only one of them has been recorded by all four gospel writers. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And it's this very miracle by which Christ took only five small loaves of barley and two fish to feed over 5,000 people before this Passover feast in the land of Galilee. Now, if you consider all the various accounts in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, each one of the evangelists, of course, will bring forth certain different aspects from the story. It seems Matthew and Luke sort of give us the bare bones, if you will, of the story. Mark emphasizes the loving compassion of Christ, telling us specifically it was out of his compassion, out of his compassion for the multitude that he fed them. But it's only here in John, only here in John, there seems to be stressed the historical significance of this event and that Jesus himself is ultimately the true bread which satisfies. Only John, only John tells us that this miracle took place at the time of the Passover. And that is hardly an insignificant piece of information. Only John tells us that the loaves were made of barley, which is the poorest kind of bread. This wasn't sourdough that Jesus was handing out. Only John gives us the reason they gathered up what remained of the food after all had been eaten. Only John tells us the response of the crowd to the miracle. And so when we consider the four evangelists' different tellings of the same miracle with their different emphases and yet the inescapable agreement upon all the details, we come away with clear evidence of the historical reliability of this event and of the four gospel writers themselves and of their respective gospel messages. The unique and varying emphasis make it obvious that they didn't just sit down together in a room and look over each other's shoulder and copy and say, well, we need to make sure these things line up. And yet the agreement on all the specific details of the miracle make it clear these things weren't just made up. They didn't just come off the cuff, so to speak. This means all the evidence points to the fact that this miracle is indeed fact. It is history. It happened. It is true. Now, as encouraging as that is, and I do hope that encourages you, brothers and sisters, that you can trust your Bibles, that you can trust what is contained, that it's not just blind faith, it is verifiable fact. As encouraging as that is, the main reason the four evangelists record this miracle is not to give evidence to their reliability. but rather to teach us lessons of divine truth. And so as we examine this passage, we need to see first the problem of humanity, second, the provision of Christ, and third, and finally, the purpose of Christ. That's what we'll look into as we consider this passage today, the problem of humanity, the provision of Christ, and the purpose of Christ. First, let us consider in verses 1 through 7 the problem of humanity. The problem of humanity. This chapter begins by informing us that Jesus has crossed the Sea of Galilee, and a massive multitude of people have followed after him, attracted, of course, by all the miracles they've heard whispers of that he's performed elsewhere. It was the time of the Passover which had brought a massive influx of people to Jerusalem to celebrate and to eat and to see friends and family. And when they see Jesus, this renowned already miracle worker, they of course come to see. Maybe even some come to hear what He has to say. And so evening arrives and you have all these people that have come wanting to see something. Maybe many wanting to be entertained and they're hungry. They're hungry. So Jesus asked this question to Philip, of course, not out of ignorance or even wonder, but to bring out the first important lesson that must be learned in this passage. What did he ask his disciple? He says there in the text, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? Now, Philip, of course, proceeds to answer exactly how Christ knew he would. He informs Jesus that there's an obvious problem here. The demand far outweighs the supply. In fact, they had no bread at all, and there is no place around them to go and buy it. They're in the countryside. Even if they did have a place to buy it, they don't have the sufficient funds to feed this insane number of people. It would take 200 denarii, they say, which is six months wages for a typical worker. And even then, it wouldn't buy enough bread so that each person could even have a little bit. Philip's response highlights for us this morning, church, the problem of human inadequacy, of human insufficiency in the face of need. And the situation perfectly illustrates for us the consistent failure of human resources. The consistent failure of human resources. I believe it's clearly evident that this is one of John's main purposes in recording this event. Verse 6 tells us that Jesus asked Philip the question as sort of a prompt. And even more than this, the point is made clear from John's recording of the time that it transpires in verse 4, that it is the Passover which was at hand. Now we might miss it, but I can promise you no Jewish reader of this account would have been able to miss the significance of the timing here even a little bit. The Passover was a celebration. It was a reminder of the beginning of the time of the exodus in which the angel of death passed over the doors which had the blood of the lamb sprinkled upon them. More importantly here, it was a reminder, a reminder