The Feeding of the Five Thousand appears in all four Gospels.The details in John are in some ways more detailed. For example, the role of Andrew and Philip are unique to John, in the synoptic gospels the disciples who ask Jesus about the crowds are anonymous. The use of the disciples to react to Jesus is typical of John, as is the mention of the words and deeds of other disciples outside of Peter, James and John.
That this event occurs at the time of the Passover is extremely important for understanding the point of the miracle. Passover celebrates the rescue of Israel out of Egypt. God sent plagues on the Egyptians and took his people out into the wilderness where he provided for them both food and water. What is more, the rescue from Egypt at Passover marks the beginning of Israel as a nation.
John wants to present Jesus as a “prophet like Moses” in this section. It was Moses who provided food to the people of Israel in the wilderness after the first Passover and then led the people through the waters of the Red Sea. In Exodus 16 God provides for the people of Israel with manna and quail. Jesus provides food then walks on the water. There is even a parallel in the reaction of the crowds – the crowds “murmur” in 6:41 in such a way that implies that they have not really understood the miracle.
When Jesus provided food for a large crowd of Jews in a wilderness location, consciously re-enacting the original Passover. Like celebrating the fourth of July in America, celebrating Passover evoked a nationalistic spirit even in Galilee. Perhaps because many in Galilee thought of themselves as “occupied” by the Romans, Passover could easily develop anti-Roman sentiment.
This miracle could be taken as the beginnings of a revolution. When he seats people in groups he is organizing the people into “tribes” just as Moses did. The crowds in fact misunderstand the sign in just this way and try to force Jesus to be a king. As D. A. Carson said, “In the light of v. 15, where the people try to make Jesus king by force, it is easy to think that, at least in John, the specification of five thousand men is a way of drawing attention to a potential guerrilla force of eager recruits willing and able to serve the right leader” (Carson, John, 270).
The crowd thinks that Jesus is the Prophet, a messianic figure, a second Moses who leads Israel into the wilderness and provides manna for them. Isaiah 40-55 makes us use of the original wilderness period to describe the return of Israel from Exile. There seems to have been a general feeling among the people, perhaps especially in Galilee, that the exile was still going on because Israel’s king had not come nor has the whole nation been gathered back to the land.
This nationalism would have been especially strong during the Passover. Israel was remembering his origins. Families were re-enacting the inaugural Passover meal in their homes and talking about what God has done for them in the Exodus and journey to the land. It is very easy to see what the people thought, Jesus is like Moses, gathering a force in the wilderness which could be used to secure the land, in this he is a new Moses. But Jesus is also a new Joshua- the people of Galilee were willing to take up arms to liberate the nation.
After Jesus explains that his kingdom is not going to be an armed rebellion, the crowds begin to fall away and even Jesus’ own disciples begin to grumble about this “hard teaching” (6:60-66) . The verb used in verse 61 (γογγύζω) is used for the complaints of the Israelites in the wilderness period (they were “murmuring”). Just like Israel in the past, present Israel is complaining, questioning whether Jesus is the true messiah or not.
The Twelve, however, remain faithful (6:67-69). Peter is the disciples who responds that there is no one else to follow since Jesus has the words of life. The inner circle is committed to following Jesus since there is no life (water, bread) anywhere else. If that is true, Peter says, “What other teacher are we going to follow?” If Jesus is the teacher who has the truth, it is because he is also God incarnate – once again, who else are they going to follow? They know the truth, they cannot now turn to any other teacher.
Indeed, what other teacher are we going to follow?
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
The Gospel of John has a way of underlying themes as John writes to people to allude to the past like the Old Testament. As explained above, the feeding of the 5000 does allude to the time when Moses was in the wilderness with the Israelites and God gave them manna to eat. It was meant to be a sign of salvation history as both times people saw and believed that God and Jesus are powerful enough to create multiples of food and even still have some leftover. But, even both stories people doubt. The people in the wilderness grow bitter and are not grateful of the food they get to eat and the people Jesus speaks to, they leave after they believe that he does not want to have a revolt. I believe that this is because the 5000 people have a preconceived notion or a subconscious bias that is already engrained in them. They do not believe Jesus is who he is because in their minds they have this preconceived notion that “the coming Messiah is a political figure who would restore Israel to its former glory, overthrowing the Roman overlords,” (Kostenberger, 93). They were surely let down when Jesus did not want to revolt and start a revolution, because this is what they believe the Messiah is coming to do, but Jesus is not a political leader. He is man and God in one and He shows love and does not resort to violence. So, so this is why I believe that the people do not fully believe and follow Christ, only the twelve faithful ones do.
