Jesus is the Bread of Life (5/20/18 The Book of John #28)

ATTN: My girls have been introduced to Harry Potter recently. So, they would read a book, I believe there are 8 books?, and they would watch the movie that corresponds to it. My 9 year old has read the entire series in less than two months time. I am somewhat ashamed to admit that I have not read any of it although some of our young adults tell me that it’s the greatest thing written ever since the Bible. I did watch the first movie, and here’s what I noticed about it especially regarding the usage of magic, compared to the real miracles in the Bible. Jesus never performed miracles for a frivolous or selfish reason. You don’t read of Jesus turning a stone into bread when He got hungry in the middle of the desert. As a matter of fact, the devil tempted Him to do that, but He doesn’t give in. The miracles were done to serve a specific purpose. And one of those purposes was to reveal to the world who He is. Thus, they were called signs. What do signs do? Their main function is to point. The miracles Jesus did were signs that point to who He is – that He is the Son of God who came to the world to save the world.

           Today, we come to a passage that we are all very familiar with – the feeding of the 5000. Jesus did not perform this miracle just to give them a meal to eat. He could’ve dispersed them and let them find a meal on their own. It wasn’t that big a deal that he had to perform this miracle. Similar to the first miracle where he turned water into wine. It wasn’t that big a deal that a wedding party runs out of wine. No one’s going to die if he didn’t perform that miracle. Same with feeding the 5000. No one’s going to die if Jesus did not give them bread and fish to eat for a meal at this time. Then why do it? Because it demonstrates who He is. Not only to the people who were present but also to us who are reading about it 2000 years later.

           Let’s set the backdrop.

6 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 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?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

           Now, Matthew gives the same account and there he says that the number of men present was about 5000, not counting the women and children. Now, if anything, there were probably more women and children than the men because pretty much any church you go to, there are more women than men. So, imagine 20,000 people milling around Jesus and He wants to feed them all! Tacoma dome can fit about 23,000. So imagine the dome packed because Beyonce is giving a concert there and you want to buy everyone there a meal! And you turn to your friend and say, “hey, how much money you got?” That’s what Jesus just asked Philip….

Philip says, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” Maybe Philip got the highest math score on the SATs and so he quickly does the calculuation in his head. A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer. So, say $120 a day. That’s $24,000 they need to feed all those people. Jesus was homeless and these disciples were poor fishermen. Where would they get that kind of money? It’s a mathematical impossibility.

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

Andrew was probably the doer. “Rather than sitting around and punching numbers, let’s see what we got!”, he probably thought. And he found one boy with 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Then he says, “Yup, Philip was right. Impossible.”

10 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. 11 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. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

So, Jesus does the impossible. Again! And then I want you to notice something very important. 15 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.

Wait, why is Jesus refusing to be king? Isn’t that what He came to earth for? He came to earth to be their Lord and King. And the people wanted to make Him king. And yet, he withdraws from this offer. He hides Himself from the crowd when he detected that they want to make him king, which is what he came to be anyway! What is going on?

It was because Jesus is using the sign to not only reveal to the world who He is but also to reveal to the people what they are about. What did this miracle reveal about Jesus and the people?

1) The people were acting as mercenaries toward Jesus.

In other words, they were using Jesus to get what they want, which in this case was food. They were following Jesus, but they weren’t really following Jesus. They were following Jesus because they saw that He was a source of goods they wanted. But they weren’t following Jesus for the reasons that Jesus wanted them to follow Him. Jesus wanted them to follow Him for Him. You could ask at this point, “Does it matter why they followed Jesus as long as they were following Him?” It absolutely does. Does it matter why your wife or husband married you whether he/she married you for your money or for you? Of course it does. It’s the difference between whether he married you or he married your money. Everyone knows that it’s wrong to marry a person to get her money. That’s what I mean by a mercenary affair. But then, what about marrying a person because he makes you happy? Because you love his companionship and his leadership? Isn’t that also marrying him for the wrong reason? There is certain benefit to you such as happiness and joy that he brings to you, so isn’t that also a mercenary affair? Aren’t you using him to bring joy to yourself? How would you answer that? That’s why I love C.S. Lewis. He deals with questions like this one.

