Sermon by Pastor Brent Kompelien
November 20, 2022
INTRO (SLIDE 1)
Good morning! We have a lot going on this morning, so we are going to jump right in to read our text. We are continuing our series in the Gospel of John called “Full of Grace and Truth” and we have now come to chapter 6.
In this chapter, the Apostle John lays out one of the most powerful moments in Jesus’ ministry. This chapter is a pivot-point. You see, up to this point Jesus has been performing miracles and crowds of people have begun to follow him. But by the end of chapter 6, almost everyone will desert him, and the rest of the Gospel of John will be filled with disputes about who Jesus is, arguments about his authority, and this theme of rejection of Jesus will eventually lead to the cross. So, what is it about chapter 6 that make this the dividing line?
KEY — Jesus says to these people, “I am what you need most.” “I am enough.”
Think about that. That statement is most fundamental dividing line. It is the central challenge we will see through the gospel of John: Do you believe that what you need most is Jesus?
In the rest of the gospel of John, Jesus will declare “I am the bread of life,” “I am the light of the world,” “I am the gate,” “I am the good shepherd,” “I am the resurrection and the life,” “I am the way the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me” and “I am the true vine.”
Today, we are going to see Jesus reveal what we need most by taking the central event that defined the Jewish people, the Exodus from Egypt, and using the symbolism of the Exodus to illustrate how God’s promise of redemption is now through Jesus himself.
This morning, we will be reading the account of a miracle that is rich with symbolism. We will focus on the deeper meaning behind this miracle, then after the new year we will be picking up this chapter to see Jesus’ own interpretation of these events as we get to the end of chapter 6. Between now and January, we will be doing a special Advent series leading up to Christmas.
PROP — Here’s what we are going to see in this passage: Jesus came to lead a new exodus and to form a new people; he came as the Greater Moses. But he is doing it in an unexpected way: He satisfies the physical hunger of a crowd of thousands of people as an illustration that he himself is the only one who can satisfy…that HE is more than enough for our deepest need.
Open with me to John 6:1-15. If you need a Bible, raise your hand. Let’s read our text. READ John 6:1-15.
ORG SENT — Remember, this text is rich with symbolism from the Old Testament, so I want to spend our time this morning understanding the deeper meaning of what Jesus is doing here. So, let’s simply walk through the story and look at how Jesus fulfills and redefines a new exodus of God’s people through himself.
MAIN 1 — New Exodus (vv. 1-15). (SLIDE 2a)
If you go back to verse 1, you’ll notice that some time has elapsed since the events of chapter 5. The last we saw Jesus, he was in Jerusalem and he healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda, and then he got into a dispute with the Jewish leaders who were accusing him of breaking the Sabbath and claiming to be God.
In chapter 6, Jesus is now in Galilee in the north of Israel, a multiple-day journey on foot. Most of the Jewish towns were on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, and the text says in verse 1 that Jesus went across the lake in a boat with his disciples to the far shore, which would have been the eastern side of the lake.
This would have been the Golan Heights region, which is a hilly and mountainous wilderness. This is critical for the events that follow, because it is no accident that Jesus is in a wilderness area where he is going to miraculously feed thousands of people.
We are already seeing some symbolism in this passage that alludes to the Exodus from Egypt: (SLIDE 2b)
The story begins with Jesus and his 12 disciples crossing through water, just as Moses led the 12 tribes of Israel through the Red Sea as they escaped Egypt. (SLIDE 2c)
Jesus has preformed signs and wonders that caused a huge crowd to follow him, just as God had performed signs and wonders through Moses and a huge crowd of Israelites followed Moses. (SLIDE 2d)
Then Jesus and the 12 disciples enter a mountainous wilderness in the Golan Heights region, just as Moses and the 12 tribes of Israel entered the mountainous wilderness on the Sinai peninsula. (SLIDE 2e)
To cap all this off in the introduction of the story, the Apostle John mentions in verse 4 that “the Jewish Passover Festival was near.”
What was the Passover Festival? (SLIDE 2f)
The Passover was an annual celebration that commemorated the Israelites’ release from slavery in Egypt. It is called Passover because the Angel of the Lord literally “passed over” the houses of the Israelites during the final plague of death because they had the lamb’s blood smeared on their doorposts. After this last plague, Pharaoh let God’s people go to worship him in the wilderness.
So in the background of chapter 6 is the story of release from bondage because of the sacrifice of the Lamb. Sound familiar? Sounds like what Jesus came to do!
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the Passover in the Gospel of John. There are actually three occurrences of the annual Passover festival, and it is one of the reasons why people say that Jesus’ ministry lasted three years.
(SLIDE 2g) John 2:13, 23 — “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Jesus alludes to his own death and resurrection. His blood is the new sacrificial system, his body is the new temple, he is the mediator between God and man.
(SLIDE 2h) John 6:4 — The feeding of the five thousand and Jesus’ discourse on himself being the “Bread of Life” whom you must “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood” in order to have life is another revelation that Jesus is our sacrifice for sins.
(SLIDE 2i) John 13:1 — Jesus’s death is approaching. In the upper room, he defines the Passover symbolism to refer to his own death and resurrection. And so the whole narrative of his death on the cross occur under the shadow of the Passover festival.
KEY — In each of these instances, we see the theme that Jesus is the Lamb of God.
Now, let’s keep moving through this story.
Jesus and his disciples sat down for a quiet afternoon on a sunny hillside in the springtime, because all the grass is still green before the hot summer months. I just love what happens when Jesus sees this huge crowd of people coming toward him.
Look at verse 5. Jesus turns to Philip, who was from the nearby town of Bethsaida, and asks him, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
This was practical…Philip would have been the most knowledgeable about the food vendors in that area. But there is something much deeper behind Jesus’ question. And we know this because the Apostle John gives us some commentary in verse 6 that reveals that Jesus was testing Philip.