Through the feeding of the 5000, Jesus was giving the Jewish people a situation that was familiar and a subtle reveal to who he was. It seems that the people understood portions of Jesus’s sign as it related back to the mana in the wilderness, but the overall understanding did not take place. They were so set on the idea of a revolutionary uprise to overthrow the government when Jesus was trying to explain that he was so much more and that the overthrow would not be of a government but over death itself. “Once again, John is not content to narrate; he shows how what Jesus does reveals who he is: in this case, the Giver of eternal life.” (Kostenberger, 83). With the multiplying of the bread and fish, he was giving the parallel of the people of Israel being fed with mana which God provided from heaven. Jesus providing bread is his way of showing that he is God in human form. Jesus then takes his analogy a step further in John 6:32-35. Not only is he the provider of living bread, but he is the living bread. Through him, those who believe “may have life and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Just as both the people who received mana and those who were fed in the feeding of the 5000 were not just merely fed, but they were given enough to have their fill. Jesus’s salvation then is not just giving a new life, but a life that is full.
The Passover is something that is linked to the feeding of the 5000 miracle that takes place due to the fact that it is a time that is representing when the Israelites were brought out of Egypt. It is a time to remember that God is the one who provided for them when they had nothing and no means of being about to provide for themselves. This is why John incorporates that the Passover is going to take place shortly after this miracle does. “The mention of the Passover sets the context for what Jesus is about to do” (Köstenberger, 82). With in Johns telling of the story, we see that Jesus could be compared to the role that Moses had in being the leader and the provider for the large group of people. However, it is God who continues to sustain His people so that they are able to become the nation of Israel. God provides manna for the people to eat, as well as quail through a miraculous means. Jesus, in the feeding of the 5000, is the one who provides enough food for everyone, plus leftovers, from just two fish and five barley loaves. This is a reflection of the provision that was provided for them in the wilderness. He is taking them back to their roots, their descendants that brought them to this land. Jesus is representing to them that He is here to sustain the people and bring them to Him.
Indeed Jesus displayed himself to the 5000 as the truth and the one who was sent from God. By Jesus’s feeding of the 5000, He demonstrated qualities that proved his divine nature and his relationship with Father. Through John’s description of the environment and the setting, readers could tell he was mimicking his narrative in order to reference other Old Testament accounts. Jesus showed the 5000 that He too has some of the same characteristics as God demonstrated in the account of Moses. Kostenberger states that John wrote his narrative of the feeding of the 5000 to show readers that Jesus carried some of the same characteristics of previous servants of God (Kostenberger, 99). Although Jesus set the stage to make a connection towards his relationship with God the people were under the impression that He was the new Moses. The people did not recognize Jesus as a teacher who has come to spread the word of the Father but as a symbol of rebellion. Instead of taking a deeper look at Jesus’s actions of providing them with an abundance of bread they were in a whole different mindset. The people were waiting to follow someone who was coming to lead a rebellion but instead were disappointed by Jesus’s arrival.
It is interesting to see how different people responded to Jesus’ discourse about being the Bread of Life. In reaction to feeding 5000 people, many believe that he is in fact the Messiah, the one they were told would lead them out of exile and free them from oppression. But Jesus goes on to explain more of who he is,using metaphors to say he is “the source and giver of all true spiritual life” (Kostenberger, 87). And there are two very distinct reactions to what Jesus says.
