Fixated On the Physical

11 The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him. 12 And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation.” 13 And he left them, got into the boat again, and went to the other side.

14 Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” 16 And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. 17 And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? 18 Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear? And do you not remember? 19 When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.” 20 “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.” 21 And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” – Mark 8:11-21 ESV

After dismissing the crowd that had benefited from His miraculous transformation of the bread and fish, Jesus and His disciples sailed across the Sea of Galilee to Dalmanutha, in the region of Magadan (Matthew 15:39). It seems likely that the disciples had stashed in the bow of the boat the 7 baskets of leftover bread and fish they had gathered. Mark offers no insight into the conversations these men may have had as they sailed to their next destination, but it makes sense that they would have discussed that day's events, including the miracle Jesus had just performed.

As soon as their boat touched the shore, another contingent of Jewish religious leaders met them. Matthew records that, on this occasion, the Pharisees were accompanied by Sadducees.

“. . . the Sadducees were a wealthy, conservative party concentrated in Jerusalem. Their members were from aristocratic families of patrician and priestly stock. They refused adherence to the tradition of the elders and advocated a rigorous application of the law of Moses to the life of the nation. In general, they espoused a political and religious policy, including cooperation with Rome, aimed at preserving the status quo.” – Kingsbury, J. D., Conflict in Mark: Jesus, Authorities, Disciples. Minneapolis: Fortress
Press, 1989

Both the Pharisees and Sadducees had representatives who sat on the 70-member Sanhedrin, the high council of the Jews. But these two powerful, highly influential religious sects were not on friendly terms. While they shared a common belief in God and held the Hebrew Scriptures in high regard, they differed on many issues, including the resurrection of the dead. The Sadducees rejected the idea of an afterlife, arguing instead that the soul simply perished at death. So, they rejected the whole concept of resurrection and a system of rewards and punishments after death. They also rejected any notion of a spiritual dimension populated by demons and angels, and these beliefs put them at odds with the Pharisees. Yet these two opposing parties were willing to set aside their differences to take on their common enemy: Jesus.

Mark indicates that these men confronted Jesus, “seeking from him a sign from heaven to test him” (Mark 8:11 ESV). They were not interested in seeing Jesus perform a miracle; they had already witnessed many of His more spectacular displays of power. They demanded a “sign from heaven”, some kind of celestial proof that would verify His claims once and for all. They had refused to accept any of His many miracles as evidence of His divine calling. Instead, they accused Him of casting out demons by the power of Satan (Mark 3:22). As Mark states, this latest encounter was nothing more than a test, an attempt to force Jesus’ hand and expose Him as the fraud they believed Him to be.

Exasperated by their stubborn refusal to receive Him as their Messiah, Jesus “sighed deeply in his spirit” and responded, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation” (Mark 8:12 ESV).

Jesus exposed their true intentions. Nothing He could have done would have satisfied their demand because they were already convinced He was a charlatan, and no sign or celestial manifestation would change their minds. Mark indicates that Jesus simply walked away, leaving these men with neither a sign from heaven nor the definitive proof that He was a fraud. But, in his gospel, Matthew adds an important detail to this same scene. He reports that Jesus confronted these men about their inability to recognize the obvious.

“You know the saying, ‘Red sky at night means fair weather tomorrow; red sky in the morning means foul weather all day.’ You know how to interpret the weather signs in the sky, but you don’t know how to interpret the signs of the times!” – Matthew 16:2-3 NLT

They could predict the weather based on “the signs” in the sky, but they couldn't recognize the Messiah despite the overwhelming evidence around them. According to Jesus, everything He had said and done was more than enough proof of His claim to be the Son of God and the long-awaited Messiah. He would not give them any other “signs” besides “the sign of Jonah.”

“Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign, but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” – Matthew 16:4 NLT

This wasn't the first time Jesus used this kind of language with the religious leaders. Matthew records an earlier encounter in which Jesus said the very same words and added, “For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights” (Matthew 12:40 NLT). Jesus used the well-known story of the Old Testament prophet Jonah to predict His own pending death, burial, and resurrection. The Jewish religious leaders would have been familiar with Jonah's story but would not have understood the connection Jesus was making.

