Now for chapter 6 of John's synoptic gospel, do not loose sight of the fact that John draws from his born again-ness (having GOD'S Spirit given him), we might say from his I am-ness, as now being one with the risen LORD and not from eye witness accounts. At the end of this chapter we see many of the disciples draw away from the Lord Jesus.
John 6:1-14, 15 "After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, 'Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?' And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?" And Jesus said, 'Make the men sit down.' Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, 'Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.' Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, "This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." (KJV)
John 6:1-14, 15 "After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 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?' He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" 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. 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. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, 'Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.' So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"
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." (ESV)
John 6:1-14, 15 "In the course of [1]time Jesus went from Jerusalem across the sea of Galilee which was also called Tiberias. (With this.....meta yauta, in John's favorite general note of the order of events; not necessarily in chronological order. [1] In the context and sequence of time, this would be the following year after the events described in the 1st five chapters.) By now a great multitude were following him because of the spectacular heeling's he performed. Jesus went into the hills to be alone with his disciples. This was again near the annual Passover. (Here John reminds us of the economy of Jesus' ministry he knew very well the pivotal significance of his appointment with the ultimate Passover where he would lay down his life, not as the Lion of Judea but rather, as the Lamb of GOD, to be slaughtered by his own country men of his creation for their salvation.) There was no getting away from the crowds though; when Jesus saw the multitudes arrive he said to Phillip, 'How do you think we are going to feed all these people?' This wasn't a trick question, but simply to engage their faith; he already knew exactly what he was going to do! (Jesus was not about to be distracted by the enormity of his mission where his body would be broken at the highest price in order to feed the multitudes of humanity with the true bread from heaven! Just like in chapter 24 of Luke - the picture of a meal always translates into incarnation language - bread becomes flesh!) Phillip immediately concluded that this was impossible to do and far beyond a budget of any reasonable calculation; two hundred days wages could never buy enough for each person in the crowd to even get a little morsel of bread! (Humanity cannot redeem themselves! Again, Jesus leads the conversation into a different dimension like with Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman - he points to a different source; not related to external reasoning or challenges to be met with personal contributions of our own toil or labors to define or defend ourselves but simply accessing the Father's limitless resources within. He has come to free our minds from the restrictions of a dimension that could never truly define us! He dramatically and very intentionally disengage us with every effort of our own to save ourselves! Our Salvation is beyond our budget! BUT WAIT! What about the little lad!? For unto us a child is born remember!) Then one of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter pointed to a little boy who had five small loaves of inexpensive barley bread and two small fishes and remarked how insignificant they appeared amongst such a multitude of hungry people! Jesus asked his disciples to get everybody seated - the place was ideal for a picnic since it was spring and the grass was lush and green! Thousands of people gathered! (In the Jewish custom where only the men were counted there happened to be 5000 of them let alone the multitudes of ladies and children!) Jesus took the bread and fish and thanked GOD for it, then distributed it among the people; everyone was free to take as much as they wanted! When the crowd had eaten their fill Jesus said to his disciples to gather up all the broken pieces to make sure that nothing was lost. (Every fragment and detail of GOD's masterful work of redeeming humanity in Christ is most significant!) So they did and filled twelve baskets with fragments after everyone has as much as they could eat! The people who witnessed these signs [1]began to be more and more convinced that Jesus must truly be that Prophet, the one whom their Scriptures point to. (Deuteronomy 18:15 of 15-22, "The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among you, from your brethren--him you shall heed--The word [1] elegon is an inchoative imperfect form of the verb; thus, they began to say; the inchoative verb, sometimes called an inceptive verb, shows a process of beginning or becoming.)
They were now ready to forcefully grab him and crown him as their King, but when Jesus saw their enthusiasm he slipped away and went higher into the mountain to be by himself."
The LORD willing in our next post we will look at Jesus' walking on water and then the words of the people. Wherein Jesus speaks of His flesh being bread. The meaning of the heavenly bread that feed the early Israelite while in the wilderness of complaints.
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