Many of his disciples, people that had been following Jesus for months at this point, say “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60). They are struggling to relate what Jesus told them to their preconceived notions of who the Messiah is and are perhaps confused by his metaphors. This prompts what might be one of the saddest verses in the Bible, in verse 66 where many turned away from Jesus and walked away, after being so close to believing and receiving eternal life. He then asks the twelve if they also want to leave, trusting in God and the plan that he has. Peter says, “To where shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69). Instead of turning away, the Twelve affirm their faith even more, and trust in who Jesus is and what he will do.
Kostenberger mentions the fact that Jesus is viewed as the second Moses in the feeding of the five thousand because it reminds the people of when their ancestors were fed in the wilderness. Throughout John and the other gospels, it is interesting to note that the people do not think that Jesus is who he says he is. It is like they are looking for some other possible answer to what he is doing. They do not want to accept the fact that he is the messiah because he is not what they expected. They expected a messiah who would rule on earth wipe out the Romans and set all the injustices to the Jews right. So the people try to grasp at straws about who Jesus is instead of believing in him and what he says. The same is true today people do not want to have to submit to God and so they try to explain things away. They want to live the way they want to and not to have submit to a higher power. As Christians though we have to realize that we know who Jesus is and we need to follow him. Jesus is the messiah who the prophets foretold and we need to follow him and no one else.
The feeding of the 5000 is one of the few miracles that happen in all of the Gospels. This is an important observation, because of what happens in John’s Gospel. The people try to make Jesus their King, even though Jesus tells them it is not His time. The crowd of people are the Israelite’s in the wilderness, and Jesus is a Moses character. At the same time they had 12 leftover baskets of food represent the 12 tribes of Israel, and the 12 disciples. The feeding of the 5000 is a miracle that represents Israel coming out “the Exile” that the book of Daniel alludes to.
It is quite interesting to me to know that the feeding of the 5000 appear in the synoptic Gospels as well as John, and it is interesting too dissect why that is. I think in the way that the world is going, there are many examples of false teachings. For example, and this is interesting to me, Google sees themselves as God. Google has setup their campaigning around providing any sort of information someone could ask for. For instance, Google provides billions of people with the ability to find any kind of knowledge they want. As Christians, isn’t our source of knowledge and wisdom the Bible? We should not be following suit, and trying to find teachings through other sources. Google, may not be a good example of scriptural teaching, but the fact that they base their advertisements around “knowing all” seems like a direct attack on God and his ability to know all.
Good post Jordan, I really like your insights on how Google could be considered a God replacement. I use Google several times a day and know life would be very different without a search engine at our fingertips. The fact that they claim to know all is very shocking, although technically you can find the Bible on Google. Jesus is very clear that through his is the bread of life. All the answers that Google has are short term worldly answers. Jesus will continue to fulfill our needs and keep us satisfied. I think that most companies advertise to show that their product or service is what we need to be happy. This crowd of people heard about the signs that Jesus had been performing and traveled to see for themselves. Jesus knew how he was planning on feeding them but wanted to see what his disciples thought they should do about feeding them. Jesus now had the opportunity to show five thousand people his “advertisement” of why they should follow him and how they will have an eternal life of happiness verses an earthly lifetime. After the sign, there are still many who are confused and ultimately choose to not follow Jesus. This is hard to believe that even after hearing the signs that Jesus has done, and then deciding to go see for yourself, and then having Jesus feed five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fish, that they would not choose to follow him.
The feeding of the five thousand has similarities to Exodus 16 when Moses is leading the Israelites. A key difference that I noticed is that Moses has to go up on the mountain and receive the message from the Lord, while Jesus is the message. They know Moses is a prophet because of this, yet they assume that Jesus must be a prophet because of the knowledge that He has, even though this is His own knowledge. When Peter says that Jesus has the words of life, and that is why there is no one else to follow, I am thinking that this applies to today’s world as well. There are plenty of other sources that we can go to for information, but none is going to be as fulfilling as the words from the Word. There is a comparison between the bread that is supplied and the bread that He is offering. The bread that is used to feed the five thousand does not last forever, it is only satisfying for a short time. Jesus could have just gathered everyone together to tell them how he is the bread of life, but they would have been even more confused than they already were. This compares to the story of Moses as well. While the manna seemed to be the highlight of the story for the Israelites, God was actually doing something behind the scenes, He was wanting to show the Israelites why they should trust Him. Jesus did the same thing wanting them to see how important the bread was, and the power Jesus has, and make them realize how much better the bread of life is.