Jesus condemned these men for their stubborn refusal to accept Him as their Messiah. Jonah had been “resurrected” from the belly of the great fish and had taken God's message to the people of Nineveh. As a result, they believed and repented. But Jesus reveals that even His death, burial, and resurrection would not be enough to make these stubborn religious leaders believe. He even predicts the outcome they will face for their unbelief.

“The people of Nineveh will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.” – Matthew 12:41 NLT

The Ninevites Jonah preached to were Gentile pagans, yet when they heard the message from God's prophet, they repented and were saved. But the Jewish religious leaders refused to receive the message from the lips of the Son of God, choosing instead to remain unconvinced and unrepentant.  Unwilling to debate further, Jesus and His disciples got back in the boat and sailed away.

What happens next reveals much about the men Jesus had chosen as His disciples. Mark records that they got back in the boat and then adds, “they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat” (Mark 8:14 ESV). So they hadn't brought the seven baskets of leftovers after all. We’re not told what they did with all that food, but only that they brought a single loaf of bread to share among 13 hungry men. Perhaps they thought Jesus could multiply that loaf too, so they decided to travel light and left the rest behind.

Whatever the thought process behind their decision, Jesus used the moment to teach a valuable lesson. His response to their oversight was a warning.

“Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” – Mark 8:15 ESV

Confused by Jesus’ words, the disciples immediately assumed He was upset with them for failing to bring enough bread. They likely began casting blame, each accusing the other for this obvious lapse in judgment. Jesus had to remind them that the quantity of bread wasn't the issue; He wasn't talking about literal bread at all.

“Why are you arguing about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Have your hearts been hardened? Though you have eyes, don’t you see? And though you have ears, can’t you hear? Don’t you remember?” – Mark 8:18-19 NLT

Had they already forgotten what He had done? Were they so hard-hearted that they couldn’t recall how He had miraculously fed thousands of people on two separate occasions with nothing more than a few loaves and fishes? Their problem wasn’t a lack of bread, but a lack of faith. Despite all Jesus had said and done, they still struggled to accept Him as the Messiah. Matthew adds that Jesus confronted them for their deficit of faith. 

“O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?” – Matthew 16:8 ESV

They were fixated on the physical realm, arguing over who was responsible for their lack of bread. But Jesus was warning them about the teachings of the religious leaders. These men posed a serious threat because their prominent positions allowed them to propagate dangerous doctrines that could keep others from hearing and accepting Jesus as their Messiah. Jesus later condemned them for the infectious, deadly nature of their influence.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you cross land and sea to make one convert, and then you turn that person into twice the child of hell you yourselves are!” – Matthew 23:13-16 NLT

Jesus posed a rhetorical question to His disciples: “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:21 ESV). He knew the answer and was well aware that only after the Holy Spirit came would the disciples comprehend all He had said to them while He was with them. But He would continue to use His confrontations with the religious leaders as prime teaching opportunities to instruct His 12 disciples. He wanted them to keep believing, regardless of what the Pharisees and Sadducees might say.

The morning after Jesus had fed the 5,000, they showed up expecting another free meal. When Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven’ (John 6:32 NLT), they responded, “Give us that bread every day” (John 6:36 NLT). They missed the point. Their physical appetites prevented them from grasping the spiritual truths Jesus was trying to convey, and Jesus’ disciples suffered from the same problem. Despite their close relationship with Jesus, they were struggling to understand His identity as the Son of God. His miracles amazed them and His words confounded them, but they remained fixated on the physical realm.  

Their greatest need was not physical; it was spiritual. Jesus had proven He could provide bread, but they really needed the Bread of Life. They remained focused on the temporal, but Jesus kept exposing them to the eternal, just as He did with the Samaritan woman. He gave her a similar message. 

“Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” – John 4:13-14 NLT

The woman’s response was immediate and predictable.

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” - John 4:15 NLT

Jesus didn’t rebuke the woman for her lack of understanding; instead, He confronted her about her sinful lifestyle. He exposed that the real source of her problem was not physical but spiritual. She needed living water. Yet, when the disciples returned and saw Jesus talking with this woman, they were shocked. Yet John records that she “left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, ‘Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?’” (John 4:28-29 NLT).

