Seven Miracles - Pt 15

Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:10-14 ESV).

Today we begin with the fourth miracle in John’s Gospel known as the “Feeding of the Multitude.” The story recounts Jesus taking the five barley loaves and a few fish, giving thanks to God, and then feeding five thousand people with them. It should be noted at the outset that the amount of food Jesus uses is of no importance. It happens here to be no more than a small lunch for the little boy. The “loaves” are no more than biscuit size and the fish are no more than minnow size. The miracle is not in the multiplication of these elements; the ultimate point of the miracle was to show Jesus as the Bread of heaven. The point was not mainly that Jesus gives bread to satisfy our stomachs, but that he is bread to satisfy our souls. It is interesting that the people were blind to this truth. Jesus admonishes them: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (v. 26). Even at the end of our reading today when they wanted to make Jesus their king, they believed on him as a great source of prosperity, but not as a great Savior from sin. They certainly didn’t and not as a great Treasure in himself. You may remember me writing in one of the devotionals dealing with the first miracle that Jesus is not a “divine vending machine.” Again John emphasizes this truth by asserting that Jesus did not come into the world just to give bread, but to be bread. He did not come to be the fast food solution for our physical hunger, but to be the all-satisfying bread for our souls. Certainly he cares about our physical needs, but he ultimately cares more about our eternal lives. The day of resurrection is coming when he will give us bodies like his glorious body, and when “he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). It should not be surprising that the Apostle Paul declares, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:37). We would do well to maintain such a future focus. Our redemption is drawing ever closer, even when we are hungry. Bread today does not guarantee the real bread of our Savior. Don’t settle for any less than eternal life!