Rev. Shannon Moore speaks on John 6: 5-15.
Simple Worship Podcast
2024-07-28 Simple Worship
[music] You're listening to the Simple Worship Podcast recorded each week at University Christian Church in Fort Worth, Texas. To learn more about our services, ministries, and outreach opportunities, please visit UniversityChristian.org. [music] A couple weeks ago when I was here last, we were in the Gospel of Mark, and we talked about the death of John the Baptist. King Herod had killed him at the request of his wife and daughter because of this foolish promise that he had made. The disciples of John the Baptist came to collect his body, which was a risk to their personal safety. And we talked about how doing the right thing often means you have to follow through on a difficult decision or a hard decision. It wasn't a story about Jesus, but it was a story about living in a Christ-like way. Last week, the Electionary continued in the Gospel of Mark. Alison was here, and she preached about Jesus' healing ministry and how he had this great compassion. The people were like sheep without a shepherd, and he was moved because of their need and his compassion for them to heal them. This week, we're hopping over to the Gospel of John, which is very different Gospel from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Jesus seems a little different in the Gospel of John than he does in the other three Gospels. It's almost like he's more serious in a way. I don't know if that's the right word or not, but he's certainly more theological-minded. He talks a lot in the Gospel of John. He gives these long speeches about who he is and what he's doing and why he's doing it. He has these long monologues in the Gospel of John. Immediately before the passage I'm going to read today, we find Jesus being followed by a crowd of people because of his healing. He's been healing all these people. He's collected a large crowd, and John tells us he goes up a mountain. He sits down with the disciples. It's almost time for Passover. That's where we are. I'm going to pick up John chapter 6 starting at verse 6, and we'll read through verse 15. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Six months' wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to eat a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There's a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they among so many people?" Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now, there was a great deal of grass in that place, so they sat down about 5,000 in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to them to those who receded. So also the fish as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told the disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over so that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten, they filled 12 baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, "This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world." When Jesus realized they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself. This is the only miracle story that appears in all four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And here at the beginning of the story, you can see this different acting Jesus that I was talking about earlier. He sees the size of the crowd. There's nothing about being moved with compassion or anything like that. He just puts out this expectation to the disciples that these people need to be fed, and they will be fed. He doesn't say, "Should we buy bread?" He says, "Where are we going to get the bread to feed these people?" And you can almost feel Philip's panic like, "Jesus, I don't have any money. We don't have any money." If we did have money, we wouldn't be able to buy enough food to feed all these people. And it's also an uncomfortable one, because John says that Jesus was testing Philip. Because he already knew what he was going to do. Another disciple, Andrew, chimes in. There's a kid here. He's got some bread. He's got some fish, but I mean, it's not a lot. You'll notice in this account, it's listed very specifically as barley bread, which is what poor people ate. So John was very specific to let us know this was a gathering of poor people who were probably hungry. The bread there was barley bread. Jesus took the loaves. He gave thanks for it. He passed it out, same with the fish. And that wording sounds very familiar to us because it sounds like our communion meditation. He took the bread when he had given thanks. He gave it to him. So this was sort of a precursor to the Last Supper. This was a precursor to our communion meal that we share every day. Jesus made a little Passover meal out of this little bit of food and fed 5,000 people with it. And it says that they ate until all were satisfied, which means they ate until they were full, which was probably an uncommon feeling for these folks. These were poor people, hardworking people. Meals usually came by the day, and so they probably weren't accustomed to eating until they were satisfied. The leftovers came in, was 12 baskets full, which is, of course, we've talked about before. 12 is a very significant number in Scripture. It signifies wholeness or completion or somehow God's authority. In the Old Testament, Jacob had 12 sons. There were 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus called 12 disciples. And so this 12 baskets is very symbolic of God's fullness, God's riches and God's authority. Jesus is making it clear that he is able to provide more than enough. But because he did that, these people who had gathered who realized that Jesus was more than a healer, which is why they had gathered to start with, now they had another idea. They're going to make him their king, because if they can hold on to him and keep him with them and make him their king, then they can eat like this all the time, right? But Jesus did not want that. It was the last thing that he wanted, and so he went up the mountain. One translation says he fled from them up to the mountain. He went up there alone. I'm going to pick up at verse 16. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea and got into a boat and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rode about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were terrified. But he said to them, "It is I, do not be afraid." They wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the land, which they were going. This part kind of makes me laugh because the disciples, these twelve disciples that Jesus had selected, had made a proclamation that they were going to follow Jesus. So when Jesus goes up the mountain, they don't follow him. He goes up there by himself, which is fine. Maybe Jesus wanted to be by himself. But also they didn't wait for him. They left him. They went back to the boat to go home, and left the one they said that they were going to follow. So they get on the boat, storm starts to come up, and then Jesus comes walking across the water. And they're like, "Whoa, this is big stuff." So Jesus says, "It is I." Another translation says, "I am." Which is the way that God described God's self in the Old Testament to Moses in the burning bush. "I am" was sort of this name for God. And so Jesus was making a statement about his divinity. "God was in their midst. I am. It is I. Do not be afraid." And so the disciples go to bring Jesus into the boat, and they hit the land. Which could be another miracle. I'm not sure where they crossed on the sea, but it's about 13 miles wide across at the widest part. So who knows, but it doesn't say that was a miracle. There's a parallel between these two stories, however. Jesus did these two amazing things. He fed everybody, fed 5,000 people with just a little bit of bread, and he walked on water. The people that he fed wanted to hold on to him. We're going to hold on to him. We're going to make him our king. But Jesus was not interested in that power or that adoration. He recognized it as a trap, and he got away from it. The disciples who saw Jesus walk on water, also realizing that this prophet, this healer, was also God incarnate, wanted to hold on to him. We're going to get him. We're going to put him in the boat with us. They hit the land before they could do that. In both of these stories, Jesus resisted what the people were putting on him. The people wanted to make him a king. The disciples wanted to hold on to him in their boat. In both of those instances, Jesus denied those expectations. He showed us, the disciples and us, that he can provide more than we anticipate, but he will not be boxed in by our expectations or our definitions. He will not be controlled. He will not be maneuvered by what we claim, or by what we define Jesus to be. As people who call ourselves Christians, we have the name Christ in that title. We are people who follow Christ. But I think very much like these people who were fed by Jesus, and like the disciples in that boat, instead of following Jesus, a lot of times we try to tell Jesus what to do. Or we tell Jesus how we want him to be. Or we tell Jesus what we want. And then we take what Jesus has provided, and then we go on our own path ahead of him. We were supposed to follow him, but we've got out in front of him. I want to read this quote from commentary I found this week. When we take the surplus loaves and rush out ahead of Jesus, we can quickly find ourselves overwhelmed on dark and stormy seas. Jesus does not abandon us though. Instead, he joins us and reveals himself to us, providing a way forward that we cannot explain. So instead of us trying to control Jesus, what if we set our minds to truly follow? To be patient, see what he's going to do, wait and see what he wants us to do instead of telling him what to do for us. And then while we are waiting, let's serve each other to bring the kingdom of God that is within us into the world that is around us. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of the Simple Worship Podcast. If you enjoyed today's sermon, please subscribe to this podcast and share it with others. To learn more, please visit UniversityChristian.org. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)