  C.S. Lewis: “We must not be troubled by the unbelievers when they say that this promise of rewards makes the Christian life a mercenary affair. There are different kinds of rewards. There is the reward which has no natural connection with the things you do to earn it, and is quite foreign to the desire that ought to accompany those things. Money is not the natural reward of love; that is why we call a man a mercenary if he marries a woman for the sake of her money. But marriage is the proper reward for a real lover, and he is not a mercenary for desiring it. A general who fights well in order to get a peerage is a mercenary; a general who fights for victory is not, victory being the proper reward of battle as marriage is the proper reward of love. The proper rewards are not simply tacked on to the activity for which they are given, but are the activity itself in consummation.”

Here’s my version: If your husband told you, I married you because you are rich and I wanted your money. You’d slap him silly and take his name off your bank account. But if he told you, I married you because you bring me so much joy. I’m the happiest when I’m with you. I want to spend the rest of my life you. You hug and kiss him! Why? Because that’s the legitimate reward for love and marriage – joy, companionship, time together. Money is the unnatural connection.

There are certain legitimate rewards/benefits that come from pursuing Jesus. Such as love, joy and peace, Galatians 5:22, “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace,…” Sonship or daughtership is another benefit. We will become God’s children as a reward of having Jesus. We will also have authority over cities and angels as rulers with Jesus. These are all proper and good rewards. But if we said we want prosperity on earth, we want fame, we want comfort, we want riches on earth, then we are being mercenaries and simply using God for what we want.

Now, does verse 15 make sense to you? When the people wanted to make him king, he refused by withdrawing to the mountain. Why? What they really wanted a king that will act like their servant, giving them what they want. Jesus wanted to be king and Lord over their lives not only to rule over their actions but also their hearts and allegiance.

2) Jesus came to be bread and not just to give bread.

I ripped that line from John Piper…. If there was a danger that people would take the bread and fish he gave them in the wrong way, then why did He do it? Why give them gifts when there is danger that they would focus on the gift rather than the giver? Because through these physical means, he wanted to lead them to the spiritual reality of Himself. Why turn water into wine? So that they would see that the wedding is really about Him which will be consummated at the marriage supper of the lamb at the world’s end. Why heal the sick? So that people would see that their inside is sick with sin and Jesus came to heal them of that incurable disease called sin if they believe in Him. Why give them bread in the middle of nowhere? So that they would taste and see that He is the bread of life that will satisfy their soul like bread satisfies their physical hunger. These are analogies. They are real life metaphors given in order to help them and us eventually to see Jesus more clearly. That’s why the are called signs. Their purpose is lead us to Jesus.  

ILL: Even in 8 short years we’ve been open as a church, I’ve seen people come to us with a dire need. And we open up and give generously and compassionately. But I am very aware that once their immediate need is met, they will not be with us. It’s because they came to Jesus for bread and not for Him. And this is the hardest task to accomplish. How do you get people to see that our good works is so that they will ultimately see Jesus? How do I convince them that the reason why they might be having marital problems, financial problems, is because Jesus is drawing them to Himself and therefore, if they got their problems fixed, but didn’t see Jesus in it, they missed the whole point? It’s like you spend all that money and time to fly to Disneyland and then seeing the sign that says, ‘Welcome to Disneyland,’ and then you turn right around and come home. If you’ve gained the whole world but missed out on Jesus, you gained nothing!

How do we get people to make the connection between the physical and the spiritual? How do I get them to change so that they do not approach the spiritual God in order to get the physical things they want, but they see that the physical is there to remind them and to lead them to the spiritual reality of God? The only thing I know to do is to preach the word, model it as best as I can, and pray that God will open eyes and hearts.

We’ve made it our goal this year to strive together for the gospel. Can I ask by show of hand how many of you have started coming since the beginning of this year? Would you start praying for your unbelieving friend who are chasing after the wind? Would you pray for your co-worker who have much bread at home, but do not have the bread of life?

CONC: Would you ask God to open your eyes and let you see Jesus who is the ultimate reality behind this temporary reality we call the physical world? Would you pray not only for yourself but also for each other that we will not be mercenaries that only use Jesus for our earthly comfort? Pray that we will see Jesus for who He is and find Him more desirable and beautiful than any earthly sins and pleasures?