Last week we saw Jesus declare His divinity, as He repeated that He and the Father are always in perfect step with one another. As a man, Jesus yielded fully to the Father’s leading, even as He declared equality with the Father. So enraged were the Jewish leaders they wanted to kill Him, but it was not His time.

John 6:1-4

1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberius.

2 And 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, and there he sat down with his disciples.

4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

If this were a play, we might envision the curtain coming down as Jesus stands, looks intently at His critics, letting His words soak into their souls as chapter five comes to a conclusion. When the curtain rises and we notice that the scenery has changed, and because of the change we know that the story is taking a significant turn. We’ve moved from Jerusalem and Herod’s Temple to the Sea of Galilee. John, always mindful of his readers and the potential for misunderstanding lets us know that this sea is also known as the Sea of Tiberius. This little detail is important because it helps us date the writing of John’s gospel.

Tiberias was named after the Roman emperor. It was a small city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, founded by Herod Antipas. In Jesus’ time it was a relatively small and unimportant city. Tiberias didn’t become important until after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Thus, we can conclude that John’s gospel was written after 70 AD, probably a decade or more after the other three gospels were written.

We’re not told the exact amount of time that elapsed, but considering that chapter five began with a Jewish festival having just taken place in Jerusalem which was probably the Feast of Tabernacles (October), and the opening verses of chapter six indicate that the Passover feast was at hand (April), it is likely that about six months have passed.

Over these months Jesus’ reputation has continued to grow and He now has a large following. In today’s vernacular, we might categorize Jesus as an “influencer,” as He gains more and more “followers.” The difference, as we shall see later in chapter six, is that Jesus isn’t looking for followers, He’s seeking true believers, those who will leave everything to trust Him fully. As the crowd grows in number, Jesus will do the unexpected, parsing and significantly reducing its size, but we’ll save that discussion until our study at the end of chapter six.

John gives us a clue to the nature of these “followers” in verse two when he identifies their motivation: they saw the signs that He was performing on the sick. They were curious and marveled at what He could do. Due to poor medical care, it is possible that as much as twenty-five percent (one in four) of the population in the first century was sick and diseased. There were many that needed healing. No doubt, many in the crowd longed for the same healing for themselves. Some, starved for entertainment, were probably just enjoying the show revealing that the need to be entertained predates Netflix by several thousand years.

Even at church we can observe the same phenomena; people who attend for the entertainment, the music, or simply to hear an inspiring motivational speaker. Some attend because it makes them feel good, and others because of the hope that God will do something good for them. In other words, many were following Jesus, which was good, but they were following Him for the wrong reasons.

With all the sickness that was present in that day, Jesus could have spent all of His time healing, but verse three shows us that while He had great compassion for the masses, He still found time for the intimate circle of Disciples He was training and preparing to lead the church after His death and resurrection. We too, in all of our busyness, must make time to teach and mold our future leaders; our children, grandchildren, and other young people God puts in our path.

John 5:5-15

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?”

6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[a] worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”

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?”

10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.

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.”

13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

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!”

15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Jesus knew that many were following Him just because of the signs and the healings, and even though their motives may not have been very good, He did not turn them away. In His empathy He knew they were hungry, perhaps because He was hungry Himself. Yes, Jesus got hungry and tired just like each of us. It proves He was fully man, even as He was fully God.

A lesson here is that we cannot separate the physical and the spiritual. James 2:15-16 makes this abundantly clear.

15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food,

16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good[a] is that?

It is possible that we can become hardened to the needs of others, even while we are acting spiritual. We can say things like, “Be blessed,” and completely ignore obvious physical needs. When we do so, we may be saying to others that God is not a practical and compassionate God. But Jesus showed compassion. He met their physical need by feeding them, even though He knew many would leave him after their bellies were full.

Jesus turns to Philip and asks where they will buy bread to feed such a large crowd. Put yourself in Philip’s place. “Why is Jesus asking me this? I gave up everything to follow Him. I don’t have any money. Where’s Judas? He’s the one keeping the money bag.”

