In these well-known events you’ll be invited to welcome Jesus into your own life. But not just any old version of Jesus of your imagination or wishlist.
You’re going to see how people went after Jesus out of curiosity and hope, how they thought he might be something they wanted – but he had to correct them.
So although you’re going to be invited to welcome Jesus, you do also need to be clear: What do you want of him? What do you want from God? Happiness? Security? Love?
The thing is: He knows your greatest need. But do you?
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church Wirral in August 2024. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Take a closer look at Jesus (1-13)
The feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle recorded in all four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John). Each gospel draws different aspects of Jesus’ ministry out from the event, and John covers it in most depth. Read John 6:1.
Chapter 5 was set in Jerusalem, about 80 miles south of Galilee, so the “After this” is a bit vague. To say “Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee” means he went east. We’re not told exactly where he went, but it’s likely about 4 or 5 miles to the hills on the eastern side (looking at Google maps).
Read John 6:2.
They probably looped around the northern edge of the lake. They were motivated by the signs that they’d seen Jesus doing. Were they interested in what it said about Jesus’ deity, so that they wanted to be his disciples? Or were they hoping to see more of the ‘show’?
How might Jesus respond, at a growing band of “followers”? Actually, he wasn’t too excited: Read John 6:3.
The healings spoke of who Jesus is, the Son of God, sent into the world by the Father. So it’s right that Jesus should spent time explaining things to his disciples. But some people just wanted miracles, not signs that would cause them to have to think.
A crowd in high mood
And this particular crowd were in a high mood. Read John 6:4.
We don’t quite have a day of nationalistic pride in this country. It’s something like July 4th in America – a day of communal joy and pride in their nation based on the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The Passover was a time to remember Israel’s freedom from slavery in Egypt. It was a day to remember the Passover lamb, and how God had used Moses to lead the nation of Israel on its Exodus out of Egypt. That’s important because it explains the mood and expectations of the crowd. They were full of nationalistic zeal.
So read John 6:5-7.
Why did he “test” Philip? It wasn’t just to be mean. It was to make the point to everyone that there was no food, and even if there was it would cost a fortune to buy. And so we get the miracle itself: Read John 6:8-11.
It’s a beautiful image: Christ himself giving thanks for the food and then distributing it to everyone through his disciples. And it’s not a “miracle of sharing” or anything natural. It was popular for a while to try to explain Jesus’ miracles away. But his works reveal who he is: Son of God.
It’s a truly supernatural event: Somehow, the bread and fish kept on giving and giving.
Super-abundant Jesus
And then there’s more (much more): Read John 6:12-13.
Why were there leftovers? If someone has the supernatural power to generate so much from so little, why not get the exact right amount? Two reasons:
- The 12 is significant for a sense of completeness for 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles (Luke especially spells this out).
- But more importantly here is the over-abundance and super-grace of Jesus. Everything he gives overflows with goodness and grace.
So what did that crowd experience that day? There was curiosity and hearsay, driving them to pursue Jesus to see more. That’s not a bad thing. In coming to Jesus, they were faced with a supernatural event – something to lean into, or something to shy from? Would they sit there, satisfied with food? Or ask: “Who is he?”
In chapter 5 we saw a healing, then Jesus’ deity, and the certainty of it all. Jesus’ works testify that the Father sent him.
As it happens, the Jews there misinterpreted everything:
Understand your own need (14-15)
Read John 6:14. What did they mean?
In Deuteronomy 18:18-19 we read this promise from God: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you [like Moses] from among their brothers. I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name.”
Remembering that the crowd were giddy with the Passover feast, it’s natural for their thoughts to turn to Moses. What might a “prophet like Moses” look like?
- Moses gave instruction for the original Passover sacrifice – a lamb whose blood would protect from God’s judgment.
- Under God, Moses led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt
- He brought them to the edge of the Promised Land under God’s good rule.
- On the way, God had provided bread (manna) for them in the wilderness – a parallel those Jews with Jesus couldn’t miss.