When Jesus exposed the depth of her sinfulness, His ability to discern the darkness of her life shocked her, but His willingness to offer her eternal life amazed her. She believed and was saved, along with many of her neighbors. She forgot all about the well, the water, her past sins, and her less-than-stellar reputation in her community. She met the Messiah and was changed — for eternity. 

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Incomparable Power and Compassion

30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men. – Mark 6:30-44 ESV

After a brief diversion to inform his readers about John the Baptist's fate, Mark brings the focus of his narrative back to the 12 disciples. Jesus had sent them in pairs to preach the gospel of the Kingdom and call the people to repentance. To validate their message, He gave them the power to perform miracles. Mark gives no hint of the length of this missionary journey, but simply states, “The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught” (Mark 6:30 ESV). 

This anticlimactic description of their return leaves much to the imagination. There is no sense of excitement, and Mark reveals nothing about their exploits. But we can assume these men had stories to tell and were eager to share them with one another. Luke provides an idea of the kinds of reports these men would have given to Jesus upon their return. He recalls another occasion when Jesus sent out 72 additional disciples and gave them the same instructions He had given the 12.

“Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” – Luke 10:9 ESV

When these disciples returned from their mission, they eagerly shared what had happened with Jesus. The focus of their report reveals much about their takeaway from their experience:

The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” – Luke 10:17 ESV

They mentioned nothing about the message of the Kingdom or the peoples’ response to it. They were blown away by their ability to cast out demons, just as Jesus had done. They focused on the more sensational aspect of their mission. But to bring their egos back to earth and refocus their attention on what was truly important, Jesus responded, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20 ESV).

So, when the 12 disciples returned from their missionary journey, they likely shared similar stories about casting out demons and healing the sick and the lame. Recognizing that these men were excited yet worn out from their journey, Jesus led them to a remote place where they might get some much-needed rest. But isolation and alone time were difficult to come by for Jesus and His disciples. Everywhere they went, they encountered large crowds and constant attention, and this time would be no different.

Mark indicates that they crossed the Sea of Galilee by boat and headed to a desolate area near the town of Bethsaida (Luke 9:10). But the crowds watched their every move. So, as Jesus and His disciples made their way by boat, the people ran along the shoreline, trying to guess where they were headed. When the boat reached shore, Jesus and the disciples found themselves surrounded again. The weary disciples were probably frustrated by this turn of events. They had just returned from a long, arduous trip and looked forward to some much-needed R&R, but it was not to be. Mark indicates that Jesus saw the crowd and “had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34 ESV).

This statement sets up a subtle contrast between Jesus and His disciples that becomes clearer as the story unfolds. Jesus was moved by the people's helpless, hopeless state. The very fact that they kept following Him revealed their desperate desire for leadership and direction. There were people in the crowd who were hurting emotionally and physically. Others were poor and needy, lacking the resources to meet basic necessities. Luke indicates that Jesus “taught them about the Kingdom of God, and he healed those who were sick” (Luke 9:11 NLT). 

It’s interesting to note that Jesus did for these people exactly what He had commanded the disciples to do on their recent missionary excursion. Yet the text doesn't mention the disciples teaching the people or performing any acts of healing. It is almost as if they were taking the day off. They had done their part, and now it was time to relax. One can almost sense their eagerness to bring this long day to a close in what they said to Jesus.

“This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.” – Mark 6:35-36 NLT

Those words show little compassion. The disciples were ready for the crowds to disperse so they could finally get the rest they so richly deserved. Their feigned concern for the people's well-being was nothing more than a way to get rid of them. Yet Jesus, always aware of what was on the hearts and minds of those around Him, simply said, “You give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37 ESV).

The ludicrous nature of this command is easy to miss because we don't know how many people Jesus is actually referring to. Mark doesn't reveal the crowd's size until later in the story. But the disciples could see the problem with their own eyes. As they heard Jesus speak those words, the disciples stared at thousands of men, women, and children. And don’t forget that when Jesus sent these men on their missionary journey, He told them to “take nothing for their journey except a walking stick—no food, no traveler’s bag, no money” (Mark 6:8 NLT).

