection, knowing that nothing can impede His power. But it’s His power to accomplish His purpose. So, for instance, He’s not going to be made a king (15) according to their will or timing or desire. He’s going to do it according to His own will and timing. And that demonstration leads to an immensely important third reflection.

Only God can deliver people from self-directed pursuits. Only God can free us from our determination to pursue our own will and timing and desire, from our persistent efforts to use Him to get what we want, to try to convince Him that our will and timing and desire really are best. Selfish, foolish, as that sounds, we really do tend to live there. You can hear it in the way we pray—telling God all want and often without even a nod in the direction of Jesus’ example: Mar.14:36 … Yet, not what I will, but what you will. Or, as He said in last week’s passage (5:30) and will say again later in this very chapter (38): 5:30 … I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me. We tend far too easily to seek our own will and then charge God with wrongdoing if He doesn’t comply.

We believe He has the power to feed us. And when He does, we crown Him as king in our lives. But far too often He seems to leave us hungry. We know He does that in order to teach us something that’s more important to us than food. But we don’t like that. So, far too often, far too easily, we crown as king in our lives whatever fills the stomach of our desires in the most satisfying ways. We, we make Him king when He does what we ask. But then we can also depose Him whenever He doesn’t. It’s far too easy to live there.

At times it can feel like He withdraws to a place where we can’t find Him (15), leaving us to fend for ourselves in darkness and storm. And that just doesn’t seem right or fair or even loving. Then just the sight of Him, some reminder, can leave us feeling more frightened (19) than comforted, until He does the equivalent of climbing in the boat (21) and proving to us that, with Him, the intended destination is never far away, never.

Closing Charge

So, all along what we really need—and we sense it quite clearly even as we read these accounts—is a trust in Him that’s confident in His provision even when we’re hungry, that knows His presence and peace even in the darkness and storm, feeling full assurance that He’s just as worthy of our trust when we can’t see Him as when we can—see Him meaning, see His provision and sense His presence. That is the Jesus Who saves.

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Resources

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Osborne, Grant, ed. 1993. Life Application Bible Commentary. John, by Bruce B. Barton, Philip W. Comfort, David R. Veerman, & Neil Wilson. Wheaton: Tyndale.

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NEXT SUNDAY: Give Us This Bread Always, John 6:22–34