Study inJohn’s Gospel

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Source of Satisfaction

Chap 6v1-15

Presentation 17

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IntroductionWhy do people attend church? That might seem a strange question but in all walks of life people may do many things for quite different reasons. In an earlier generation many people came to church because it was socially acceptable. Others have done so in order to improve their job prospects. Still others because it was part of family tradition. Others have come to meet with God and worship him.

In Jesus’ day the crowds that followed him attended worship for a whole variety of reasons. It is against this background that we examine the feeding of the 5000.

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Reason for this ApproachWe are told in v2 that a great crowd of people followed Jesus ‘because they saw the miraculous signs he performed’. The people, who gathered around Jesus, came with very different agendas. Some asked, ‘How can we use Jesus to our benefit at a material level?’ Others believed that Jesus could further their political objectives. Still others like those mentioned in v2 were drawn by what could only be described as the ‘entertainment value’ of the miraculous.

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Reason for this ApproachJohn tells us in v4 that Jesus performed this next sign ‘when the Jewish Passover feast was near’. What is the significance of this information? The Passover reminded Israel of that period in her history when God delivered her from Egyptian bondage and they began to develop a life of dependence upon God. Life had been hard in Egypt but the desert presented them with extreme conditions. Daytime temperatures could reach 140o F and below freezing at night. There were no towns or shops in which to buy food. Water was often scarce.

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Reason for this ApproachAgainst this backdrop of depleted human resources we are to understand what happens in the verses that follow. This picture of failed human resources is one we too are familiar with. The natural resources of our planet are finite. In some places gas and oilfields will be depleted in 20 years. The destruction of the rain forests and the melting of the ice cap tell their own story. We also encounter the failure of man’s emotional resources on a daily basis. There are increasing numbers of nervous breakdowns and burnout at work due to stress. Human resources are fragile and finite.

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Reason for this ApproachPeople are discovering that no matter what ‘personal freedoms’ and ‘rights’ they have secured, lasting satisfaction eludes them. Today the majority of people in the U.K. have a higher standard of living that at any other time in history but lasting satisfaction eludes them. People queue in their tens of thousands to audition for a place on reality TV programmes like ‘Pop Idol’ or the ‘X Factor’ in their search for 5 minutes of fame but lasting satisfaction eludes them.

It lies beyond the power of their human resources. And until people recognise this, they will not begin to look for a solution that lies outside of them.

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The Sufficiency of ChristThe reason why John records this sign miracle against a background of failed human resources is because it points to the all-sufficiency of Christ. In the ancient world, food supply consumed much more of a person’s daily thought than it does in the Western world today - all we have to do is make a quick trip a supermarket.

Back then harvests regularly failed. There was not always enough to eat. And so having enough food was considered a great blessing. Indeed, ample food became a symbol of security and prosperity.

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The Sufficiency of ChristJesus identified a situation of immense human need in order to test his disciples. Although the figure of 5,000 men is mentioned, the overall number would be substantially greater once women and children were added. Clearly feeding that number at short notice, in an isolated setting, with little financial reserve lay beyond their human resources! Philip says, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"

All that the disciples could produce was a little boy’s packed lunch, a couple of fish and five small barley rolls. What happened when a little is put into the multiplying hands of Christ? The crowd was fed and were more than satisfied!

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The Sufficiency of ChristSupply outstripped demand. To help us grasp the scale of what had taken place John uses a phrase in v12 that can be literally translated ‘when they were stuffed full’. Have you ever been invited for a buffet meal, and discovered that only a modest amount of food is on the table and larger numbers have arrived than the host anticipated - what do you do?You are very restrained; you may spend the whole evening chewing on a carrot stick! Why? You don’t want your host to be embarrassed!

Now note that no one held back this crowd. They gorged themselves as the food was passed round, and even then, there were 12 full baskets of food left over!

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The Sufficiency of ChristAs far as God’s provision for man’s need is concerned supply always outstrips demand. Our poverty is never the result of heaven’s resources being exhausted but of our failure to draw upon the limitless supply of an all sufficient Christ. It was not wishful thinking on Paul’s part, when he wrote to the Philippian church, “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” Phil.4.19.

Now sign miracles always point from the physical to the spiritual. And so Jesus is claiming not simply claiming an abilityto meet and satisfy people at a material level but at a spiritual level as the following verses make clear.

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The Sufficiency of ChristMany Christians feel that God has forgotten them or is disinterested in them. Do you ever feel that way? Notice, that long before Jesus spoke to Philip, he ‘knew exactly what he intended to do’. Sadly, the disciples seem to have had little interest in the need of the crowd. In Mark’s gospel, we read that the disciples advised Jesus to send the crowd away hungry!

It is easy to be insensitive to the needs of those around us. The cry of their emptiness, loneliness, despair and frustration can leave us unmoved.But Jesus hears it! Others may be oblivious to your need but Jesus sees and cares.

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The Sufficiency of ChristEven when others do show an interest, that interest will often be imperfect and partial. Some time ago, I visited an elderly woman whose family had let her down quite badly, they rarely visited her, and when they did they did not try to understand her and failed to express much genuine concern for her. Her family had much in common with Jesus’ disciples in this story.

That woman needed to hear that there is One who would not fail her and whose interest in her would not waver even for a moment. Jesus knows your situation and wants to supply all your need from his inexhaustible resources.

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The Sufficiency of ChristI suppose if anyone could say, ‘Nobody understands or cares’; it was Joseph whose life story is recorded in Genesis. He was hated by his brothers, and sold into slavery by them. He was then transported to another land, unjustly accused of rape and falsely imprisoned. How did that young man cope?

Even in his darkest hour he knew that he was not forgotten. We read, ‘the Lord was with Joseph’ in prison Gen 39.21. God understood his bruised Emotions. He knew his need, and responded in a way that blew Joseph’s mind away.

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The Sufficiency of ChristOn the day Jesus fed the 5000, the crowd who gathered around him had come with different motives, agendas and expectations. Jesus knew this and yet he still ministered to them all. They all shared in what he provided. He did not say, ‘I will only feed those whose motives are pure’. All enjoyed the basic level of his material provision. No one went home fainting from hunger. No one was neglected.

But and this is a big ‘but’ not all went home truly satisfied. Not all were filled spiritually. Spiritual appetites are never satisfied either automatically or, indiscriminately.

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The Sufficiency of ChristHow is our spiritual appetite satisfied? First, we need to recognise that nothing else can fill the gaping spiritual void in our hearts. Only Jesus can provide the deep-seated, lasting, satisfaction to this particular appetite. We may have tried feeding this appetite with other things, like the woman at the well in Jn. 4, but to no avail - the spiritual hunger pangs are still there.

Secondly, while other things may have initially appeared to provide a solution thetemporary satisfaction they brought- if that -failed to fill the void that only Jesus can fill.

Thirdly, we need to open our hearts to Jesus and his influence, to give him houseroom and ask him to fill that gaping void.

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ConclusionWe began by asking, why people attend church services or read Christian literature. There can be many reasons. Having done so many discover that their need is greater than they had anticipated. They come realise that Jesus alone can fill the spiritual void in their heart. They have admitted their own spiritual poverty, and grieved over their attempts to fill that void with other things, they have acknowledged the folly of their sin and failure. Well, Jesus is not slow to respond to those, who have an appetite for him.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled”. Matt.5.6