I can see the disciples and the people surrounding Jesus, having this expectation of Him to liberate the nation, like you said. Some could have had this idea in their minds of how Jesus was going to use His power to take the promised land and to defeat Rome. The people could have also had all these expectations for Him, but once He began to teach about eating His flesh and blood and how if you choose to eat this bread, you will live forever, they did not understand. Thus because they did not understand, many turned away.
Verse 60 says, “Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’”
I wonder how many of us hear a word from the Lord through a sermon, a song or even a thought and think, this is to hard to understand. Instead of going to Holy Spirit and asking for wisdom, we just move on from the revelation that God desires to give us.
I really want to encourage one another by saying that if you do not understand, ask God to help you understand.
He does not say things to confuse us, just like you would not do with your children or future children, but rather He speaks with clear communication, so that we may be closer to His heart.
This is a great story but I do have to say that I have never really thought about how all of the people thought that Jesus was the new Moses. I find it also interesting that the disciples find thees things that Jesus is saying to be rather hard to deal with as well. I think the thing that we really need to know about this passage is that Jesus is Lord, and He is not someone who we make Him be, but rather Jesus is going to be Jesus no matter who you think Jesus is.
The feeding of the 5,000 remains one of my favorite stories out of the entirety of the Bible. First off, it’s one of the most unlikely miracles that Jesus performed, and there are so many layers to unpack from it, and so many lessons and tidbits of wisdom and knowledge to be gained from it. What I also love about this story in particular is that it’s a rare glimpse into one of Jesus’ more public moments. One of the heartbeats of Jesus’ ministry here on earth is that His ministry is humble and non attention seeking. From being born into this world, in a humble fashion, to coming into the city on a donkey, Jesus maintains this heart of humility. So why does Jesus choose to perform this miracle so publicly with so many witnesses? I wish I had the perfect, clear-cut answer. But, I believe that Jesus was intentional with everything He did, therefore there is profound meaning in his decision for such a public miraculous act. One of the takeaways I have is that Jesus shows us here that He is the GREAT provider. In a desperate, impossible situation, Jesus miraculously provides, beyond the means of human comprehension, against all odds, he provides a miracle for the people. Secondly, it reveals the loyalty of the people who follow him. I love how the disciples still made a conscious effort to follow Jesus, even when others abandoned following Him. It’s a lesson to us as the church today to believe Christ in any and all circumstances, because following Him is always worth it. I love Peter’s realization. There is truly is no one else to follow. For us today, the world has truly let me down so many times. There is no faith or hope to be found in politics or culture, or even humans. True hope, trust, and purpose and love comes from Christ and Christ alone.
When reading through the passage of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in John 6, it is obvious that the crowd he was teaching had expectations of what they thought the Messiah would be and do. When the expectations of the crowd are not met, after Jesus speaks, many are disgruntled and walk away from Jesus, leaving behind true teachings of salvation. However, Jesus had a specific purpose within his “hard teachings,” and this would show who would truly stick around to become disciples of Christ. Kostenberger states, “Jesus is keenly concerned to prepare and instruct his disciples. By his signs, he does not want to merely reveal himself to the crowds, but, more importantly, to deepen the faith of his disciples and to train them for ministry” (p.83). With this being said, it almost seems as if Jesus is teaching this hard truth, knowing that those who will end up staying and becoming obedient to what it means to be in ministry, will be the disciples that he wants to train and prepare for ministry, as Kostenberger mentioned. The crowd had expectations, as stated earlier, and these expectations included violence and an uprising against Rome, which was not part of the plan of Jesus’ ministry. Jesus, rather, teaches on him being the “bread of life” and not a revolt against Roman authorities, to the dismay of the crowd. Kostenberger states, “Jesus did not want to be pushed into the middle of an unruly mob that would march to begin a futile, spontaneous uprising against the Roman authorities. The people did not understand the Jesus’ kingship at his first coming was spiritual” (p.2034). After Jesus finishes his piece, and effectively angers the crowds, he retreats due to the growing violence of the mob. However, his twelve disciples, rather, “take in” his sermon, and are among the few that remain faithful to Christ, realizing that there is no one more worthy to serve than Jesus.