They had just returned and had no resources to fulfill Jesus' command, and you can sense their confusion and frustration in their sarcastic response.

“With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!” – Mark 6:37 NLT

They estimated it would take at least 200 denarii to buy enough bread to feed a crowd that size. A denarius was a day’s wage for a common laborer. Their quick calculation was meant to show how impossible Jesus' request was; they didn’t have those resources. In fact, they were broke. To expose the true nature of their insufficiency, Jesus had them take an inventory of the food on hand.

“How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.” – Mark 6:38 NLT

Don’t miss what happened next. Jesus sent the men among the crowd, just as He had sent them into the towns and villages of Galilee. But this time, they came back with a less-than-thrilling report. After canvassing the crowd, the disciples returned with a miserly five loaves of bread and two fish. It was not good news.

But Jesus was nonplussed. As the disciples watched, He told the people to sit in groups of 100 or less. This would have required some organizational planning on the disciples' part. When their work was complete, Jesus “took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share” (Mark 6:41 NLT).

It seems the disciples acted as waiters, distributing the food to the various groups of people. As Jesus broke the bread and fish, the disciples kept returning to find more food to hand out. They brought back an empty basket, only to be handed another full of bread and fish. To stress the truly miraculous nature of this scene, Mark holds off the most important detail until the end.

A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed. – Mark 6:44 NLT

Even that large number is a bit misleading. It is safe to assume many of those men were married, and their families had at least one or two children. So, the actual number of people fed that day was likely twice what Mark reported; it could have been as many as 15,000. Yet, as Mark makes clear, “They all ate as much as they wanted” (Mark 6:42 NLT). No one remained hungry. No one went without or left wanting, including the disciples.

But the truly amazing fact is that when the crowd had dispersed, the disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftovers. They had shown up that day with no food, but each man walked away with a basket filled to the brim with bread and fish. It is no coincidence that when Jesus had sent them on their missionary journey, He had told them to “take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts” (Mark 6:8 ESV). 

These men, who lacked compassion for the people, received a once-in-a-lifetime lesson in God’s power to provide for the needs of the helpless and hopeless. When Jesus looked at the crowd, He saw sheep without a shepherd. But the disciples saw only a problem with no solution, and sadly, they had no desire to find one. Despite their success in casting out demons, healing the sick, and preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, these men failed to learn the most important lesson of all: that with God, all things are possible.

The man with whom they had linked their lives was God in human flesh, fully capable of meeting mankind's physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Yes, He could provide bread, but He had come to be the Bread of Life. He could fill stomachs, but He had come to satisfy mankind’s hunger and thirst for righteousness. As these men walked away with baskets brimming with bread and fish, their hearts and minds still lacked full assurance of who Jesus was and what He had come to do. But they were learning.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Mind of Christ.

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. – 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 ESV

Those who have placed their faith in Christ, accepting Him as their Savior from sin, have been given the Holy Spirit. His presence within us gives the capacity to think and act as Jesus did. We can live holy lives. We can discern the will of God and live according to it. We can hear the inner promptings of the Spirit of God and respond to them. But the natural or lost individual cannot. He or she lacks the Holy Spirit in their lives, so they are incapable of discerning spiritual truth. In fact, they come across as little more than foolishness to them. The message of the gospel seems silly and absurd. The idea of the resurrection is far-fetched and borders of fantasy. The concept of eternal punishment for sin is something they have a hard time grasping and accepting. All because they are non-spiritual. They lack the Spirit.

Paul tells us that “the spiritual person judges all things.” The Greek word he uses for “judges” is anakrinō and it means “to discern, evaluate, examine.” Those who have the Holy Spirit within them are able to discern or understand what He is doing in and around them. They have a spiritual perspective. The lost or non-spiritual individual does not have that capacity. When they look at a Christ-follower who is living in the power of the Holy Spirit, they cannot discern or understand his actions. They can't comprehend the life of faith. It makes no sense to them. The paraphrase of this verse found in The Message puts it well. “Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics.” In fact, they can and do judge us, but they cannot understand us. They think our actions are illogical. They see faith as a weakness or a crutch. They label Christians as unintelligent and the idea of a Savior for mankind as wishful thinking. They place all their hopes in this life. The physical, tangible world becomes their sole reality.

