We Are His Highest Priority :: John 6:1-15

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When the men saw the sign that he did, they said: “This One is truly the Prophet, the One Coming into the world (v 14).

[Introduction]

Apart from the resurrection of our Lord Jesus, the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness near the Sea of Galilee is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. That should tell you something about how important this great event is in the life of the church. 

THROUGH THE FEEDING OF THE 5,000, OUR LORD TEACHES US THAT HIS HIGHEST PRIORITY IS OUR ETERNAL WELL-BEING

Unlike Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the Gospel of John not only specifically associates the feeding of the five thousand with Passover and that it happened on a mountain, the place where heaven and earth meet ... we learn that it is Jesus himself, Jesus alone, who sees a need among the people, fills that need himself personally, and doesn’t wait for his disciples to do it. His highest priority is our eternal well-being.

After taking bread and giving thanks, in John’s Gospel, it is Jesus who makes it his priority to give the people a great feast ... it is Jesus who personally distributes as much bread and fish as the people desire ... and it is Jesus who ensures that nothing, or should we say, no one will perish. 

Our Lord’s highest priority has always been taking care of you every day. Daily bread is part of his first article gifts. He not only recognizes your need, he knows your need. He not only sees your need, he does something about it. He not only longs to fill every need as quickly as you need it, he does it with abundance. 

Jesus has led you through the wilderness. He has come to live for us and die for us. He has come to give us a Sabbath rest and to rise on the first day of the week with the announcement that you are forgiven and free ... that you have peace with God. 

Delivering this Good News has always been his highest priority. And he does it again today.

I.

Our Old Testament reading is a prime example. Moses began Exodus 16 by writing that the Israelites were no longer slaves. He reminded them that they were in fact a congregation ... that they had been set free by the Word of God. This renewed identity, of being forgiven and free, didn’t mean God’s people would overcome the power of shame overnight ... the shame of being slaves. It didn’t mean they would stop being sinners ... grumbling and complaining about the gifts of heaven. Egypt had trained the Israelites for 430 years to accept their servitude (Ex 12:40) ... beating into them the refrain that ... You’re a slave! You’ll always be a slave! (Ex 3:7) ... We won’t let you go! We’ll never let you go! (Ex 5-12). 

The result was deep shame. God’s people have been shamed into thinking it’s better to rely on man-made gods ... it’s better to rely on ourselves. So they did.

When they were finally set free, declared saints, they did sing a song that recognizes the Lord’s priority has always been to give us peace (Ex 15). But the complaints followed quickly. 

We heard them say, If only we had died by YHWH’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we used to sit around kettles of meat, when we used to eat our fill of bread! Instead you’ve brought us to this wilderness to kill off this whole congregation with famine! (Ex 16:3)

II.

But our Lord’s highest priority is giving us eternal life. And he reinforces that truth by means of the feeding of the five thousand and the ensuing Bread of Life discourse. 

First, pay attention to where this happened. John tells us this happened near Tiberias, which is not just another name for the Sea of Galilee. Tiberias is also a ritually impure place near the sea. It had been built by Herod Antipas on an ancient burial site. Tiberias is another way of saying that Jesus is again in the wilderness. 

After he crossed the sea, a large crowd was following [Jesus] because they were witnessing the signs that he was doing upon the sick. They were hungering and thirsting for righteousness, just like the Israelites. Then Jesus went up on the mountain and there, he sat down with his disciples (vv 2-3). This transition from the sea to the mountain should remind you of Israel’s walk through the Red Sea to Sinai. In the same way, Jesus has crossed the sea and has come to another mountain, except this one has a lot of grass, just like Psalm 23 reminds us. 

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near ... just like it had been in our Old Testament reading. Therefore, having lifted his eyes and having gazed upon the large crowd coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, From when might we gather bread so that these [folks] might eat? He said this, testing him, for he knew what he was about to do. Just as God knew what he would do when he provided Israel with daily bread in the wilderness so that they would not die. Now we see Jesus providing the crowds with the food for their sustenance, even to eternal life.

[Yet] Philip answered him, two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be sufficient for these that each one might receive a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what is that for so many? (vv 4-9)

III. 

Why do we doubt the Lord’s priorities? By inviting everyone to his table, the Lord’s signs and miracles had a much higher goal than to just heal the sick and feed the poor. His signs showed that the kingdom of God had come upon the earth. Jesus fed the hungry with bread in preparation of his teaching that he will give himself to us as the living bread that came down from heaven forgiving sins. 

I AM the Bread of Life, Jesus will go on to say, the one who comes to me will certainly not hunger, and the one who has faith in me, will certainly not thirst (6:35).

But few people ever ask for that. Even after Jesus explained to the people that he is the Bread of Life, many people stopped following him (6:66) ... they stopped asking. Maybe they didn’t want what Jesus had to offer. Maybe too often we want something that we provide ourselves. 

Jesus said, Make the men recline. 

Now there was much grass in that place. Therefore, the men, numbering about five thousand, reclined. Then Jesus took the bread and after giving thanks, he gave it to those reclining, likewise also the fish, as much as they desired. And when they had been filled up, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather together the broken pieces so that nothing is destroyed. Therefore, they gathered and filled twelve baskets of broken pieces out of the five barley loaves which exceeded what was being eaten (vv 10-13).

IV.

Our Lord’s priorities haven’t changed for us. He provides all we need to support this body and life. God loved the world in this way: He gave, and gave, and He continues to give himself to us. He sent his son to us because he recognizes our need, sees our need, fills our need, and does so abundantly. He lived his life abundantly without sin. And he was crucified for the abundance of our sin. And since he was sinless, he was therefore raised from the dead on the first day of the week, as promised, so that we will have life abundantly. 

As I said earlier, through the feeding of the five thousand, our Lord teaches us that his highest priority is our eternal well-being.

[Conclusion]

So now let us content ourselves with this abundant truth. He is the one who cares about you. Every need, every worry, every concern that you have ... whether it’s short-term things or long-term things, physical things or spiritual things ... all of these are on his mind and his heart. 

Therefore, come to him in prayer and unload your concerns and needs for yourself and for others. Join the early church in devoting yourselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. Be strengthened by his promises that he hears and will answer for the eternal good of all. And look for the opportunities that God places in your life to be that blessing to others. It’s all for our good and his glory ... in Jesus’ name.

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