Feeding Of The Five Thousand (7 Signs Of The Gospel Of John Series)

(This is the fifth in a blog post series highlighting the seven signs of the Gospel of John. You can read the each of the four previous blog posts by clicking the following links: Introduction To The 7 Signs Of The Gospel Of John, Sign 1: Water Turned To Wine, Sign 2: Healing Of The Son Near Death, Sign 3: Healing Of The Lame Man At The Pool)

FOURTH SIGN: FEEDING OF THE FIVE THOUSAND

Today we are considering the fourth sign of the Gospel of John, the feeding of the five thousand.

The text is found in John 6:1-14.

It reads:

1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.
4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”

6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,

9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

10 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.

11 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.

12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”

13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

EXEGETING THE TEXT: JOHN 6:1-14

To begin with and prior to exegeting the text, I would like to remind you of the purpose of the Gospel of John and the seven signs he affords:

They are written so that you (the reader) may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (John 20:31)

It’s not a stretch to say that it’s the purpose of all four Gospels, also.

And even further than that, it’s the purpose of the entire Bible for that matter:

As we come now to sign 4 of the Gospel of John, it’s important to note it’s inclusion in all four Gospels which indicates it’s the height of all of Christ’s signs.

Among other things it hearkens back to the story of the manna God gave to Israel in the wilderness through Moses.

“Unlike [that] perishable manna … , Jesus comes down from heaven as the true bread to give life to all who believe in Him.” (LSB 1793)

And so now we turn to an exegesis of the story and text.

In v. 1-4, we find the setting is on the other side of the sea of Galilee.

And as it has to do with the calendar, this is now the second of three Passovers in the Gospel of John.

The first Passover is after the wedding at Cana where Christ turned the water to wine. (John 2:13)

And the third Passover in the Gospel of John takes place after the seventh sign of Lazarus being raised from the dead. (John 11:55)

Jesus will die on that Passover.

And so now on this other side of the sea of Galilee and as the second Passover mentioned in the Gospel of John is approaching, a large crowd is following Jesus.

They are following Him because they are seeing signs.

Jesus goes up on a mountain with His disciples to rest.

He likely moves to this wilderness place (Exodus 16:1-31) to provide the impossible situation of the miracle and to stay away from those who would kill him in Jerusalem.

Now in v. 5-10, Jesus has a conversation with Philip, first, and then Andrew.

The call of Philip and Andrew (who was first John the Baptist’s disciple and Peter’s brother) is found in John 1:35-46.

Note the eyewitness accounts of Christ and His ministry!

The impossibility of conjuring up enough food for five thousand men is established in these conversations.

(Five thousand men plus women and children might equal 15,000!)

In “testing” Philip, Jesus seeks to strengthen his faith in Him to provide for daily bread and forgive his sins and give him eternal life after he dies, ultimately.

Two hundred denarii is over half a year’s salary.

Now in v. 11-14, Jesus does the miracle.

He gives thanks and then distributes the multiplied loaves and fish to the five thousand men.

He then says to his disciples to pick up the leftovers so that none of the loaves and fish will be lost.

Evidence of the miracle is seen, not only in the five thousand who eat their fill, but now in how much leftovers are gathered: 12 basketfuls of the fragments from the five barley loaves.

The conclusion drawn by the people who see the sign is that Jesus was the new Moses. (Deuteronomy 18:15-18)

Their lack of understanding of the sign is seen especially if we add how, in v. 15, they are wanting to make Jesus king by force.

To this Jesus withdraws again to the mountain by Himself alone.

And so we have the fourth sign of the Gospel of John.

(Watch for the next installment of the 7 Signs Of The Gospel Of John Series to come soon.)

(Christ Feeding The Multitude via wikimedia. PD-US)