God is the God Who Supplies ALL our NEEDS;
HE is Jehovah-Jireh
5,000 Fed on the Galilean
hillside
This story of Jesus feeding the 5,000
on the Galilean hillside is the only miracle of Jesus found in all four
Gospels. Repetition indicates great importance; so let’s take to heart the many
life lessons as we see what makes
Jesus tick. PLEASE like & share & add your comments at the bottom of the blog.
John 6:1
After this, Jesus crossed over to
the far side of the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberius.
2 A
huge crowd kept following him wherever he went, because they saw his miraculous
signs as he healed the sick.
3 Then
Jesus climbed a hill and sat down with his disciples around him.
4 (It was nearly time for the Jewish Passover
celebration.)
Notice the motive of the huge crowd. Were
they seeking the life of close relationship with God? Were they seeking the
eternal King and His Kingdom? Verse 3 makes it obvious that they were not. Undeterred
by that, the Lord uses the miraculous to demonstrate His love and attract
people into relationship. Jesus used every opportunity to expose the crowds to
His Kingdom. He is the same today, and ever will be. Now He does those same
things through us, enabling us, His church, to be about our Fathers business of
making disciples.
The timing and place of this gathering
is interesting. The far side of the Sea of Galilee would be near Capernaum and Bethesda, in the northern part of Israel, pretty far from Jerusalem. People
would have been gathering there for the long pilgrimage to Jerusalem for
Passover. Jesus was strategic; He
always wants to reach the largest number of people with the Gospel but never
minimizes the need to reach every seeker of Truth with God’s limitless love. Climbing
up the hill puts him in the best spot to be seen and heard by all who gathered.
Let’s pause to pray…
Prayer: Lord, give your church wisdom and strategies
to reach the lost and make disciples. Raise up an army clothed in your armor
and empowered with the Gifts of the Spirit. Give us wisdom to be great fishers
of men knowing where and when to cast our nets.
Integral to the Lord’s method of
discipleship is the use of object lessons. Here we see Him set Phillip up to
learn of miracle provision.
John 6:5
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?”
6 He
was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip
replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed
them al!”
Phillip’s natural approach as to how
to feed so many people was about to get blown out of the water. Phillip knew
the story of the manna and the quail, of the water from the rock. He was there
when Jesus turned the water to wine. Phillip was there for all the miracles up
to this point. Despite all this, Phillip’s faith needed to be tested (see verse
6 above).
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| https://thebiblepoet.files.wordpress.com/ 2009/07/five-loaves.jpg |
John 6:8
Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s
brother, spoke up.
9 “There’s
a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that
with this huge crowd?”
A spark ignited in Andrew’s heart,
suddenly he realized what Jesus was about to do. Phillip was about to see the
response he should have had. As soon as he hears Andrew’s statement, God’s plan
for miraculous provision unfolds.
John 6:10
“Tell everyone to sit down,”
Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered
about 5,000.)
11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to
God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the
fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.
This story always gets my juices
flowing. You can hear HIS heart beating for these multitudes. By miraculously
feeding them Jesus demonstrates that HE is the bread of life. There may have
been close to 20,000 people if you include the wives and children. It’s not
like there were plenty of fast food places or fleets of food trucks where all
these people could go grab a bite to eat. Jesus’ love for all these people
motivated Him to make sure they got a meal. Compassion for people is one of the
things that make Him tick.
Everything Jesus did and said set the example
of what His church should do. There is the caveat however, don’t presumptuously
go out on a limb and expect things to happen. Walk in the Spirit with a hearing
heart. I often ask the Lord if an idea requiring an action is just me or is it
from Him?
Romans 10:17
So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Pause again for prayer…
Prayer: Thank You Father for a life dependent on your
provision. Help us to walk in wisdom and faith to see Your means of providing
our daily bread. May our hearts be in tune of the needs of others and sensitive
to know if, how and when we should meet those needs.
Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all
flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?
The story continues as we see 12
Baskets Full – Nothing Wasted.
John 6:12
So when they were filled, He said
to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is
lost.”
13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled
twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left
over by those who had eaten.
God’s provision is so abundant, not
just filling the cup but spilling over. The overflow was not wasted, it was all
gathered up. Is there significance to the number of baskets full? Perhaps it
was a provision of thanks to the 12 disciples who did a lot of work that day.
This event also exemplifies what Jesus
taught in the sermon on the Mount.
Matt. 6:31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall
we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek.
For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 But
seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall
be added to you.
34 Therefore
do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things.
Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Do you see the loving heart of God in
these verses? Jesus goes beyond demonstrating His compassionate provision of
food, He points us to the lifestyle of relationship with Him. He never wants us
to worry about the provision of what we need. Instead He wants us focusing on
His will for each day. God is Jehovah-Jireh.
God supplies all our needs at the prescribed time according to His riches and
Glory in Christ.
These next verses further drive the
point of living in a supernatural relationship with God with no worry:
John 4:31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging Jesus,
“Rabbi, eat something.”
32 But Jesus replied, “I have a kind of food you
know nothing about.”
34 Then Jesus explained: “My nourishment comes
from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing his work.
Prayer: Lord
help us be satisfied in doing your will, for that’s where our provision comes
from. The Word admonishes us:
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| Alfred E. Newman My Mother let me hang a similar picture in the kitchen when I was a boy. |
Isaiah 26:3
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, Because
he trusts in You.
Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Lord my biggest source of worry is
________________ (you fill in the blank). I come to you to exchange that worry
for your perfect peace. Help me to walk in the Spirit and not to give in to the
fleshly lure to worry. You always supply more than enough.
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