of when the people of Israel left the seeming security and comfort of Egypt for the uncertainty and the fear and the doubt of the wilderness where they had had to be entirely dependent upon the Lord. Certainly, make no mistake, it was hard for the Israelites in Egypt. I don't question that. They were slaves and they were treated awfully. And yet, things like basic provisions of food and shelter and water, those were pretty certain. It was not so in the wilderness of the desert. Their temperatures could swing in extremes from as high as 140 degrees in the height of day to below freezing at night. They had no guarantee of food or water. The Israelites during their days in the wilderness would have been before them on a daily basis. They would have had a clear reminder after reminder of the problem of human inadequacy, of their own insufficiency. And not just on a physical level, but on a spiritual as well. We can look to the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, and find account after account, telling after telling of not just the inability of humans to provide physical needs, but of course, spiritual as well, of how on their own, they more than often failed to please the Lord, their God. And here in John chapter 6, these crowds gather before Christ at the time of the Passover. A time where they would have been acutely reminded and aware of those events of their ancestors. And with it, reminded of their lack. Reminded of their desperate need, both physical and spiritual. They should have been acutely aware at this time of the Passover of the failure of human resources. Now, we don't celebrate the Passover, but I can confidently assume that the vast majority in this room have been made repeatedly aware of this same failure in the last few years. Skyrocketing prices on everything from gas, to food, to electricity, to childcare, coupled with the unprecedented drop in the value of the US dollar. These things have all made Americans aware. maybe more so than in a long time, aware of our inadequacies, our insufficiencies when it comes to providing in a way that maybe we haven't been aware of in a long time. The majority of our countrymen feel daily the strain and stress of trying to provide for themselves and their families. The failure of human resources in this physical regard is pretty obvious at this point. But what is not so obvious to all our countrymen is the failure of human resources in the spiritual regard. Our inadequacies and insufficiencies to please a holy and righteous and fearsome God and live a life acceptable to him. Now you may be here today and be facing some problems which seem insurmountable. Perhaps you're facing financial difficulties, health issues, or relational challenges. Like Phillip, we can often focus and fixate on what we lack. And we exhaust ourselves and overwhelm ourselves and stress ourselves trying to figure out how to do it all in our own efforts. But church, even if tomorrow the financial difficulties and health issues and relational challenges. Even if you awoke tomorrow and they all disappeared, our main problem would not. Even if we awoke tomorrow rich, healthy, popular, these things would fail to bring us the lasting happiness that we're searching for. In our own efforts, we will at some point just be faced with the failure of our resources, the human problem of inadequacy and insufficiency. Brothers and sisters, the reality is that our greatest problem, the greatest failure of our own resources, the greatest inadequacy and insufficiency we face is our failure to please the Lord our God. It is a spiritual insufficiency. This is why no matter how much we accomplish for ourselves, whether it be wealth or fame or in education or relationships, we still fail to bring ourselves lasting joy, lasting satisfaction. And so the first thing we must do is realize and acknowledge our own inadequacies and insufficiencies. Only then can we begin to see our greatest needs require a solution that is outside of us, external to us. And so we see in our second point, the provision of Christ. Let us consider the provision of Christ. Look with me again at John chapter six, now verses eight through 13 as we consider the provision of Christ. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? 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. And Jesus then took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated. And 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. And so they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. Here, brothers and sisters, we see the provision of Christ in the face of humanity's problem, humanity's lack of resources. We are woefully insufficient to meet our needs, and yet, brothers and sisters, Christ, Christ is not just a little sufficient, He is all sufficient. He is all sufficient. It may be too easy for us to miss the significance of what takes place here. Honestly, we may be tempted to read this account and think to ourselves, okay, so we gave out some fish and some bread. We're a spoiled society. And as a result, the vast majority of us, even our poor, don't really have to think too much or worry too much about food. When we want food, the overwhelming majority of us just go to our fridge or our pantry and we get it. When our supply gets low, we just drive a few blocks down the road to a grocery store and we get more. This is true, not just of our most wealthy citizens, but even of our poorest. We may not be able to get all the types