John 6:1-15

Intro:
The feeding of the 5,000 is a well known story for most Christians. Some have said that is should be entitled the feeding of the 15,000 and some the 20 - 25,000. They use the fact that the Greek word that is used for “men” is the specific word that distinguishes men from women and children. We can assume from scripture that there were women and children there, especially given that one of the “boys” was the one willing to share his lunch with at least 5,000 other people. I don’t know how many exactly were there and the number shouldn’t be important at all. If Jesus fed 20 people with a ritz cracker and then had an extra basket of crackers left over that is still a miracle that neither you nor I have ever accomplished, to embellish the numbers would be pointless so for the sake of staying within bounds of scripture we will use 5,000.
There is not a ton of super deep theological principles to dig out here. This is very practical, the main over arching message that I want to leave you with is “go and do likewise.”

1. No people no problem vs More people no problem
According to Mark 6:35-36, the disciple’s solution was simply to send the people away. This would get rid of the problem but it wouldn’t be in the peoples best interests.
Jesus reacts differently:

Mark 6:37
What does Jesus ask Philip? John 6:5
What’s Philip’s response?
One of the things people discover in our world is that money often isn’t the answer to all things.

2. Know your role
Who are the main characters in this story?
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
At certain times in our life we may take on the roll of any one of these characters.
Who is the main focus of this passage?

What are the other people doing?

Who gets the glory? Are you ok with that?
He is the One who multiplied the food and they had the privilege of passing it out.
3. Expect God to blow your mind
-Give unto God and see what he will do.
Now, this is a very important picture here because we see that in contrast to the ‘little’, in verse 7, the Lord gives it with abundance.
example:
4. Waste not want not
There is more than enough to satisfy the people, but it is interesting that it is still precious, so they gather it up and do not waste it.
5. Be Thankful
Two times, by the way, John mentions that Jesus gave thanks, here is verse 11 and again in verse 23. Remembering God in all things.The act of thanksgiving or being thankful is a discipline.
6. King or KING OF KINGS
THE PROPHET Deut. 18:18
KING of kings