How often do we, while learning from Scripture and otherwise, get angered because what we are taught does not align with our “expectations?” Are we going to be like the crowd and become angry with Christ, or are we going to become obedient to the teachings of Christ and follow him faithfully like his disciples? Is there anyone more worthy than Christ? Absolutely not.
It is crazy to think that after Jesus miraculously provided more than enough food for 5,000 people, they remained confused or astounded to the point of disbelief. These people questioned Jesus’ authority as the Messiah and challenged that He was instead a prophet. While this may be understandable, it is weird to me that upon first-hand witnessing a miracle of Jesus, these people continued to express disbelief. Aside from the reaction of the people, it is unique to note that John included more details in his account of Jesus feeding the 5,000 than that of the Synoptic Gospels. Something significant that John highlights about Jesus is that, “By his signs, he wants not merely to reveal himself to the crowds, but, more importantly, to deepen the faith of his disciples and to train them for ministry” (Köstenberger, p. 83). Yes, the faith, or even the lack thereof, of the crowds is important, but it was more important for Jesus as He trained up His disciples for ministry of their own. Even though the crowds expressed much disbelief, Jesus’ disciples had faith in His work. In fact, Peter responded to Jesus’ challenge of turning away from Him and said, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69, ESV). While I find it hard to not have faith in first-hand witnessing a miracle by Jesus, I do think that John’s account of Jesus feeding the 5,000 is important and can be reflected on in modern society. If I see something that is of the Lord (even just hiking in the woods), it is hard for me to question God’s authority over creation, because I know that He created it and is glorified through it. However, if I were to take a non-believing friend hiking and express this faith to them, they may disagree and express their disbelief to me. Should I discontinue expressing my faith? Definitely not – I should persevere and continue expressing my faith.
It’s really interesting to me that the feeding of the 5000 appears in all of the synoptic gospels, not just in John, I think that shows how significant this miracle was. It’s crazy to me that these people witnessed Jesus’s miracle first hand, right in front of them and still were in disbelief and questioned if Jesus was who He said he was. Jesus had performed many miracles in public and in private but this miracle was in front of thousands of people, it’s interesting that some of the people wanted Jesus to be King right then and there whole some of them were still in disbelief. I think this miracle really highlights Jesus’s character, not only does it show his divine power, but it shows his compassion towards others even if they are needy. This passage in John is so powerful because it goes to show that we as Christians should remember that our problems are never too big for God to handle. Jesus took five loaves of bread and two fish and fed 5,000 and had even had twelve baskets leftover, Jesus didn’t just meet the expectations of feeding everyone He went beyond the expectations. Another thing that I think we can all learn from this miracle is that we should not be greedy with money or food if you see someone in need help them it doesn’t have to be a lot. Proverbs 19:17 “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.”
There are times in life where we as Christians want something to happen right then and there, or we go through a situation where we want it fixed right then and there. We pray and ask for things and want them to happen instead of waiting. There are different roadblocks that we have to get around first before we can gain the solution. I think that is what was happening in the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. They want Jesus to be king, but that wasn’t what he was there for. The crowds did not like that Jesus said that his kingdom wasn’t going to be an armed rebellion. The crowds started to pull away even some of Jesus’s disciples. In life we tend to pull away when we don’t like what we hear, even if what we hear is to help us. It is better to look at the picture as a whole and see that maybe this will be better in the end. There were some disciples that stayed and understood. They also realized that if they were to pull away who would guide them, or who would they follow. That is how we should perceive situations when going through situations and want to pull away. Where will the guidance come from who will we follow.
The feeding of the five thousand is an incredible story in itself, as well as the meaning of Jesus doing it on Passover. I liked how John added more to the story on his account compared to the other gospels. Especially adding that the loaves of bread provided by the boy were loaves of Barley as well Jesus commands his disciples to get all of it so nothing is lost (Köstenberger, 99). I find it interesting that Jesus did not do this miracle to reveal himself to the crowds but to strengthen the faith of His disciples to train them (Köstenberger, 99).
