JESUS FEEDS THE FIVE

THOUSAND
John 6:1-14

6Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far

shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of
Tiberias),2and a great crowd of people
followed him because they saw the signshe
had performed by healing the sick. 3Then Jesus
went up on a mountainsideand sat down with
his disciples.4The Jewish Passover Festivalwas
near.
5When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd
coming toward him, he said to Philip,Where
shall we buy bread for these people to
eat?6He asked this only to test him, for he
already had in mind what he was going to do.

Philip answered him, It would take more than

half a years wagesto buy enough bread for each
one to have a bite!
8Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peters
brother,spoke up,9Here is a boy with five small
barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will
they go among so many?
10Jesus said,Have the people sit down.There
was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat
down
(about
five
thousand
men
were
there).11Jesus then took the loaves, gave
thanks,and distributed to those who were seated
as much as they wanted. He did the same with the
fish.
7

When they had all had enough to eat, he

said to his disciples,Gather the pieces that
are left over. Let nothing be wasted. 13So
they gathered them and filled twelve
baskets with the pieces of the five barley
loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14After
the people saw the signJesus
performed, they began to say, Surely this
is the Prophet who is to come into the
world.15Jesus, knowing that they intended
to come and make him kingby force,
withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
12

Why did Jesus ask Philip?

V5 - If anyone knew where to get food,
it would have been Philip because he
was from Bethsaida, a town about nine
miles away.
V6 - Jesus was only testing Philip to
strengthen his faith by asking for
human solution (knowing that there is
none).
*Jesus highlighted the powerful and
miraculous act that he was about to

V7 When Jesus asked Philip where

they could buy a great amount of
bread. Philip started assessing the
probable cost. Jesus wanted to teach
him that financial resources are not
the most important ones.
We can limit what God does in us by
assuming what is and is not possible.

Is there some impossible

task that you believe God
wants you to do?
Dont let your estimate of what cant
be done keep you from taking on the
task. God can do the miraculous thing;
just trust Him to provide the resources.

V8-9 The disciples were contrasted

with the young boy who brought what
he had. They certainly had more
resources than the boy but they knew
that they didnt have enough, so they
didnt give anything at all. Take a
look at the boy.
The boy gave what little he had, and it
made all the difference. If we offer
nothing to God, He will have nothing to
use. But He can take the little things
we have and turn it into something

We can see here that Jesus, in

performing His miracles, prefers to
work through people. He took what a
young child could offer and use it to
accomplish
one
of
the
most
spectacular miracles recorded in the
Gospel.
Never think that you are too young or
too old to be of service to Him.

V13 There is a lesson in the leftovers.

God gives in abundance. He takes
whatever we can offer to Him -- our
time, ability or resources then He
multiplies its effectiveness beyond our
wildest expectations. If you take the
first steps in making yourself available
to God, he will show you how greatly
you can be used to advance the work
of His Kingdom.

JESUS WALKS ON WATER

John 6:16-27

When evening came, his disciples went down

to the lake,17where they got into a boat and
set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it
was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined
them.18A strong wind was blowing and the
waters grew rough.19When they had rowed
about three or four miles, they saw Jesus
approaching the boat, walking on the
water;and they were frightened.20But he said
to them,It is I; dont be afraid. 21Then they
were willing to take him into the boat, and
immediately the boat reached the shore where
they were heading.
16

The next day the crowd that had stayed

on the opposite shore of the lakerealized
that only one boat had been there, and
that Jesus had not entered it with his
disciples, but that they had gone away
alone.23Then
some
boats
from
Tiberiaslanded near the place where the
people had eaten the bread after the Lord
had given thanks.24Once the crowd
realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples
were there, they got into the boats and
went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
22

After feeding the five thousand, Jesus slipped

away into the hills by himself to pray. Night
fell while he was there alone.
Seeking solitude was an important priority
for Jesus. He made room in his busy schedule
to be alone with the Father.
Spending time with God in prayer nurtures a
vital relationship with Him and equips us to
meet life challenges and struggles. Develop
the discipline of spending time alone with
God. It will help you grow spiritually and
become more and more like Christ.

V18 The Lake of

Capernaum is 650 ft.
below sea level, 150ft
deep and surrounded
by hills. These physical
features makes it a
subject
to
sudden
windstorm that would
cause extremely high
waves. Such storm
were expected on this
lake, but they were
nevertheless
frightened.

When Jesus came to the disciples

during a storm, walking on the water
(3.5 miles from the shore about 3 in
the morning), he told them not to be
afraid.
We often face spiritual and emotional
storms and feel tossed about like a
small boat on a big lake. In spite of
terrifying circumstances, if we trust our
lives to Christ for his safe-keeping he
will give us peace in any storm.

V19-20 The disciples were terrified

probably because they thought they
were seeing a ghost. But if they had
thought about what Jesus has done,
they could have believed immediately
this miracle.
They were frightened they didnt
expect Jesus to come and they werent
prepared for his help. Faith is a
mindset that expects God to act. When
we act in this expectations, we can
overcome our fears.