John 6:1-14

John 6:1-14 has Jesus heading across the Sea of Galilee where he lands to a large crowd who had followed him because they had seen His miracles of healing the sick.  Jesus reached the other side and climbed out of the boat and went up the hill where He sat down with His disciples.  Jesus looked out and saw the crowd that had gathered, almost 5000 people, and “he said to Philip, Where can we buy bread to feed these people”?  Can you imagine the thoughts running through Philip’s mind?  How can we possibly feed these people?  We have no means to do so.

But Jesus did this “to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do”.  This wasn’t really about feeding the 5000.  It was about teaching the disciples about the power of God.  Philip immediately jumped into ‘fix it’ mode – as he told Jesus that 200 silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for everyone, and they certainly didn’t have that kind of resources.  But Jesus was waiting for the disciples to come to the place where they realized they couldn’t do this alone, which seems pretty obvious, and that they would come to the point of seeking God’s power to solve it.

Philip doesn’t get there, but “One of the disciples–it was Andrew, brother to Simon Peter–said, “There’s a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But that’s a drop in the bucket for a crowd like this”.  Andrew gets part way to the solution as he brings what there was available to Jesus.  Often that is what we need to do.  Realize that on our own we can’t handle the situation, but bringing what we have to Jesus to allow Him to take it and bless it and use it to create the solution to the problem.  Jeuss is able to take what we have and make it so much more.

And that is exactly what He did with five loaves and two fish.  “Then Jesus took the bread and, having given thanks, gave it to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish. All ate as much as they wanted”.  Jesus blessed the bread, and then the fish.  They were blessed separately, not as one big basket.  And then it was served.  Everyone not only ate, but ate til they were full.  Can you imagine the amazement?  5000 people eating from 5+2 until full.  But wait, there is more.  Jesus tells the disciples “Gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted. They went to work and filled twelve large baskets with leftovers from the five barley loaves”.  So there is a second miracle here.  Not only feeding 5000, but gathering leftovers that were more than the original amount.  Jesus can take what we have and make it more, so much more, if we give it to Him!