The Gospel of John – Part Seven
Head (Helpful Information) – There are seven miraculous signs in the book of John. John chapter six gives us the fourth of these miraculous signs. It also gives us the first of seven “I am sayings,” where Jesus tells us something about himself and his relationship to the One he calls Father.
The story starts by telling us that a large crowd has been following Jesus around wherever he goes. It also tells us that they are following him around because they believe that he can do miraculous things for them, such as healing the sick and feeding the hungry. They are very interested in being around someone who can do things like that. Seeing that the people are still following him, Jesus turns to his disciples and says, “Where can we buy bread to feed all of these people?”
Jesus says this in order to test and strengthen the faith of his disciples. He is going to use this situation as an opportunity to grow their faith. They are out it the middle of nowhere and all that Jesus’ disciples are able to find is a little boy with a small lunch. Jesus tells the disciples to have the people sit upon the green grass, and there Jesus takes the bread and blesses it. He then proceeds the feed the crowd. This is the only miracle of Jesus that is found in all four Gospels.
The story is supposed to remind us of how God fed the people Mana in the wilderness in Exodus 16. It is also probably supposed to remind us of how the prophet Elijah multiplied 20 loves to feed one hundred people. Elisha, Elijah’s apprentice, multiplied the bread fivefold. Jesus is about to multiply it more than 1,000 fold. The story is also building on the promise found in Isaiah 25 that the Messiah would set a banquet before his people.
We many not make all of these connections, but the people in the story did. They grew up hearing these stories and promises and would have understood the connections. The conclusion that they drew was that Jesus was the new Moses, a title later given to the great rabbi Maimonides, or Rambam, as he is known. In the first century, many people thought that the Messiah would be like a second Moses. The Gospel of Matthew builds his case for Jesus around this idea. If Jesus is the second Moses, than he has probably come to solve all the peoples’ problems, including orchestrating the overthrow of the oppressive Roman rulers, just as God had used the first Moses to overthrow the Egyptian slave masters.
But Jesus is more than a second Moses and he refuses to let the people make him a king, built on those premises. That category, as the people understood it, did not fit. It was not big enough to contain and describe all that Jesus is. Moving on, Jesus tells his disciples to get in their boat and meet him on the other side of the sea. That evening, as the disciples made their way across to the other side, they encountered a storm so fierce that it threatened to send them to the bottom sea.
It is at the point of their greatest fear that see Jesus come walking across the raging waters. But, instead of calming the storm, Jesus calms his disciples, saying, “Do not fear. It is I (literally, I am).” It is at this point that the Gospel of John expects us to understand the big idea. When the Lord first appears to Moses, it is a time of great suffering and fear for the people of God. And God appears to Moses in the burning bush and says, “Do not be afraid. I am.” This is how the Lord identifies himself to Moses, by simply saying, “I am.” This is supposed to calm Moses’ fears.
Stay with me. And when the Lord, the Great I am, uses Moses to set the people free from slavery, he brings them through and across to the other side of what? That’s right, the sea! The people where right to connect the miracle of feeding the 5,000 to the story of Exodus. They were just wrong about what character Jesus is playing in the story. He is not Moses. He’s too big for that role. So, who is he? He is the great I am who pushes back the waves, so that he is able to see his followers through to the other side.
Heart – The Personal Connection
The next day, on the other side of the sea, the people catch back up with Jesus. They are still very interested in the one who can provide them with bread. Jesus tells them that he is able to give them life because He is the Bread of Life. He proceeds to tell them that they can have eternal life only if they eat his flesh and drink his blood. Now, as gross as that language seems, they knew full well that he was not suggesting cannibalism. They knew what he was really saying.
He is telling them that he is what they ultimately need. They want to be with Jesus because they are interested in him giving them things, like food, shelter, and political freedom. They want the blessings from his hands. He says, “I am not here to do that. I am here to offer you something more important than your next meal or a new form of government.” And in response to this, they turn their backs on Jesus and leave.
Are we any different from the crowd? Don’t we want Jesus to give us the things that we need? We want him to give us good jobs, and nice homes. We pray, asking him for good health, and to help our children get into good colleges. But what if Jesus wants to offer us something more important than all of that? And, even harder to ask, what if it were to come down to a choice? Would you chose Jesus over your job? Would you chose him over your group of friends? Would you chose him over all the world can offer? What if Jesus asked you to choose?
Most of the people in this story, when faced with a though choice, turned around and walked away. Notice that Jesus does not go running after them, begging them to stay. Nor does he soften the demands of discipleship. He simply lets them walk away.
Hands – The Practical Application
Jesus then turns to the few who are left standing there, his disciples. And he says to them, “Are you also going to leave?”
Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Friends, I wish that I could give you an easier Gospel. I find myself too much like the crowds that left Jesus and I want him to make easier for them and for me. But, Jesus either is who he claims to be, or he nothing at all. And if he is who he claims to be, nothing we can desire in this world can compete with him for our loyalties. We must make up our minds, and cast our lot. Will our decision be to to walk away, or to say with Peter and the other disciples, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know that you are the Holy One of God.”
I have no intention and no authority to offer you and easier Gospel or to tell you that following Jesus will not end up costing you a very high price in this age. In fact, no preacher of the Gospel has the right or authority to tell you those things. And, you should be very wary of anyone who does.
Nor can I promise that he will calm the storms when you are going through them. I can promise you that he will be with you in the storms, to calm you, and to give you courage, as he sees you through to the other side. That I can promise you.