But we have the mind of Christ. Paul, quoting from Isaiah 40:13, writes, “Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?” It is a rhetorical question and the answer is “no one.” And yet, while we cannot teach God anything and we cannot fully know the mind of God, we have been given the ability to comprehend and know His will. The apostle John writes, “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known” (John 1:18 NIV). Jesus revealed God to man when He took on human flesh. But men refused to accept Him. They were incapable of recognizing who He was. Now the Holy Spirit reveals God to those in whom His dwells. His presence within us allows us to know God, to discern spiritual truths, and to think and act as Jesus did.

When we live under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we will be misunderstood. Our actions and attitudes will make no sense to those who are unsaved. Our joy in the midst of sorrow will seem strange to them. Our humility will come across as weakness. Our selflessness will appear as little more than lack of initiative. Jesus said that the world would hate us just as it hated Him. In spite of all the good that Jesus did, the world ended up despising Him because they could not understand Him. They were stuck with a natural, earthly perspective. They could not see Jesus for who He really was. In fact, a perfect illustration of this is found in the gospel of John. Jesus had fed thousands of people by miraculously multiplying five loaves of bread and two small fish. The people were blown away by what Jesus did. Because their physical needs were met in such an incredible way, they were ready to make Jesus their king. But John writes, “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6:15 ESV). The next day, these same people came to Jesus expecting to be fed again. But Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you” (John 6:26-27 ESV). Jesus began to teach them about the “bread of life.” He claimed to be the bread that came out of heaven to give life to the world, but they simply wanted physical bread. They wanted their physical appetites fed. But Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out” (John 14:35-37 ESV). As hard as it may be for some to accept, Jesus indicates that without the Father's help, it is impossible for men to accept Jesus for who He is. They are blinded by their own sin. The Jews who heard Jesus speak that day only saw Him as the son of Mary and Joseph. They could not understand what He meant when He said He was the bread that came down from heaven. So Jesus explained to them, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44 ESV). It is the Spirit of God that makes possible our salvation. He must open our eyes and provide us with the capacity to see Jesus as Savior. But He is also the one who makes it possible for us to experience sanctification. He gives us the capacity to live in obedience to God's will, providing us with the mind of Christ and a discernment to understand spiritual things. We have the mind of Christ in the form of the Spirit of Christ. So we can live like Christ.

Eternal Life.

John 6:22-7:1

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life.” – John 6:47 NLT

This passage is all about bread. But it obviously deals with two types of bread. One literal and the other metaphorical or symbolic. The people are looking for Jesus, and John makes it clear that their interest is in having Jesus provide them with yet another free meal. They show up at the place where He had "blessed the bread and the people had eaten" (John 6:23 NLT), but Jesus is not there. So they jump back in their boats and head to Capernaum, where they finally find Jesus. But Jesus sees right through their motives. "I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. Don't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you" (John 6:26-27 NLT).

Right away, Jesus reveals the stark contrast that is going to take place in this exchange between the people and Himself. Their interest in Jesus is purely physical and temporal. Yes, He is obviously a miracle worker of some kind and they actually want to learn how to do what He does. They say, "We want to perform God's words, too. What should we do?" (John 6:28 NLT). Their minds are on food and how nice it would be to be able to multiply their meager stores the way that Jesus did that afternoon on the hillside. By now, they must have heard that Jesus had given power and authority to the twelve disciples to cast out demons and perform miracles, so they seem to be asking Him to do the same for them. But again, Jesus knows their hearts and clearly sees that their motivation is selfish and they are missing the point. He tells them, "This is the only word God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent" (John 6:29 NLT).

