JESUS, THE BREAD OF LIFE - PART 1 - JOHN 6

 

Jesus, the Bread of Life - Part 1

6:1-15

Between chapter 5 and 6 we see another time lapse of unknown length. John only wrote “after this”. Jesus left Jerusalem and returned to Galilee.  In verse 4, the time is said to be when the Passover was “at hand” or near. This would be the second Passover mentioned by John during Jesus’ ministry. 

Jesus traveled with his disciples up to the other side, or far side, of the Sea of Galilee. (1) Since the Jews lived on the west side of the Sea, and Gentiles on the east side, in Roman Syria, the “other side” would logically mean the west side. John added an explanation for his Greek and Roman readers that it is the Sea of Tiberias.

The Romans knew the Sea of Galilee as the Sea of Tiberias because  Herod Antipas had built a city next to the Sea and called it Tiberias in honor of the Roman emperor who was his patron. He also made the city his capital and he named the sea the Sea of Tiberias. That is what the Greek readers would have known.

The area on the west and north of the sea included Bethsaida and Capernaum, both home to some of the disciples and an area Jesus stayed in often.

A large crowd followed Jesus from Galilee because they had seen him heal the sick. (2) These are not disciples, but inquirers and curiosity seekers. 

 

Jesus went up on the mountain and sat down with his disciples. This would have been the area west of the sea now known as the Golan Heights. Jesus climbed up partway to the top of one of these hills, which they called mountains. This is what he would do if he intended to separate from the crowds and talk to his disciples. 

As Jesus and the disciples watched the crowd gathering, he put the disciples to a test of faith. We can know this from the fact that Jesus already knew what he was going to do and that he asked his question in order to test them. (6) 

He asked Philip where they could buy bread to feed the crowd.  Philip was a logical target; he was from Bethsaida, which was not far from there.  Philip did not answer the question, but said that it would cost too much money for them to even give each person a little. (7) The amount he mentioned was about eight months wages for a manual worker. It shows that he was focused on the natural world, not the world of Jesus’ supernatural works. 

Philip had been present at the wedding in Cana and had seen Jesus provide what was lacking by turning water into wine. Yet, it did not occur to him that Jesus could provide what was lacking here. It certainly was a much larger crowd to provide for. 

Andrew, Peter’s brother, chimed in that there was a boy with a sack lunch containing five barley loaves and two fish. These loaves would not be what you buy in the grocery store today. They would be more small cakes like Twinkie but made from barley, which was the grain of the poor. The fish were likely small like sardines or some other small fish, and probably dried. 

The fact that Andrew mentioned the food makes you think for a minute that he has faith Jesus could do something with this small lunch. But then he dashed our hopes by saying “what are they for so many”. (9) 

I can envision Jesus shaking is head while his eyes are still on the crowd. Then he proceeded to show them that the important thing was not what the fish were, but who Jesus is.

So, Jesus had everyone down. John wrote the there were about 5,000 men. If you add the women and children that were present, the crowd was 10,000 people at a minimum and maybe as many as 20,000. 

John bothered to mention there was much grass in the place. This means it was likely spring. This coincides with the statement in verse 4 that it was almost time for Passover. That feast occurred in spring, from late March to early April. 

When this area gets some rain in early spring, the grass springs up. But once it gets hot in the summer, the grass all dies and is gone. For those who challenge the accuracy of the gospel accounts, it is a very specific observation on John’s part to deal with. 

Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and had them distributed to the crowd along with pieces of fish. Everyone ate until they were full. Then Jesus had the disciples gather the left overs. They filled 12 baskets with them. The number 12 has significance. It seems that Jesus wanted to convey the message that the Lord is sufficient for the 12 tribes of Israel. 

Those who saw what Jesus had done, began to speculate that he was the Prophet Moses talked about in Deuteronomy 18:15. They began to think about grabbing Jesus and declaring him to be king. Who wouldn’t want a king that could give you all you wanted to eat. Jesus wanted no part of this, so he left and went up the mountain by himself. (15)

The Jews at that time longed for the Messiah or Prophet to come. But, what they wanted was a Messiah that would defeat the Romans and restore Israel to a great kingdom as it was under David. Jesus was not that kind of Messiah, so he avoided that scenario by leaving. 

He has already resisted the devil’s temptation to have all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time in exchange for worshipping him. (Luke 4:5-8) He resisted this also, because it was not the mission or the means given him by the Father. 

This story shows us Jesus’ divinity by showing his authority over material things, including food. It was also a lesson that, when we have Jesus, we will have all we need. But, it also set the stage for the teaching he was to give about himself. 

Jesus Walks on Water

6:16-21

The next story is sort of an insertion in the larger narrative about Jesus and bread. 

The disciples must have given up on Jesus coming down from the mountain once it got dark. They decided to cross the lake, maybe to go to one of their homes. But the wind came up and kept them from making good progress across the lake. 

Then the wildest thing happened. As they strained against the oars, they saw Jesus coming to them. He was not in a boat. He was walking on the water. They were frightened. No one can do that and it must have been an unnerving sight. Again, Jesus was revealing his divinity and glory. But Jesus told them not be be afraid and got into the boat. A second miracle occurred then as the boat immediately came to the shore.

John already told us that Jesus made all things (John 1:3) That included the seas. Genesis 1:9-10 says:

“And God said, Let the water under the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear And it was so. God called the dry land Earth and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.  

Jesus made the seas and placed them where he wanted them. He had authority over the seas both at creation and during his incarnation.

So, here we see Jesus’ divinity again through his authority over nature. He walked on water, which is humanly impossible, and he caused the boat to be immediately at the shore. Imagine trying to go to sleep that night remembering all of those baskets of food going out to the crowd from one boy’s lunch, remembering Jesus calmly walking across the stormy sea and your bewilderment of immediately coming to the shore. 

They had seen Jesus’ power as God all day long. But they also heard his proclamation. When Jesus came to the boat, he not only said do not be afraid, he said “it is I”. (20) In English that sounds insignificant, but not in the original Greek.

In Greek, Jesus’ words were “ego eimi”. The word “ego” in Greek means “I am”. But the word “eimi” in Greek also means “I am”. So, literally, Jesus said “I am, I am”. This is significant because of the Greek translation of the Old Testament used this same construction in Exodus 3:14. 

Exodus is the story of Moses encountering God in the burning bush. When God commissioned Moses to go back to Egypt and free the Israelites, Moses asked God his name. God said, translated into English, “I am who I am”. (Exodus 3:14) But the Greek translation is “ego eimi”. So, Jesus identified himself by the same name God identified himself with to Moses. 

There are several “I Am” sayings in John, where Jesus applied the divine name to himself. For example, he said “I am” the bread of life and “I am” the light of the world. There are seven of them. But here, Jesus also declares himself to be “I Am”.

Sometimes when discussing Jesus with a skeptic, you will hear them say “Jesus never said he was God”. You can use this passage and the seven “I AM” statements to refute that claim. Jesus stated that he is God and he demonstrated it through his signs\miracles. 

John recorded the statements and the signs so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the divine Son of God, and that by believing, we would have eternal life in his name. 

These stories now set up what follows: the Bread of Life Discourse which comes next.