So, why did Jesus ask Philip this question? Well, we don’t have to wonder. The next verse answers the why question; Jesus asked Philip because He was testing him. Jesus knew what He was going to do.

The word “test” in the Greek is peirazö which means to tempt or to try to trap. We know this is not in line with God’s character. Strong’s Concordance helps by offering this explanation: The difference between a test and a temptation is found in the tester’s motivations and expectations; the devil tempts that the believer might fail God’s standards of faith and so sin; God tests that He might determine and sharpen true character, with no focus on making the believer fail.

We don’t know a lot about Philip or Andrew, but both are present in this exchange. I would say that Philip was a detail guy. He quickly does the math: “5,000 men plus women and children. Even we spent two hundred denarii (about eight months wages!) which we don’t have, at best each person would get what? Maybe, one bite? That won’t satisfy anyone’s hunger.”

Of course, I’m speculating what Philip was thinking. We’re not told his every thought, but Scripture makes it clear that God will test each of us in the areas that we need to be stronger. Jesus was helping Philip grow his faith, to trust God more fully. Thankfully, in the book of Acts we see that Philip learned well. In Acts chapter 8, verse 26 we read that Philip was told to by an angel of the Lord to get up and go south from Jerusalem to Gaza. Verse 27 says that, “he got up and went.” Notice that he didn’t calculate the mileage or question why he should go south and not north. He simply went.

The next character in our story is Andrew. Even though there is no other Andrew mentioned in the New Testament, it seems like he’s always identified as Peter’s brother. Recall from chapter one of John’s gospel that when Jesus asked Andrew to follow Him, the first thing he did was to go find his brother, Peter announcing that they had found the Messiah. Though it seems he was often in Peter’s shadow, there is no evidence that he complained. That’s admirable.

Andrew offers Philip some relief by suggesting that there is a boy who has five loaves of bread and two fish, but just as quickly adds—”but what are they for so many?” Jesus does not correct Andrew for his small pragmatic thinking. Instead, He takes the loaves and the fish, tells the people to sit, blesses what has been given, and begins the distribution. I think of the magician that starts pulling a scarf out of a black hat and the scarf grows longer and longer and longer. Jesus keeps breaking the bread, handing it out, reaching into the basket and pulling out more; again, and again, and again. He does the same with the fish.

The lesson here is probably obvious: He asks us to trust Him with what we have and allow Him to bless and multiply it. He never asks for what we do not have. Mark, in his gospel, gives the account of a widow who only had a single coin to offer when the offering plate was being passed. Everyone else gave more, but Jesus commended her because she gave all she had. It’s not simply a matter of money. Jesus asks us to trust Him with our time and talents, remembering that whatever we give to Him, we are returning since it all comes from Him in the first place.

The bread and fish just kept coming until “they were full” (verse 12). But Jesus is not done. He tells the Disciples to go pick up the left-overs. Twelve baskets full of bread are gathered (one basket per disciple?). Remember, there were only five loaves, not five baskets of loaves when they started. The people’s eyes are glazed over. They know they have seen and been part of a miracle.

We don’t know whether Jesus intended to give a sermon that day because when He looked out on the crowd, He could see that now that they were full, they intended to take Him by force and make Him king. Jesus will come as king one day, but not at this time. His warned that He came to be offered as a sacrifice like a lamb. Remember John the Baptist’s words from chapter one of John’s gospel: “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” But the people were not looking for a lamb, they were looking for a king.

Jesus wasn’t going to have any of that. He had no interest in any earthly kingdom. In His omniscience, Jesus knew that this is exactly how they would respond, yet He fed them. In the same way, we should not be surprised when people respond in the wrong way, but that should not stop us from doing what is right.

Jesus does what we see find Him doing again and again during His earthly ministry, He goes off to spend time with God the Father in prayer. What a good place to end our study; with a reminder of the importance of spending one-on-one time with God. Our ministries and other obligations are important, but we must continually remember that our personal relationship with God is the most important thing we do. That relationship gives us the energy and stamina to fulfill the promise of Philippians 4:3 –“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”