There is also that similarity of Jesus to Moses that the people thought he was a prophet from the aspect of feeding people in the wilderness. Jesus was also a new Joshua in the sense that people were ready to “take up arms and liberate the nation” (Long, 82). So much so that the people tried to force Jesus to be made king, which in response Jesus retreated to the mountains (John 6:15). I really find it interesting that the people believe He is the Messiah but tried to force Him to become a king. It is an admirable event that they were ready to take arms for Him, but you would think they would still listen to Him instead of forcing that rulership on Him.
This story is one that has always fascinated me. I think it is incredible to think that 5000 people were fed with such a small amount of food and then there were plenty of leftovers. It is hard to even imagine 5000 people in that one area waiting to be fed. I have known this story since I was a kid, yet I never focused on the fact that this was taking place during the Passover. John does not say much about this being during the Passover other than mentioning it in verse 4. This may be why I tended to pass over that part of the story. However, like it talks about in this blog, that is an important thing to know when looking at this story. I did not realize all of the parallels this story has with the things that happened with Moses. It seems entirely possible that John wrote it in this way to show the parallels to his audience. One other thing that I really like about this story is that it occurs in all four Gospels. There are many stories that are not talked about in all four, but this one does, which makes it feel even more special.
There is an experience that is relatively common for me where I reread I book that I love and discover something about it that I have never seen before. This post, your lecture, and readings in Kostenberger this week gave me another one of those experiences. Never before had I seen the parallels between Jesus and Moses in this portion of John, but now that I see them it makes me wonder how I have never seen them or heard of them before. The disciples however, likely understood exactly what was implied by Jesus’ miracles and teachings here as they acknowledge that after what they have witnessed following Jesus is the only reasonable thing for them to do.
I love that John goes into more detail about the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 than the rest of the gospels. It shows the reader that there is like a “personal” touch to the book of John. The Feeding of the 5000 is a really interesting miracle that Jesus does. It’s a story that you most likely learn in children’s church when you’re younger but as you grow up you learn more about it. For example I didn’t know that the people wanted to make Jesus king after He performed the miracle. I find it fascinating that they wanted to make Him king when technically He was already King they just needed to believe in Him. It is also so cool that Jesus is able to feed 5000 people with five loaves of bread and two tiny fish. It shows the power that Jesus has. But it also shows people that Jesus will always provide for you even when you don’t think He will. There were 5000 people there wanting to listen to Jesus and the disciples knew the people should have food but they didn’t know how they would provide the food. But with the little boy and his lunch and the work of Jesus; Jesus was able to feed everyone and for there to be leftovers. God will always provide for us if we put our trust in Him and believe that He has a plan for our lives.
The feeding of the 5,000 is mentioned in all of the gospels. However, as always, John has some unique differences from how the story is told in the synoptic gospels. For one, the synoptics speak of the disciples as a group but in John Andrew and Philip are specifically mentioned. John is also well known for connecting the stories in his gospel with the Old Testament. It is important to understand the significance of this sign/miracle happening during Passover. Passover is a celebration that represents God rescuing the Israelites out of Egypt. When God delivered Israel out of Egypt, they were out in the wilderness where God provided them with food and water. When Jesus performed this sign, He provided food for a large crowd of Jews in a wilderness location. In a way this was a re-enactment of the first Passover.
After Jesus performs the miracle, the people try to force Jesus to be their king. “The crowd thinks that Jesus is the Prophet, a messianic figure, a second Moses who leads Israel into the wilderness period and provides manna for them” (Long). Later in the chapter when Jesus talks about His kingdom the crowds begin to grumble and leave. The disciples also grumbled about Jesus’ “hard teaching.” The same verb that is used to describe the grumbling and complaining of the people from the wilderness period is also used here. “Just like Israel in the past, present Israel is complaining, questioning whether Jesus is the true messiah or not” (Long). These “followers” of Christ were not true followers. Their faith was not genuine and there is a possibility that they were only following Jesus for the physical benefits that Jesus offered (ESVSB, 2036). However, Jesus’ twelve disciples were committed. When Jesus asked them if they also wanted to go away Peter’s response was “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God” (vs. 68-69).