Immediately, the crowd demands that Jesus perform a sign to help them believe. And they even give Him a suggestion: "Our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness!" (John 6:31 NLT). They are so obvious, it's almost embarrassing. All they want is food. To them, Jesus is little more than a 1st-Century vending machine, conveniently dispensing free food. But Jesus takes the opportunity to clear up their misconceptions about Him and about what their real needs are. Their problem is not a lack of bread, but a lack of belief. They do not understand who He is and what He has come to offer them. So Jesus makes it painfully clear. At least a dozen times in this next little sermonette, Jesus mentions eternal life. He tells them that He has come to offer them eternal life, and that anyone who believes can have it. If all He gives them is bread, they will die, just like their ancestors did in the wilderness. But there is a different source of sustenance that He wants to give them – Himself. He refers to Himself as the Bread of Life. "I am the bread that came down from heaven" (John 6:41 NLT). "Yes, I am the bread of life!" (John 6: 48 NLT). "I am the living bread that came down from heaven" (John 6:51 NLT). "I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did (even though they ate the manna) but will live forever" (John 6:58 NLT.

He is offering them eternal life! He is telling them the way in which they can live forever. These people believed in an after life. They spent their entire lives trying to please God by keeping the Law and obeying His commands so that they might inherit eternal life. Now Jesus was telling them that eternal life could be theirs, if only they would believe He was who He claimed to be. But they struggled with this concept. They said, "Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, 'I came down from heaven?'" (John 6:42 NLT). They couldn't bring themselves to believe in Him. They wanted Him to perform miracles for them. That they could believe in, because they had seen it with their own eyes. But when it came to believing in Him as the Son of God, that was another matter. As a result, many of them said, "This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?" (John 6:60 NLT).

Jesus knows they are struggling. So He says, "Does this offend you? Then what will you think if you see the Son of God ascend to heaven again? The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But some of you do not believe me" (John 6:61-63 NLT). Jesus is asking them, "Does what I just said cause you to stumble?" He realizes that what He has just taught them is difficult for them to hear and even harder to understand. The imagery of eating His flesh and drinking His blood is graphic and disconcerting. But He tells them that things are going to get even harder to understand in the days ahead. There is still the cross to come. And before Jesus can ascend back into heaven, He will have to be lifted up on the cross as a payment for the sins of all mankind. That is going to be hard for every one of His disciples to comprehend, especially when it happens. But even in death, the Spirit will give life to Jesus, restoring Him completely and allowing Him to conquer the hold that sin and death had had on mankind since the fall. Jesus' death and resurrection would make possible eternal life. Paul reminds us, "The Spirit of Gd, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you" (Romans 8:11 NLT). New life. Full life. Eternal life. That is what Jesus came to bring. "For it is my Father's will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day" (John 6:40 NLT). Ultimately, this is all about eternal life. What we experience here is nothing compared with what is to come. This is no longer our home. We are strangers and aliens here. We are sojourners, simply passing through on our way to somewhere else. We have His presence and complete access to His power while here, but we must never lose sight of the fact that Jesus came to bring eternal life, not just a slightly improved version of our earthly lives. Jesus told the crowd that day exactly what we need to hear, "But don't be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you" (John 6:27 NLT).

Father, it is so easy to get consumed with perishable things. They are all around us. It seems as if we can't live without them. And we end up working so hard to obtain them. But they cannot bring us the one thing we all need: Eternal life. Thank You for sending Your Son to make eternal life available to all who will believe. Never let us lose sight of the unbelievable nature of the gift we have been given. Amen.

A Lesson In Limitlessness.

John 6:1-14

“Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, ‘Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?’” – John 6:5 NLT

John gives us a unique insight into this familiar story. Matthew, Mark and Luke all record that as the day grew late, the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him to send the crowds away. It was getting close to dinner time and they would have to find someplace to eat. John gives us the added insight that "it was nearly time for the Jewish Passover celebration" (Luke 6:4 NLT). Which means that there were more people in this vicinity as Jews were making the long trek to Jerusalem for Passover. So that explains why the disciples mentioned the crowds having to find somewhere to buy food rather than simply return to their own homes. Many of these people would have been pilgrims, just passing through on their way to Jerusalem for Passover. Inns were few and far between. There would have been few places to eat or sleep. This only intensifies the need of the moment.