ILLUST — I was recently in a training course where the speaker was an expert in teaching techniques. He said, “Never underestimate the power of the interrogative.”
If you don’t remember what “interrogative” means, it is asking questions.
Asking questions can be the most powerful tool. It can be wielded to harm people, like “What were you thinking?!” Or it can be used to show great compassion, like when Jesus says, “Do you want to get well?”
You see, used properly, questions are one of the most powerful teaching tools because it engages us in the conversation, it calls us to account for our words and actions, and it inspires us to grapple with the deeper issues in our hearts.
This is what Jesus is doing at this moment, not just with Philip, but with you and me!
APPLY — (SLIDE 3a) Did you notice the way Jesus asked this question? Look carefully at the text in verse 5 again: “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
Jesus asks a question of location. (SLIDE 3b) Where can we find something that will satisfy this huge crowd.
But did you see Philip’s response? Philip gives an answer of quantity. (SLIDE 3c) He says that even 8 months worth of wages wouldn’t buy enough bread for one measly bite!
KEY — We are going to see in Jesus that BOTH of these problems find their answer:
Where can we find something to satisfy? — Jesus is the only one we can go to in order to satisfy our deepest need!
How could we possibly have enough? — Jesus is more than enough!
Look at what happens next in verses 8-9:
Andrew brings forward a little boy with his lunch pail. The “five barley loaves” here are likely small barley cakes. The “two small fish” were pickled fish to be eaten as a side dish. This was the food of a poor boy from a small fishing village. And Andrew says, “How can this meager meal feed thousands of people?”
Jesus says, “Just watch!” He has everyone sit down on the grass, and there were probably close to 20,000 people there when you also count the women and children. Then he does something extraordinary. (SLIDE 3d) Verse 11 says that Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, breaks it into pieces and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted.
Don’t miss this: This points ahead to the Last Supper, when Jesus gave thanks and broke the bread with his disciples and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.”
This word “give thanks” is the word “Eucharist” in Greek (SLIDE 3e), which is one of the words that has been traditionally used for Communion or the Lord’s Supper.
Here is another symbol of Passover, another allusion to the Exodus from Egypt. Later on in chapter 6, we are going to see a direct connection to Moses and the manna in the wilderness when the Israelites were grumbling for food. It was God who supplied all their needs.
IMPORTANT — Here’s the first answer to our question: Where can we go to be satisfied? (SLIDE 3f) It is Jesus who is the provider, it is Jesus who multiplies the blessing of this simple meal, it is Jesus who is the source of sustenance for this huge crowd of people!
Listen friends — He is the only one you can go to in order to be satisfied!
As we see this miracle unfold, look at what else the Apostle John draws our attention to:
Did you notice that John highlights the quantity? (SLIDE 4a) READ vv. 12-13.
There is our key word again…enough! The people ate and ate until they were satisfied, and there were still 12 baskets full of pieces left over!
KEY — John notes the lavishness of the supply! (SLIDE 4b) This abundant provision is symbolic of the reality that in Christ we have more than enough, we have a gift that is greater than we can possibly imagine: Jesus himself.
But did you catch how many baskets were filled…12! (SLIDE 4c)
Remember when Jesus turned water into wine in John 2, there were six stone jars that were used for Jewish ceremonial washing. These jars were filled to the brim with water and then Jesus turned the water into wine, symbolizing that the old ways of being cleansed from sin through the Old Testament law had reached its completion, and now the way to be cleansed was through Christ’s blood.
In John 6, there are 12 baskets that are filled to the top with pieces of bread. These baskets represent the 12 tribes of Israel, and the old way of being included in the people of God by being ethnically Jewish and following the law, has now reached its fulfillment in (SLIDE 4d) Jesus, the Bread of Life, who is now creating a new people of God through the 12 disciples and the coming age of the church! WHAAAT!
This is incredible — This is Jesus leading a new exodus, it is him forming a new people! (SLIDE 4e) He satisfies their physical hunger to show that he alone is the one who can satisfy their spiritual hunger.
This is Jesus ultimately saying: “I am what you need most.” “I am enough.”
But what happens? READ vv. 14-15.
Verse 15 says that they wanted to force him to become king.
Once again, the people come with their demands, expectations, and desires. But Jesus doesn’t play their game.
They want to make him king, to get out from under the rule of Rome, and to reestablish Israel’s political independence.
KEY — But as we see throughout the gospels, Jesus came to achieve something deeper, more lasting, more transformational…he came to forgive sins, regenerate our inner being, gift us his Spirit, and form us into a new people who live as a foretaste and signpost of the Kingdom of God!
You see, these people didn’t get this most fundamental thing: Jesus is enough, he is what we need most.
IMPORTANT — They saw Jesus’ power to perform miracles and they said, “Great, let’s see what Jesus can do for us. Let’s see if he can give us what we want.” This is the kind of attitude that uses Jesus as a tool. This is the sort of approach that treats Jesus as a means to an end. (SLIDE 5, blank)
APPLY — I want to be very clear about what we want to be as a church. I desire more than anything that our church would find our satisfaction, our hope, and our joy in Jesus Christ himself.
My prayer is that we would taste the Bread of Life, that we would open our eyes to the Light of the World, that we would walk through the Gate into the fold of God, that we would follow the Good Shepherd, that we would believe in the resurrection and the life, that we would surrender to the way the truth and the life, and that we would abide in the True Vine! That Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away our sin.
Jesus is the whole reason we are taking a leap of faith to establish New Life as an embassy of God’s Kingdom for generations to come…because we want to know him and for others to come to know that Jesus is what they need most.