This was always a Sunday school story that I loved. One can argue that it was my favorite, but it was probably because my Sunday school teacher would bring the class cinnamon rolls every time we talked about it. It does not surprise me at all that John goes into more detail about this event, because it is one that ties back to the Old Testament a lot, and it shows the divine power of the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ. It was always interesting to me that Jesus prayed and asked for blessing on the food and then performed the miracle as well. This event is also significant because it shows similarities between Jesus and Moses. This is also a pivoting point in Jesus’ ministry. This is where a lot of the followers of Jesus choose to stop following Jesus. I like to look at this as the point where the boys are separated from the men. This proved who the real followers of Jesus were. Would you believe after this event?
The feeding of the five thousand in John 6. This is an interesting and important passage for many different reasons. I think it is important to see that the feeding of the five thousand is mentioned in all the Synoptic Gospels. It is crazy and amazes me that Jesus did this, like wow. Turning five small loaves and two small fish into enough food for five thousand people is crazy. I really enjoyed how Jesus tested Philip. Jesus already knew what he was going to do. It is important to understand that Jesus is not doing these wonderful things to be famous or this mighty king. Jesus is training and teaching his disciples throughout what he does. It is amazing to see Jesus working in different ways and learn from his miracles and see how gracious he is to his children.
This passage poses a lot of interest and questions. My Understanding is that Peter recognizes Jesus possesses “the expressions of everlasting life. ” This statement mirrors the disciples’ understanding that Jesus is not merely language teachers or prophet but the origin of divine truth and the intends over that everlasting life is provided. They peer that in Jesus, they have discovered the final source of spiritual nourishment and salvation. Peter’s rhetorical question, “What other teacher are we going to follow?” underscores the exclusivity of Jesus’ claims. In their view, there is no alternative path to truth, salvation, and eternal life. They have found in Jesus the fulfillment of all their spiritual needs. Overall, Peter’s response represents the core conviction of the disciples: that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Their commitment to following Him is based on the recognition that He is not only their teacher but also the divine source of all truth and eternal life. It reflects their deep faith in Jesus as the Son of God and their willingness to place their trust and allegiance in Him alone.
Looking at the feeding of the 5,000 this was a good example of the few miracles that Jesus preformed. People are not quick to believe that Jesus is the messiah and don’t exactly want to accept that reality. Instead of believing they are trying to figure out other ways that he could have possible done this miracle. When Jesus delivered the isrealites out of Egypt into the wilderness it was shocking to those people when Jesus was able to feed a huge crowed of people with only a few fish and bread. When Jesus then tried talking about his kingdom people started to walk away and would question if he really was the true messiah. John is very detailed about this event because he is trying to show the readers the relationship of God the Father and Jesus Christ but also telling about the miracles Jesus preformed. Overall the feeding of the 5,000 is a symbol of coming out of exile and Jesus preforming a miracle. This does relate to today’s world because instead of people just following and having faith in God, they need to have an explanation for everything and will try to convince themselves that it’s not true. If we want to be follower of Christ we must follow him.
Thankfully for us, God has a thing for being very consistent in how He acts. This passage very clearly points to this part of His nature. We see God giving words of truth to His people, and the people listen and drastically misunderstand. They expect a limited blessing, food and a physical kingdom. God then reveals the nature of the blessing, and the people waver, leaving only a few faithful. Not because the blessing is bad, but because it is not the one they expected. These tasty themes that we see needs to be driven into our minds for today. We need to keep the two things in mind. First, God is consistent. He won’t bail on His promises, and in fact, He likes to make things that mirror each other. This brings me to the second piece we must remember, that they mirror, and are not the same. We cannot put our expectations on God and always assume that He will follow those expectations. By having these, the understanding of consistency of God and the humility in regards to our own understanding, we can better serve Him and have joy in our ministries for Him.