Where Do You Find Your Satisfaction? :: John 6:1-15
All you can eat.
There was a time in life when that phrase was music to my ears ... especially if it involved Grandma’s blackberry cobbler or lemon meringue pie. I definitely could eat a lot of that.
Thirty years ago, that broke my father’s heart. Our oldest daughter Rachael was just a baby then. We had gone to Chester, Illinois to visit Grandma, and so, of course, she made a cobbler. When you are 20-something, you can never eat too much cobbler.
In any case, Dad just happened to be in town, too. He also loved to eat Grandma’s cobbler. After packing up the car to go home, I remember telling Valerie, I’ll be right back. While she waited in the car ... I then went into the kitchen for one last helping of cobbler. Like I said, you can never eat too much of that.
Now, I’ll qualify ... or should I say, quantify ... what happened this way: I didn’t actually eat the whole thing, but after we left, I learned later, Dad sure was completely unsatisfied when he went to the kitchen longing for a plate of cobbler and discovered there was none left. We often leave each other unsatisfied, but in our Gospel lesson this morning, no one was left that way.
ALL WHO FOLLOW JESUS ARE MORE THAN SATISFIED.
This is our theme.
I. The simple gifts of Jesus always satisfy body and soul.
The Gospel of John describes Jesus’ miracles as signs. The book itself is sometimes called the book of signs. If you will remember, we heard about the first one earlier this year. In John 2, Jesus gave his first sign: turning water in wine. Those who attended that wedding were fully satisfied. He gave them the best last.
John goes on to describe six more signs that tell us who Jesus is: the God who fully satisfies. Next to the resurrection, this is perhaps the most prominent sign of all in John. But each and every one of them was spectacular in their own way, and they achieved the purpose for which Jesus provided them: they satisfy the will of God.
As our text begins ... Jesus went from the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is (also called) the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him because they were seeing the signs that he was doing on the weak. Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there, he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore, when Jesus lifted his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?
John tells us that Jesus said this to test Philip because the Lord already knew what he would do (vv 1-6). To Philip, the situation was hopeless. Two hundred denarii worth ... (that’s more than half your annual salary) ... would not even buy enough for each person to get even a little bit of bread, he said. Then, Andrew noted that there was a child who had five loaves of barley bread and two small fish. But what are they for so many, he surmised (vv 7-9). How could that possibly satisfy?
The answer: More than you could ever imagine!
Jesus had the crowd sit down, which numbered five thousand men, not counting women and children. Then he took the loaves, and after giving thanks, he divvied it up to those who were reclining on the grass. Likewise, also, the fish, as much as they wanted (v 11). In other words, they had all they could eat and then some. They were fully satisfied. Then he had the disciples gather the broken abundance in order that nothing would perish, and they filled twelve baskets.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, this sign wasn’t just for those on the mountain; it is for you. Jesus showed everyone who he really is and what he really came to do: He is the one who came from heaven to earth to satisfy all the demands of the Law and to fully fulfill the Gospel. When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, This is truly the Prophet, the One Coming into the World.
II. But do you see him as the one who fully satisfies?
This is not what the crowd saw in Jesus. The next day the crowd found Jesus in Capernaum. They saw something much different. And our Lord said to them, Amen, Amen, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. In other words, they wanted Jesus to be their meal ticket ... a bread king, so to speak, with a prosperity gospel.
Sometimes we aren’t all that different from this crowd. Who satisfies your hunger for more?
Too often our interest in Christ becomes wrapped up with what Jesus can give us now ... how Jesus can help us now ... what Jesus will give us now. I’m sure that all of us look to Jesus when we are concerned about our health. He seems to be really important in all of our lives when circumstances threaten our income.
But is he still your king when things are going well?
Where do you find your satisfaction?
Not even the apostles turned to Jesus to answer that question.
Remember Philip? He turned to the work of his own hands.
Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother? He looked to our own resources.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, repent every one of you, in the name of Jesus. He alone satisfies. The works of your heart, your mind, your hands, or your feelings will not satisfy the way our Lord does. Your efforts lead you only to mysticism, moralism, rationalism, and the false theology of the prosperity gospel.
As Jesus said later, Don’t labor for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you (Jn 6:27).
And what is that food that satisfies? None other than the bread of life ... God’s Word and sacraments. Through his means of grace ... baptism, absolution, and the Lord’s supper ... Jesus satisfies every need of body and soul. These means of grace always satisfy because they enable you to believe in him whom God has sent.
III. And you who believe have been satisfied ever since!
All of the signs performed by Jesus pointed to the great sign of his death and resurrection. They called forth faith in Christ, who had come as the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
God the Father sent his only begotten Son into the world to make full satisfaction for you. As the world tried to seize him, He alone went to the mountain (v 15) ... the place where heaven and earth meet. He alone was born without sin. He alone lived his life without sin. Along the way, he alone cared for the widows and the orphans, feeding and nourishing. He alone raised the dead. He alone calls all of us to himself. He alone walked the extra mile in your shoes. He alone casts out your demons. He alone leads us and feeds us. But most of all, he alone took all of your sins and iniquities upon himself. He alone was stricken, smitten, and afflicted for you. He alone then carried your grief to the cross, where he alone died ... on the mountain.
Our Lord Jesus Christ has lived and died for you ... and just as importantly, don’t ever forget this part ... he rose from the dead. He alone is our satisfaction. Apart from the life, death, resurrection of Jesus, there is no basis for the faith, there is no salvation. There is no other god in the world who loved you in such a way as this ... dying to rise from the dead for you.
The world around you marvels at many of the things Jesus said and did. They called him a miracle worker and some even say he is their king. But as the psalmist said, he alone is the one who will ascend the mountain of the Lord ... and stand in his holy place. He alone is the one who has innocent hands and a pure heart (Ps 24:3-4). And we can see that today.
Jesus did not ascend the mountain in John 6 to avoid being king over those who believe in him. He ascended to defer the time of his more manifest reign until his return to us from above.
The sign of feeding the five thousand, and all of the miraculous signs that he did, pointed to the single great event when Jesus cried out It is finished. Sin and death have no power over you any longer. Jesus has fully satisfied the demands of the law by living and dying and rising. And now he gives all of you who believe in him eternal life as the children of God.
That means you. Jesus has given each of his apostles his perfect gifts to deliver to you, and to this day, these gifts are being distributed so that none of us will perish. You’ve been given new life in baptism: It washes you clean of sin. You’ve heard his Word: It gives you life and faith and hope. All who hear his Gospel will be saved. And in just a few minutes, you will receive his supper, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins: It will nurture your faith until the end.
Yes, all who follow Jesus will be satisfied ... in his name.