Tag: feeding five thousand

Bread: Not Just a Comfort Food

John 6

Devotion by J.J. Fletcher (Minnesota)

Hunger is a powerful thing. It can affect your mood, and it can cause you to make poor decisions. There’s the old saying, “never go shopping on an empty stomach”. You will buy stuff that you don’t really need because your mind is affected by hunger. I can relate to that. Once upon a time, while I was at the Bible college, a friend and I decided to go on a green tea fast. On the day that we broke the fast, I went grocery shopping and spent way more money than I should have on food, and I’m pretty sure most of it went to waste. I was buying out of hunger, not necessity. I’m sure you can relate to my bad habit of stopping and getting horribly unhealthy food because you were hungry, and it was quick and convenient. Maybe you decided to stop because it was a cheap option?

We see the miracle of Jesus feeding 5000. There were a lot of extra people around because Passover was coming up soon. They find themselves in the conundrum of not having enough food for all these people who are gathered to hear Jesus. They could perhaps go buy food, but that would take a lot of time, not to mention money. And how do you source food quickly for this many people? How many people would be required to carry it back? I don’t really think there’s an avenue for coordinating food for this gathering.

Jesus ends up telling the disciples to gather up all the food that the group has collectively. What they end up with is a boy who has five loaves of bread and two fish. This is a laughable amount of food for a group of 5000 plus. Jesus prays over the food, and they start passing it out, and they pass and they pass, and they pass and they end up having leftover food after everyone has eaten their fill. What a miracle. Jesus perceives that the people being moved by this miraculous action are going to try to grab him and make him king forcibly. It is not the proper time, nor is this the proper motivation. Jesus is king because God declares it himself, not because of this miraculous meal.

Jesus withdraws to be by himself. The disciples set sail across the sea without Jesus, but encountered him walking on the water. They are freaked out, but they’re glad when they see it’s him, and once he’s on the boat, all is well. But the crowds are hungry for more and start to search for Jesus.

The people want to see more miracles, but that is not the purpose of Jesus’ ministry; rather, an attestation of the power behind him. Jesus’ message of the Kingdom of God is truly powerful. Jesus says that the crowds are not seeking him, not even after the power behind the signs that they saw, but because they had been well fed. 

The people bring up the desire to see miraculous signs and recall that their fathers ate manna in the wilderness. Jesus, comparing his role to that of Moses, says that it was not Moses who fed the Israelites in the wilderness, but that it was God. He warns them of seeking temporal comforts and satiety; rather, they should seek after the true life-changing and life-saving power of God. Jesus’ claim that he is the “bread of life” or “bread come down from heaven” is a claim that God has ordained, empowered, and approved his Kingdom ministry and his standing as the savior. 

It is a long and winding road that leads to the cross. Many will reject the bread of life for the bread of satiety or comfort, or maybe bread leavened with the yeast of the Pharisees, but many do take Jesus up on his “the bread of life” offer and are the beneficiaries of God’s amazing power that was and is at work in the hearts of the redeemed.

Reflection Questions

  1. What significance do you see in the contrast of Jesus’ miracle, the manna of the Exodus, and the Bread of Life that Jesus speaks of?
  2. Does the metaphor of food effectively drive home Jesus’ emphasis on the importance of the Gospel for true life?
  3. In what ways can you take Jesus’ words from John 6 and apply them you your life in a way that strengthens your personal ministry?
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Seek Not to Please Myself

John 6-7

john-6-35

Saturday, May 27

As I started reading John 6 & 7 a few key quotes from Jesus recorded in the end of John 5 were still ringing in my ears:

“For I seek NOT to please myself but him who sent me.” (John 5:30)

“I do not accept praise from men…How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God.” (John 5:41, 44)

Here Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Son of Man, was saying quite clearly and repetitively – it’s not about me.  He did not seek to please himself or earn the praises of men – his goal was only and always to please God and hear the praises of his Heavenly Father.

Chapter 6 begins with this same Jesus feeding the famished five thousand with five small barley loaves and two small fish – and ending up with twelve baskets of left-overs.  As the one primarily responsible for feeding my family of 5 three times a day, I have always been greatly impressed with this miracle!  And, he follows it up with walking on the water!  There is no doubt that this Jesus has just earned some serious bragging rights.

Instead, he turns it into a teachable moment and offers himself as the bread of life – the bread and body that must be broken for others to live.  This is what he offers to the world not because he is the one who dreamed it up, and not because he was looking forward to it, and not because he desired it – but because he knew he came, “Not to do MY (Jesus’) will but to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38).

In Chapter 7 he continues, “My teaching is not my own.  It comes from him who sent me.” (7:16) and “I am not here on my own, but he who sent me is true.” (7:28).   While some wanted to kill him, others wanted to make him king.  And yet – none of that really mattered to Jesus.  He was teaching God’s Word and living – and later dying – God’s Will.  His one-track mind and life was centered on what his Daddy desired and had planned from the beginning of the world.

Two things seem clear.

First, Jesus was definitely NOT claiming to be God, nor did he desire to be considered as God in any way.  His repeated use of, “not me/mine…but He/His” were pointing out the differences – two beings, even though their purposes would be the same – at Jesus’ choosing.  Today, would I hold any credibility if I stated, “I do not seek to please myself, but only what I want?”  Or, if I said, “My teaching is not my own but it comes from me”, would people listen to me for long?  Over and over again, Jesus is drawing some pretty clear lines between His Father God and himself.  Two beings, united in purpose – because that is what Jesus chose – to follow His Father and not himself.

Second, how must I change my focus, my goals and my everyday life so that I, along with Jesus, can confidently say, “Not my will, but His be done,” “My teaching is not my own, but God’s.”  “I seek not to please myself, but my Heavenly Father.”  No doubt the Son of God set an example for us to follow.  It is a path that requires laying aside all selfishness and pride, as well as false teaching.    It is not an easy road.  But when we live our life to please God our Father, just as Jesus did, we won’t be disappointed in the end!

-Marcia Railton

 

(Photo Credit: https://dailyverses.net/john/6/35)