of food we would ideally like, but we can get food. You see, in ancient times, this was not the case. Honestly, you don't have to go back too terribly far and see that the vast majority of human history, it was not like this. There was not always enough to eat. Unless you were royalty or among the top wealthiest citizens in a land, for the most part, if you wanted food, you had to grow it or you had to kill it. And even if you went through all the work of planting and watering and caring for what you planted, harvests were never certain. Insufficient rain or bugs or heat or a number of factors could leave you and your family going one moment from okay to the next facing starvation. Because of this, having enough food was considered for the vast majority of human history to be a great blessing. It wasn't taken for granted. Food itself for most of human history was a symbol of prosperity. Eating held a much higher place of concern in the day-to-day for them than it did for us. And so Jesus here is providing the people not just with a snack, not just with a snack, but it is far more likely than not that this could have been the first meal of the day for many of these people who were here, that they were hungry, some literally starving possibly when they received the bread and the fish from Christ. That reality, coupled with the timing of the Passover and their minds already thinking, reflecting upon the needs of their ancestors. God's provision for their ancestors should make it clear who this Christ is and what He can do. This Jesus is not just any normal man. He can provide and He does provide. And he does so even when the demand far outweighed the supply. Five barley loaves and two fish for how many people? I'm going to be honest, if I sat down at a restaurant and had ordered food and they brought out just five loaves of bread and two fish for just my family, I'd be calling the waiter back real quick. Just the appetizer, if we go to Texas Roadhouse, we're clearing probably five baskets of those rolls in honey, cinnamon, butter. This wouldn't cut it even for my own household. And so you're talking for how many people? 5,000, but wait, but wait, like those old commercials, but wait, there's more, not just 5,000. 5,000 was just the count of the men. That's just the adult men who were there. That number didn't include women and children who certainly would have been present as well. Most biblical scholars would tell you that this means there was conservatively somewhere around likely 15 to 20,000 people present when you consider men, women, and children. And so yeah, that demand far outweighed that supply. And yet we read that Jesus took the loaves. When he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who receded. And so also the fish is as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the leftovers. There were leftovers that nothing may be lost. And so they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the loaves that had not been eaten. And so astonishingly, church, not only does everyone eat, but they eat till they're stuffed and there's leftovers. Disciples had to put together doggy bags to take home the leftovers. Leftovers from only five loaves of bread and two fish for thousands of people. The demand had far outweighed the supply, but after Christ was done, the supply actually outstripped the demand. What we witness here, church, is not merely a miracle of multiplication, but a demonstration of Christ's divine power in His provision. Jesus takes the meager offering of the young boy and multiplies it beyond measure. The result is abundance. And here, church, we see the nature of Christ's provision. It's not just sufficient. It's not just enough to meet the bare minimum need. No, it is abundant. He gives not only enough to meet the need, but enough to show His grace and His power and His mercy are overflowing, unending. Jesus here shows that just as God provided manna in the wilderness for Israel, so too He abundantly provides for His people. Some of you will likely recognize the name George Mueller. I would hope so in a room of good Presbyterians. Mueller, of course, was a Christian man who became burdened, broken over the many orphans he encountered walking the streets of his native England. At that time, he writes that there were thousands, thousands of homeless orphans, children who littered the streets, who you would walk past on a normal Tuesday and see them freezing to death or starving to death, barely clinging on to life or being forced into abusive labor. Mueller felt that God was calling him in the midst of this to open an orphanage, to do something about it. Even though he only had two shillings in his pocket, what amounts to 50 cents today, he trusted that God would provide for his needs. And so Mueller watched over the years as God did exactly that, as God did indeed provide for the needs, everything from buildings to furniture, to clothing, to food. In fact, he eventually went on to build five orphanages and care for over 10,000 orphans in his time. One day, Mueller awoke. He writes to the news at the orphanage, which housed 300 children, that the orphanage had ran out of food. And so Mueller did what Mueller would do. He instructed the house mother to gather all the children, to bring them into the dining room. And then he prayed to God, thanking Him for food. And they waited for God to provide, as He always did. And of course, you can imagine, you can imagine surely there were some