At some point, Jesus turns to Philip and asks, "Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?" (John 6:5 NLT). We're not told why Jesus singled out Philip, but it was probably because he was from the town of Capernaum, which was about nine miles from where they were standing. He would have known all the towns and villages in the area. Interestingly enough, Philip's response didn't bring up the fact that there weren't enough places around there to buy food. Instead, he pointed out that their real problem was a lack of resources. They didn't have enough money to buy the food to feed that many people. So he simply responded, "Even if we worked for months, we wouldn't have enough money to feed them!" (Luke 6:7 NLT). We don't know why the other Gospel writers didn't record this exchange. It may have been that Jesus did it in private and only John was there to overhear it. John had a unique relationship with Jesus and always seemed to be at His side. So he could have been there when Jesus had this conversation with Philip. But we're told that Jesus was simply testing Philip, to see what he would say and do, given the circumstances. Jesus already knew what He was going to do. Remember, the disciples had just returned from their short-term mission trip where they had experienced first-hand the power and authority given to them by Jesus. They had cast out demons and healed all kinds of diseases. Now they found themselves facing a new kind of problem, a different kind of need. How would they respond? What would they do?

Philips response is totally normal and natural, but it reveals a limited perspective. He was judging their capacity to solve the problem based on human and physical limits. There were too many people and not enough money. Case closed. The need outweighed their resources. Even when they found a young boy with five barley loaves and two small fish, Andrew said, "What good is that with this huge crowd?" (Luke 6:9 NLT). They had limited resources. But Jesus was about to show them new way of looking at things. He was going to change their perspective by taking what little they had and doing much with it. The real lesson was going to be that nothing can limit God. Jesus had everyone sit down. We don't know the exact number of people, but chances are, if there were 5,000 men alone, there were probably at least an additional 5,000 women and children present. So at minimum, there were 10,000 plus people in the crowd that day. Jesus took the fives loaves and the two fish, gave thanks to God, then began breaking them apart, giving them to the disciples to distribute among the people. "And they all ate as much as they wanted" (Luke 6:11 NLT). John tells us that Jesus did not stop until everyone was completely full and satisfied. This was not a case of careful rationing of what they had. It was a miraculous multiplying of what appeared to be not enough. Jesus used the limitless power of God to produce a limitless supply of food. Nobody went without. And nothing was wasted. Jesus had the disciples pick up what was not eaten and there were twelve baskets filled with the leftover scraps the people didn't eat. No money was used to solve this problem. There was no pooling of resources in order to produce a solution. Surely the disciples could have come up with a plan to take up an offering and then use that money to go and buy food for the people. And if they had succeeded, they would have taken credit for having solved the problem on their own. But Jesus wasn't really interested in how or what they could do. He was trying to get them to understand that God solves human problems by heavenly means. I have to believe that there was subtle message from Jesus to the disciples in all of this. He was breaking bread and handing it to the disciples, who then passed it out among the people. The day was coming when Jesus, the Bread of Life, would be broken on a Roman cross, and the disciples would be tasked with passing on the message of His death and resurrection to people in need all around the world. And the day right after this event happened, Jesus would say, "The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (John 6:33 NLT). The people responded by asking Jesus to give them some of this bread. To which He replied, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35 NLT). Jesus would go on to tell them, "Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh" (John 6:48-51 NLT).

The real message on the hillside that day wasn't just about Jesus being able to miraculously feed thousands of people with next to nothing at His disposal. It was about something far greater and more important. The people who ate the food that day would have been hungry again in just a few hours. Their satisfaction would only have lasted a little while. They were amazed at Jesus had done and wanted to crown Him king right then and there. But they had yet to eat of the Bread of Life. They were still spiritually needy and condemned by their own sin. But not long from this moment, the disciples would be handing out a new form of sustenance and salvation that would have the potential to change the lives of these people forever. Jesus would give His life so that others may live. He would be broken so that others might be healed. He would suffer so that others would not have to. That's the real message behind the miracle. We can't save ourselves. Our resources are limited. But God has a plan to meet our need, and His name is Jesus.

Father, thank You Jesus. Thank You for providing a solution to my problem. My sin was great, but Your solution was greater. You provided a way to satisfy my spiritual hunger and give me life when I was faced with certain death. Never let me lose sight of the real message of this story. It isn't about bread and fishes, but about the Bread of Life – Jesus Christ – the only answer to the spiritual hunger of the world. Amen.