Five Loaves and Two Fishes

John 6:1-14

 

INTRO: The feeding of the five thousand with five loaves and two fishes is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels.  Because this miracle is recorded in all four of the Gospels, we can be assured that our precious Lord has some good spiritual food for us to feast upon in this passage.

The miracle of the loaves and fishes resembles the miracle of the water turned to wine in that Christ called into existence that which had not existed before.  The miracle of the water made into wine reminds us of the precious blood of Christ, and the miracle of the loaves and fishes points to our Lord’s broken body for us.

 

I.        VSS 1-4, JESUS CROSSES OVER GALILEE

A.       Vs 1, “After these things,” speaks of the vents of chapter five: the healing of the impotent man and the persecution of the Jews because Christ had healed on the Sabbath.

1. Christ departed from those who despised and rejected Him.

2. One of these days Christ is going to say to the Christ rejecters: “Depart from me ye that work iniquity” (Mt 7:23).

3. As Jesus went over the lake, the crowd mad its way around the top of the lake crossing the fords of the Jordan, to meet Him on the other side.

B.       Vs 2, The people did not see Jesus as Savior of the soul.  They saw Him as a miracle worker, as a smart physician who could heal folks.

1. Christ is more than a miracle worker.  He is Savior.

2. Christ is more than a great teacher. He is Savior.

C.      Vs 3, In the Gospel of Mark chapter six and verse thirty-one, we find that Christ was weary and went up to the mountain to rest with His disciples.

D.      Vs 4, The Passover was a feast that commemorated the deliverance of the Jews from the bondage of Egypt.  Jesus came not to deliver men from Rome (vs 15) but from their sins.

 

II.       VSS 5-7, PHILIP TESTED

A.       Vs 5, When Jesus saw the multitude, He, “was moved with compassion toward them” (Mt 14:14).  Although their motives for following Him were wrong (vs 2), He still loved them.  We can be glad that He loved us when we were unlovely (Rm 5:8).

1. The word for bread here is the Greek word artos which speaks of an oblong or round cake of bread about as thick as a man’s thumb and as round as a plate.

2. As we see in verse six, Jesus asks this question to test Philip.  Philip knew the area, knew what was available because he was from Bethsaida, a nearby town.

B.       Vs 6, Truly this was a difficult situation.

1. Difficulties do not come to God’s children by accident.  They come that they might prove us.

2. God wants us to look to Him when difficulty comes.  He wants us to believe Phil 4:19: “My God shall supply all your need....”   This is what the Lord wanted Philip to do; to trust Him.

a. We need to turn to God when difficulties come.

b. We all need to learn to ask in faith and then wait upon the Lord (Psa 43:5).

C.      Vs 7, We see here that Philip is under the circumstances.  He saw the great multitude and began to calculate.  Two hundred days wages would not be enough to give them even a little food.

1. He calculated without Christ.

2. His answer was one of unbelief.

3. “Fancy talking of ‘a little’ in the presence of infinite Power and infinite Grace!” (Pink 291).

4. How could Philip have such unbelief when He had seen Jesus heal the impotent man and seen the water that had been turned into wine?  His faith should have been strong; instead, it was weak.

a. Don’t be too hard on Philip!  Has not the Lord done many things for you, and yet you go in unbelief?

b. The God who made water into wine at Cana could surely feed the multitude.  Had Philip so quickly forgotten the power of God?

 

III.      VSS 8-9, ANDREW’S UNBELIEF

A.       Vs 8, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was near by and had heard the conversation between Jesus and Philip.

B.       Vs 9, The unbelief of Philip was infectious.  Unbelief is infectious and Andrew had been bitten by the bug of unbelief.

1. Andrew like Philip was blind to the glory and power of Christ.

2. The little lad that Andrew speaks of has five barley loaves and two small fishes.  The barley loaf is the food of the poor.

a. Andrew remarks: “What are they among so many?”   Only  five loaves and only two fishes:

b. Andrew spoke as though he had never seen Christ meet a need, had never seen Him heal the sick, or had never seen Him make the lame to walk.

3. We have before us:

a. A little lad.

b. A little lunch.

c. A big God.

d. Remember little is much when God is in it!

 

IV.      VSS 10-11, THE MULTITUDE FED

A.       Vs 10, Jesus gives the disciples a command.

1. “Make the men to sit down.....”

a. This is a test of obedience.  Why have the multitude to sit down when there is nothing to feed them?

b. When Christ commands, we are not to argue.  We are to obey.

1- Noah built the ark because God commanded him to.

2- We are to be obedient to the Word of God.  The Word of God is our absolute authority.

c. When faith fails, we are to be obedient.  When faith is weak, the best way to strengthen it is by obedience to Christ.

1- Obey when your eyes of faith are dim.

2- Obey when you are feeble in faith.

3- Obedience is evidence, not a condition, of salvation.

4- Don’t quit when your faith is weak.  Keep going and your faith will be strengthened.

2. “Sit down.”  If you are going to be fed spiritually, you must sit down.  Sit down and eat of God’s spiritual bread, or God may make you sit down.

3. “Now there was much grass in the place.”

a. Mark tells us that the grass was green.

1- We must rest in the “green pastures” of the Word if we are to be fed.

2- They sat down in companies.  They were as beds in a garden arranged for quick distribution of food.

b. There were five loaves and five thousand men.

1- Five is the number of grace.

2- By the grace of God, the multitude will be fed.  By the grace of God, you can be fed.

B.       Vs 11, The loaves were few in number.  The fish were “small.”

1. “Jesus took the loaves.....and likewise the fishes.”  God is pleased to use small things.

a. The tear of a babe moved the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter.

b. The shepherd’s rod of Moses was used to work miracles in Egypt.

c. God used David’s sling and a little stone to kill Goliath  the giant.

d. God used a little lad and a little lunch to feed a multitude.

2. “And when He had given thanks...”  We are to acknowledge God as the giver of every good and perfect gift.  We are to recognize that God is the source of our supply.

3. “He distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down....”

a. God uses human instruments.

b. God wants to use you and me to get out the Bread of Life to the needy (I Cor 3:9).

4. In Mark 6:41, we read Mark’s account where he says: “He [Jesus] looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave to His disciples.”  He is our example, as the father of a family, He sets the example.

a. The word “brake” is in the aorist tense and speaks of instantaneous act.

b. “Gave” is in the imperfect tense which denotes continuous action in giving.

c. The miracle of the bread and fishes being multiplied took place in the hands of Jesus.

d. Jesus brake the bread and kept on giving.