looks from the other workers there, maybe even from some of the children thinking maybe Mueller had lost his mind. Thank God for what food? Mueller, we're out of food. What food are you thanking God for? And yet within minutes, there was a knock at the door. They opened to find none other than the local town baker. Mr. Mueller, he confessed, last night I simply couldn't sleep. Somehow I knew that you would need bread this morning. And so I got up and I baked three batches for you and I'll bring it in. And as if that wasn't enough of a miracle in itself, a few minutes later, there was another knock at the orphanage door. and they open it to discover a milkman whose cart had broken down just a moment ago right in front of their orphanage. So the milkman explained to them that the milk would spoil by the time the cart was fixed, and he wanted to know, maybe, sir, could the orphanage use some milk? Now church, while we may be tempted to view Mueller's life as extraordinary, the same God who showed up at Mueller's door showed up for these thousands by the Sea of Galilee. This same God invites us now to go to Him in prayer, trusting in His powerful provision for our lives. There was food in abundance for these people. And there is always abundance with the Lord. W. Pink in his commentary here notes that when Abraham went up to intercede with God on behalf of the supposedly righteous remaining in Sodom, he notes that God never ceased granting until Abraham ceased asking. He notes that it was also this way when Elisha's oil that is so long as there were empty vessels to be found in the land, the vessel of the widow who Elisha helped never ceased its supply." And A.W. Pink goes on to write that he says, this is what Jesus does to all his people. He comes to the poor, a bankrupt believer, and places in his hand a draft on the resources of heaven and says to him, write on it what thou wilt. Such is our precious Lord still. If we are straightened, it is not in Him, but in ourselves. If we are poor and weak or tired and tempted, it's not that we cannot help ourselves, it's because we do not. We have so little faith in things unseen, things eternal. We draw so little on the resources of Christ. We come not to Him with our spiritual wants, our empty vessels and draw from the ocean of His grace. So brothers and sisters, if you are here today and are in need, poor and weak, tired and tempted, aware of your insufficiencies and inadequacies, have you went to the Lord in prayer? Have you asked Him to supply your needs? I would remind you what God's Word tells us in Philippians 4, 9. My God will supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Do you believe that? Do you trust His Word? Have you acted upon it in faith and in prayer? I would plead with you, turn to Christ. He can provide. Now there are some important clarifications we need to understand about what our needs really are and about what it is that Christ provides and why. And so as we turn to verses 14 and 15, we'll see and consider, we need to consider in our third and final point, the purpose of Christ. The purpose of Christ. Look with me at verses 14 through 15. John 6 verses 14 through 15. There we read that when the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who has come into the world. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. Now sometimes in the gospel accounts, the reaction to Jesus is immediate rejection. swift hostility. And then we have other times like this where the crowd seems at least at face value to accept him and receive him happily. And yet we'll see here that when they receive him for the wrong reasons, it's not really any better. These crowds misunderstood the purpose of Christ, why he had come, why he had fed them. You see, they missed the point. They only wanted a Messiah who would serve them as a political deliverer. Someone who would free them from the yoke of Roman oppression and restore Israel to its former glory. And this is why ultimately that Jesus withdrew Himself from them. He knew their support of Him was only so long as He gave them what they wanted. He knew these would be some of the very same people who would soon be crying out, crucify Him, crucify Him. The miracle of the loaves and fish was not just about meeting the physical needs of the crowd. There was a deeper purpose at work. And they misunderstood that here in His miracle. The bread that He provided was a symbol of the greater bread He offers Himself. In the discourse which follows this passage, if you were to look ahead in your Bibles just a little bit to John 6.35, what does Jesus tell them? I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. You see, Jesus' purpose wasn't just to fill their stomachs for this life, but to fill their souls for eternity. He came to give life, and not just life, but life abundant. And not just for this life, but for the next, through his life and death and resurrection. Now, at first glance, you might read this passage here and think, well, these people seem grateful. Their gratitude was the time of gratitude referred to by one commentator as a lively sense of favors still to come. In other words, they only wanted Jesus for what they could get out of him. They were so focused on the provisions Jesus could give them that they completely missed that the entire purpose was for them to see that their greatest need, their greatest want of all should have been Jesus himself. You see church, they wanted the gifts, but they didn't