This Feast is an Amazing Sign of the Times :: John 6:1-15

Our Gospel Lesson for this Fourth Sunday in Lent reveals a wonderful sign of the times ... Jesus himself feeds five thousand men ... in addition to their wives and children. Jesus himself does this with five loaves of barley bread and two small fish. Jesus himself does it in connection with Passover (v 4). Jesus himself ensures that everyone is able to receive as much daily bread as they want (vv 11-12). And then Jesus himself dispatches his disciples to gather the remaining abundance filling twelve baskets, so that none would perish (v 12). 

Yes, God desires all men to be saved (2 Tm 3:16). He desires that all men come to the knowledge of this truth ... that he alone connects this action through his feast ... the feast he prepares in the wilderness and in the Promised Land and on the mountain ... for the early church ... and the church today ... so that, even here at Trinity Lutheran Church ... you ... like all of God’s Chosen Ones ... we will not perish. Talk about a wonderful sign of the times.

I AM the Bread of Life, Jesus will go on to tell us in the sermon connected to this feast. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and died. This is the bread, who came down out of heaven, in order that one may eat and not die. I AM the living bread, the one who came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever (vv 48-51a).

1.

Yes, this sign of the times ... the Feast of the 5,000 in John 6 ... is absolutely amazing. 

Perhaps most importantly, in this sign Jesus himself shows us that he is, in fact, God Incarnate ... the Word Made Flesh (Jn 1:14). He does this by creating an abundance of something that was not there (1:3) ... in this case, daily bread. And he provides it from your salvation. More than that, this sign shows us that God is still taking care of us ... just like he did in our Old Testament reading from Exodus 16 and our New Testament reading from Acts 2. In all of our readings, the people of God are seeing the signs that God is with them. 

How? In the bread of life. 

Why? Because God still cares for us and still serves us. As John writes ... Having lifted up his eyes and having seen the large crowd coming toward him, Jesus ... took the bread, and after giving thanks, he gave it to the people who were reclining (at the table, so to speak). ... He gave them as much as they wanted ... as often as they wanted (vv 11-12). 

This is NOT our Lord’s LAST amazing sign of the times. 

The first Christians came to know the same amazing sign of the times that God is still taking care of us. In the book of Acts, we hear that God tenderly invites us to believe that ... he gives us food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, and all that [we] have ... that he guards and protects us ... that he rescues us from every evil of body and soul. As Luke writes, those who received his word were baptized ... they became God’s very own. ... And [the first Christians] faithfully continued in the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, in the breaking of the bread and the prayers (2:42) ... DOING this every Lord’s day (20:7) ... just like today! 

Jesus is still giving us everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body ... daily bread, if you will ... the Lord’s supper, which comes even without our prayers. 

2.

He gives it to you even when you don’t know you need it. 

The people following Jesus up the mountain weren’t following him because he was preaching an awesome Word. In fact, in the Gospel of John, the Jews had already begun persecuting Jesus for the Word he was preaching. They didn’t want to hear what Jesus had to say (5:16). They were following him because, as John tells us, they were seeing the signs which he was doing on [those suffering from illness and weakness] (v 2). 

Is that why you are here today? You’re following Jesus, looking for a sign that he loves you? Following Jesus looking for a better way of living? Do you have a different reason?

In this world, the faith of Christ is under constant siege. The devil, the world, and our sinful nature do not want to hallow God’s name or to let his kingdom come. They do not want us to offer or share the forgiveness of sins. There are people all around you in the world who reject God’s Word ... in part or in whole. Some reject God’s Law, even though it teaches us not to hate, not to divide, not to grumble. Some don’t want to be reminded that they are sinners and that they therefore need the forgiveness of sins. Too many of us largely ignore sin in our own lives. We ignore immorality all around us. We say it’s OK for people to live together outside of marriage. Too many of us don’t care to learn anything from God because too many of us think we have all we need. We don’t want to learn because ... if we learn ... we might find out we’re wrong and God is right. We might find that we ought to change ... and that we don’t want to admit our arrogance. We don’t want change, even if it’s more toward faithfulness. 

Instead, repent every one of you.

3.

God has led all of us here in our time to Trinity Lutheran Church. He has called each of you. He has come to enlighten and sanctify you with an amazing sign. And very soon he will feed us in his worship. You heard that right ... his worship. That’s why he brought us to this mountain. 

While you may have thought that you came to worship God, Jesus is about to show you that he brought you here to render his service to you. Rendering service is what worship is. Rendering service is what God does. That’s why it is called the Divine Service. As Jesus said to the people immediately before our reading today, I do not receive glory from people. ... How are you able to believe when you are receiving glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (vv 41, 44).

While you were looking for the amazing signs of the times that God loves you, Jesus is the one who lifts up his eyes to see you. He is the one who sees your great need. And He knows what He is about to do. He has led you here to render service to you ... to feed you. He has called and gathered you here ... to enlighten you and sanctify you. 

IN THE FEEDING OF THE 5,000, JESUS SHOWS US THE AMAZING SIGN THAT ALL WHO ARE CALLED TO HIS DIVINE SERVICE WILL NEVER HUNGER.

Let us therefore turn to page 324 in your service book and join me in confessing this faithful doctrine from the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. ... What is the Fourth Petition?

4.

That brings us back to John 6.

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore, having lifted his eyes and seen that a great crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where may we buy bread so that these people may eat?’ Now he said this [for the purpose of] testing him, for he knew what he was about to do. 

Philip answered him, ‘Bread worth two hundred denarii would be insufficient to them [for] each to receive a little.’ [Then] one of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to [Jesus] ‘There is a child here who has five loaves of barley and two fish, but what are they to so many?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people recline.’ 

Now there was much grass in the place. So, the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then, having taken the bread, and having given thanks, Jesus distributed [the bread] to those who were reclining. Likewise also the fish. [They ate] as much as they wanted. Then when they had their fill, [Jesus] told his disciples, ‘Gather up the abundant fragments in order that not one may be destroyed’ (vv 4-12).

5.

Make no mistake about it, Saint John recorded this amazing sign for our times so that we can learn to believe the amazing truth of who our Lord really is ... just how much he really loves us ... and what he continues to do for us. 

In the Word of God from the Gospel of John, we learn that Jesus is the Lamb of God who has ascended the mountain of the Lord to take away the sin of the world. Talk about rendering service! God loved you in this way: He sent Jesus to be that sacrifice. Just hours after celebrating the Passover with his disciples ... what we now know as the Lord’s Supper ... Jesus was seized by the people, mocked, beaten, brutalized. He was nailed to a cross and pierced in his hands, feet, and side for our transgressions. On the cross, God poured out all of his wrath upon our Lord to redeem you from your sins. Your sin died with Jesus. And your new life has begun in his resurrection.

And so here we are. The water of baptism and the blood of the covenant are still flowing from his side (19:34) ... cleansing and nourishing you. This is why he brought you here. He is still serving you. It is just like Yahweh told the people of Israel ... I have heard the murmuring of the sons of Israel, God said to Moses. Speak to them, saying,  In the midst of evening you will eat flesh, and in the morning, you will be satisfied with bread. Then you will know that I am Yahweh, your God (Ex 16:12).

Brothers and sisters in Christ, the food that Jesus gives is always available for those who believe in him. It is given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins. So come, you who are worthy and well-prepared. Come, take and eat ... take and drink ... giving thanks to God for his gifts to you. The Feast is an amazing sign of the times that we will always be in communion with the Father ... in Jesus’ name.