- And Moses taught with wisdom words from God above.
The Jews were waiting for that prophet. But also read John 6:15. In 2 Samuel 7 promised God promised a king, a descendant of king David, who would rule forever.
So the crowd were excited: Could this Jesus be the promised Prophet? The promised king?
A Prophet and King
Here’s the thing: Jesus is the fulfilment of those two promises. But not in the tiny, local, literal way they hoped. They were hoping for freedom from Rome, like Moses led Israel out of Egypt. They were looking for a mighty king to rule Israel.
But the big clue had already been given: They’d witnessed a supernatural event – a sign pointing them to Jesus’ true glory.
Yes, Jesus is the Prophet like Moses, but in a spectacular, global, supernatural work for the whole earth:
- He himself is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world; he is our Passover lamb.
- Jesus leads you from slavery to sin. The sin that controls you and leads you into anxiety, worry, and guilt.
- He’s entered heaven itself and will lead you there with him – the true, eternal Promised Land, perfect rest.
- And he will provide for you daily, nourishing you with all spiritual nourishment in his presence. Bread of heaven.
And yes – he is the King! He is the King of the Kingdom of God! Not just a little strip of land in the middle east.
Jesus answers your greatest need
Jesus reigns high over all, above every principality and power in the universe, seen and unseen. Over you.
Those people thought their need was political and social freedom. They were looking for the wrong saviour because they didn’t know their own needs.
What do you want from God? Health? Financial security? Peace? An easy life?
He’s given you Jesus, the Prophet and King. And Christ gives a super-abundance of all you need: Supernatural experience of the living God, forgiveness of sin, eternal life, eternal rest.
And that God will walk with you every day, in your brightest highs and your darkest days.
All this stems from the fact that Jesus is the Son of God, who loves you, knows you, and came to offer you life.
What could hold you back? Quite possibly, fear might.
Welcome Jesus in (16-21)
Read John 6:16-17.
Off the disciples go. The other gospels tell us about how Jesus dismissed the crowds and sent his disciples ahead by boat. In John’s gospel, darkness is usually a theme for a lack of understanding or a time without Jesus (the light of life).
Read John 6:18.
Galilee is 600 feet below sea level, and just a bit smaller in area than the whole of Wirral. With mountains around, it’s a place where the water can get very choppy and dangerous. Out on the water, the disciples experience another supernatural event! Read John 6:19.
It wasn’t shallow, so he wasn’t paddling. There were no stepping stones or jetties. Jesus walked on the water. And they were terrified of him. Why?
Psalm 107:28-29 makes an important point about God when people were caught out on the sea in trouble:
Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.
He stilled the storm to a whisper,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
Who can control a rough open sea? Only God alone.
How can Jesus be walking on a rough sea?
Another sign of Jesus’ deity
The implications were unnerving for those disciples: Jesus was doing things only God can do. Hadn’t Jesus told them, “These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent me” (John 5:36)?
So they were out there in the dark, in a storm, faced with a reality about Jesus that was too big to take in: He is God.
You might well feel that yourself. You might be in your own storm in the dark, and it’s too much to have to come to terms with Jesus today. In which case, Jesus has the same words for you that he had for those disciples: Read John 6:20.
“Don’t be afraid” is the most common command in the Bible. Because it’s natural to be afraid of supernatural reality. We prefer observable facts, science, things we can understand.
But God is way beyond that. He is Spirit. And the good news for you is that he has come to you in your darkness, in your storm, and says, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
What will you do? Read John 6:21.
They welcomed him in.
In the darkness; in the storm. God came to them, and they welcomed him in.
He gave them bread and fish with 12 baskets left over. The God of over-abundant blessing has come to you – to meet your greatest need: Eternal life with himself. You might have been a Christian for many years: Don’t settle back for a tepid experience of the one who gives over-abundant goodness.
And don’t perish in the dark. Go to Jesus for forgiveness of sin, for newness of life as a child of God.
Forsake your sinful ways and cry out to God. He will not turn you away – because he came to you first.