really want the giver. They wanted the benefits, but they didn't want the benefactor. They were like a spoiled grown child who only calls their parents when they want to ask for money. They don't have time for their parents until they need something from them. And if we're honest, brothers and sisters, every one of us in this room have been like this before. Some of you may be like this even now with God. If you were to examine your heart honestly, would you find that you love Jesus for Jesus or for what you can get out of Him? Do you here today, do you want the gifts more than you want the giver? Do you care about the benefits more than you do the benefactor? Are your prayers never anything more than just rambling off with a cosmic wish list of physical needs and wants? Ask yourself and consider here today, how often do you go to the Lord in prayer, not to ask for anything physical, but just to commune with Him, just to speak with Him and be with Him, to get more of Him, It's easy. It's easy to come to Jesus simply to have our physical needs met. We pray for healing or financial help or comfort in difficult time. And look, don't misunderstand me. Pray for those things too. Pray for all the things. The Lord wants to hear them. Pray for those things as well. Those things are fine to ask for good in fact. But if we stop there, We, like this crowd, miss the greater purpose of Christ, the greater gift of Christ, the greater provision of Christ, which is Christ. Church, the Lord Jesus can and does at times actually strip us of our worldly provisions. of food, of health, of our resources, or a number of other things in order to remind us what our greatest need is. Him. That's actually the whole point of fasting. That's the whole point of fasting. That by depriving ourselves of food, we might remind ourselves of what our greater need is. The Lord our God. And so sure, of course, come to Him for your daily bread, your daily needs. Absolutely. But far more importantly, come to Him for more of Him, for the bread of life. Don't be content to just feed upon the bread He gives. Come to feed upon Him. Those who do will be fully satisfied, He promises in His Word. This is why the Apostle was able to say in Philippians 4, 11-13, I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance, Paul writes. I've learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. Now the point the apostle is making is not that your football team can win the game, or that you can fly, or that you can go and buy that Porsche. No, the point Paul is making is that because he is satisfied in Christ, he is satisfied in life, regardless of how little or how much he has. So brothers and sisters, you who are here today, don't be content to just feed upon the bread he gives. Come to feed upon the giver. Those who do will be satisfied in full. He will satisfy you completely. Jesus is sufficient. Jesus is enough. Come to him, the bread of life. Would you join me as we pray? Most gracious and heavenly Father, God, we give You thanks. Thanks, Lord, that You know us so much better than we know ourselves. Lord, You know our needs. You know what keeps us up at night, what grows that anxiety inside of us, what causes us to worry and fear. And You care intimately. You're not just some distant Creator. Father, You are our Father. You love us as Your sons and Your daughters. You've numbered every hair upon our head. You've loved us with a love greater than we can understand before the foundation of the earth. And so, Lord, we pray. We pray that You would help us as we go out from this place and go back to work this week, back to school, back to life. Lord, remind us in the midst of all the many worries and cares of this world, what our greatest need is. Help us as we get on our knees in prayer. Not just to pray for all the things, but Father, help us to pray for more of Christ. More of Christ. Lord, help us. Help us to trust. Help us to know. Help us to remember in the good times and in the bad. Lord, that you are there and that you provide all our needs in Christ Jesus sufficiently and abundantly. We ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's take our hymnals now, church, and let's stand together and sing hymn number 76, Hymn number 76, Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven. ♪ Praise my soul, the king of heaven ♪ ♪ To his feet your tribute bring ♪ Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise the everlasting King. To our fathers in distress. Praise Him still the same forever, Slow to chide and swift to bless. Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, Glorious in His faithfulness. Father-like, He tends and spares us, well our feeble frame He knows. In His hands He gently bears us, rescues us from all our foes. Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, widely as His mercy goes. Frail as summer's flowering and it is gone. But while mortals rise and perish, God endures unchanging on. Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise the High Eternal One. Angels help us to adore Him. You behold Him face to face, sun and moon bow down before Him, dwellers all in time and space. Praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise Him, praise with us the God of grace. Let's lift up our faces now, church, and receive the blessing, the benediction of God. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all, and all God's people said, Amen. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. Amen.