EXPLORE IT! - John 6:1-15

John chapter 6 begins with the story of Jesus Feeding the Five Thousand.

At the beginning of this story, John mentions that the Jewish Passover Festival would soon take place. Jesus crosses the Sea of Galilee, but the crowds follow him around the lake because he had previously healed them. 

Jesus and his disciples go up on the mountainside and Jesus asks Philip for suggestions on where to buy bread to feed all these people. 

Philip says, “It would take half a year’s wages to pay for everyone to just get a bite!”

Andrew’s like, “Here’s a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but what good will that do?” 

Jesus has the crowd sit down on the grass and he gives thanks and distributes what food they have to the crowd. 

And by the end of the meal, the whole crowd of over 5,000 people has had enough to eat and the disciples pick up twelve basketfuls of leftovers. 

After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 

The Prophet refers to the promise Moses had made that another person like himself would arise to lead Israel. 

But Jesus knows that the crowd is about to declare him King of Israel and start a revolution, so he runs off and hides in the mountains. 

This story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 appears in all four of the Gospels. According to the version in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus and his disciples are constantly surrounded by large crowds. 

Jesus needs a break, so they get in a boat and try to find a quiet place to hide. But the crowds soon find them, and Jesus “has compassion,” and begins to teach them. 

At the end of the day, the disciples tell Jesus to send the crowds home so that the people can get something to eat, but Jesus says, “You feed them.” 

But the disciples are unable, and Jesus inquires about their food supply – five loaves and two fish. Jesus blesses it and breaks it up, and the disciples distribute it. Amazingly, all 5,000 people end up with enough to eat. 

And Matthew also tells us that there are twelve basket-fulls of food left over. 

This event takes place on the Jewish side of the Lake, and it is understood that the twelve disciples with twelve baskets represent the twelve tribes of Israel. 

Later, Matthew tells us that Jesus also teaches the crowds on the mountainside on the other side of the Sea of Galilee – the Gentile side. 

And the Gentile crowds are amazed when he heals them. 

Jesus also “has compassion” on them and tells his disciples that he doesn’t want to send the people away to get something to eat because they’ve already been with him for three days and they might collapse on the way from hunger. 

The disciples, again, have no idea where they can get enough food for the people. Jesus again inquires about food supply – seven loaves and a few small fish. And again Jesus blesses it, and breaks it up, and the disciples distribute it. Amazingly, all 4,000 men, plus the women and children, end up with enough to eat. 

Remember, this event takes place on the Gentile side of the Lake. 

And Matthew tells us that there are seven basketfuls of food left over. 

And so, just like the twelve basketfuls we saw previously representing the twelve tribes of Israel, the seven baskets here are understood to represent the seven pagan nations that surrounded Israel in ancient times.

Matthew then tells us that Jesus and his disciples go to Magadan where the Pharisees and Sadducees ask Jesus to show them a sign from heaven. 

And Jesus says, “You say, ‘Red in the morning, sailor’s warning; red at night, sailors delight.’ You know how to interpret the weather, but you don’t know how to interpret the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” 

They then get in a boat and cross the lake and Jesus says, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Sadducees.” 

The disciples think he is talking about how they had forgotten to bring bread along. 

Jesus rebukes them for their lack of understanding and asks them if they remembered how many basketfuls of bread were left over from the five thousand and the four thousand. 

And they tell him that there were twelve and seven, respectively.

Jesus then asks, “Do you still not understand?” 

The disciples do not immediately understanding what Jesus is trying to tell them, but eventually they realize that he’s not talking about literal bread, but theology. 

The point is that the abundance of the Gospel is for both Jews and Gentiles, as the miracles of the bread and fish portrayed, but the Pharisees and Sadducees wanted God’s blessings all to themselves.