John 6:1-14
After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
Jesus came healing the sick by extraordinary signs for exceptional needs.
Jesus came feeding the multitude by natural signs of barley bread and fish for common needs.
Jesus came conserving what He had given by practical signs for future needs.
By which sign is Jesus known as the Prophet who was to come? There were many signs – some amazing, some natural, and some even plain. One sign creates a sensation. Another sign engenders approval. From another is born assent.
When Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons with extraordinary signs of power and authority without instruments or medications, the phenomena aroused a large crowd which followed him because they had seen the signs. Jesus had not healed just one or even several. He was healing “the sick.”
When Jesus fed the five thousand with natural elements of five barley loaves and two fish, he employed physical means and the response was quite regular. The people sat on ground soft with grass and ate their fill from the abundance given them -- not just one or two. He was feeding “the hungry.”
When Jesus preserved the uneaten fragments to the capacity of twelve baskets, this was nothing phenomenal or miraculous. It was an act of commonplace stewardship. Jesus is not a picker salvaging particulars. He saves even fragments so “nothing would be lost.”
It is not merely sensational acts which reveal Christ. He is the Prophet who was to come. But Christ’s mission was not to create commotions and crowds but to cure the incurable.
He acts within the commonplace that we may receive rest for our bodies and food for our tables. He is the prophet who was to come, but as such to remove hunger of every sort and provide for our every need.
Christ Jesus reveals Himself even in what many might regard as entirely unremarkable acts. Gathering fragments of bread and fish is not marvelous or miraculous. He was the Prophet to come, but his mission was not to cover only big needs or critical cares. He came to preserve every good and provide the same forever.
By which sign was Jesus known, because the people do emphatically identified him as the Christ? There are so many signs.
Yet all His signs reveal a single identity. The healer, the provider, the preserver, the teacher and the Christ are all present in this one man, Jesus Christ. Every sign of divine power, care, rescue, and providence has its axis in this one Lord Jesus Christ. He is not Christ because He is sensational. He is Christ also when he might appear ordinary.
Christ Jesus came into the world to be your comprehensive Servant. Your extraordinary needs, when they come, will be met by Him. Your commonplace necessities He will daily supply. No care, exceptional or ordinary will escape him. Moreover, what He has begun He continues. His stewardship and supply endure forever.
This is the One God had promised. This is the Christ who is known by what was promised and fulfilled. This is the Christ of Galilee, the Christ who was to come.
The people didn’t just guess at his identity. They rejoiced in Him. They said, “This is -- indeed -- the Prophet who is to come into the world!” By even one of His signs we know him; yet by all of His signs, sublime or common, he is known to be, indeed, the Prophet who was to come into the world.
