John 6:1-15 

¹Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), ² and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. ³ Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. ⁴ The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

⁵ When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” ⁶ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.

⁷ Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages^[a]to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”

⁸ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.

¹² When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” ¹³ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.

¹⁴ After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” ¹⁵ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Faith

When we talk about faith… we have what we call collective faith… the Israelites were praying when they were in Egypt and as a nation they were freed.

As a church you prayed for this building and God brought you here. You prayed for a pastor and the Lord brought my father here.

Even now that our church is once again in the search for a new pastor, we continue to pray together. That is what we call collective, communal, group, cooperative, joint faith.

There is also individual faith.

      Elijah prayed for fire to come down from heaven and God sent fire from heaven.

      But what about you? Have you ever seen a miracle by God when you prayed for it specifically?

From our passage tonight, we can see contrasting faiths. Let’s take a look at the faith of…

 1.  Philip and Andrew

Philip and Andrew are the two apostles we can read about who were identified during the feeding of the 5,000 men. The interesting part of this record is that out of the twelve apostles, why is it that Jesus asked Philip of what was to be done with the 5,000?

Why not Peter, John, Matthew, or Judas?

Jesus should have asked Judas because Judas was the treasurer or Matthew because he was the tax collector and can easily compute how much was to be spent.

Or Peter because he was the self proclaimed (BOT chairman) or leader of the twelve.

Why Philip?

My father asked my mom, “why did Jesus ask Philip instead of Peter, John, Matthew, or Judas?” My mom answered that “like in Evangelism Training… we are to ask the least-knowing or the not so… smart person if we are sharing the gospel in a group.”

My father actually expected my mom to say, “Jesus probably asked whoever was next to him and Philip just so happens to be right there.”

We can take a look at how Philip was portrayed in the following passages:

In John 1:45 ⁴⁵Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”

In John 12:20-22 ²⁰Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.  ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.”

 ²²Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.

In John 14:8-9 ⁸Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

 ⁹Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

We can clearly perceive that Philip understood that Jesus is the One written by Moses but he cannot forget the fact that Jesus is from Nazareth and a son of Joseph, a human being.

Philip started out, very much like any Christian starting out, excited and enthusiastic about their new found faith to the extent of inviting people they know to join them. But the reality of things will always discourage Christians causing believers to think that the impossible instances stay impossible.

Philip saw how Jesus turned water into wine, healed the sick but to feed a crowd of 5,000 men, this task will require a lot of money.

Are we not thinking like Philip most of the time?

Jesus can bring TMEC membership to 400 but it is impossible for Him to bring to 5,000 people.

Or we can even take a look at Jesus being able to bring a lot of visitors in anniversary or special church events but it’s impossible for him to bring the regular Sunday congregation to Wednesday prayer meetings.

In contrast let us see the faith of Andrew.

John 1:40-42

⁴⁰ Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. ⁴¹ The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). ⁴² And he brought him to Jesus.

John 6:8-9

⁸ Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ⁹ “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”

Many Evangelists look at Andrew as someone who would bring anybody he can bring to Jesus.

He brought Peter and Peter became an instrument of Jesus to preach and converted 3,000 at one time.

He brought a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish and Jesus used the boy as an instrument to feed the 5,000.

Now some might argue that because the Bible only stated men as part of the 5,000-head count, the record probably did not include the women which brings the total to about 10,000. Or 15,000 because there were children too. Not to mention that Jewish Passover Feast was near so there would be a large crowd present so let’s stick to 5,000.

If you recall, I mentioned before that looking at these 16 year old messages is like opening a time capsule. Back in 2010, my father said the following:

5,000 is a significant number to TMEC right now.

My father dreamt that TMEC will grow to 5,000 in 5 years. Some of the congregation at the time sent prayer requests that they are praying for TMEC to grow to 5,000. Others more than 5,000.

See, is it a coincidence that I am preaching a series in the Book of John? Was it my intention to preach a series?

It is for you to check your faith in Jesus.

Fast forward to today, even if TMEC membership is not yet at 5,000, I’m still grateful to God that he increased the attendance in prayer meeting compared to what it was before when sometimes we would only have 2 smaller groups divided amongst the men and women.

Do you have a confused faith like Philip–of what Jesus can do to our church?

Do you have a confident faith like Andrew that Jesus will use you to bring an individual to Jesus?

Keep praying for 1 or 2, or if you want 3, persons that God will enable for you to bring to TMEC this year.

You may not know but, perhaps, you can bring one Peter that can bring 3,000 at one time… or perhaps, you can bring a boy that God will use to supply the need for us to build a Sanctuary that can accommodate 5,000.

Another contrasting faith in Jesus is the faith of…

2.  The Boy and the 5000 Men

The boy brought five small barley loaves and two small fish. Take a second look at John’s version of the feeding of the 5,000… while Matthew, Mark, and Luke wrote… 5 bread and 2 fish… John said five small barley loaves and two small fish.

At first glance we cannot identify the difference but John is telling us that he was a witness to Jesus miracle.

What kind of bread did the boy bring?

Matthew, Mark, Luke will answer… five loaves of bread.

No. No. No. I am not asking how many but what kind of bread. The boy brought five barley bread not five wheat bread… and two small, yes, small fish… and not big fish.

In the court of law… a credible witness should identify that the loaves of bread are made out of barley.

If you were to search the most possible option for the working class in Jesus’ time, barley was the most accessible option for bread.

This fact helps us see what we can learn from the boy.

One of my father’s favourite songs has a line that goes… “Come just as you are…”

My question is… does the Bible support that idea…

Some people will interpret this idea to suit their comfort.

Look at the boy… he came just as he was… with five barley loaves and two fish.

The older people also came just as they were and they were the ones who benefited from the boy’s preparedness.

Who has faith… the boy or the 5,000 men?

The boy was willing to give to Jesus even to the extent of getting hungry.

The 5,000 men were unprepared of any circumstances.

This is an illustration that God is not looking at the stature of men when He wanted someone for the ministry. He can use a boy, He can use you… all you need to do is to come forward when you are presented to Jesus to be used in any ministry.

Let’s take a look at the faith of the 5,000 men.

The 5,000 men came to Jesus just as they were…

empty handed. We come to church… Sunday after Sunday and watch the worship team lead the congregation in worship. Watch events committee prepare the things needed for our church events or watch the VBS staff dedicate their time to minister to the kids by teaching, decorating the church building or even just ringing the bell for the kids to get ready for their next station. A lot of us are bystanders while others serve in a ministry

The boy was willing to worship Jesus with his packed lunch of five barley bread and two small fish.

The 5,000 came to see and watch if Jesus really is the Savior of Israel.

Many believe that the feeding of the 5,000 is not really a miracle, as in, a miracle out of nothing.

Some preach that when Jesus gave thanks for the five small barley loaves and two small fish, the older people were ashamed and they brought out their own food that they brought with them.

That is a very shallow interpretation because it says in v.14 ¹⁴ After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”  

Unless you yourself experienced a miracle in your life… it will be hard for you to believe the feeding of the 5,000.

Unless you have experienced God’s miracle in your life you will, surely, not believe that Jesus can bring 5,000 people at TMEC in 5 years.

I am telling the number 5,000 in attendance because I would like you to pray with me and see God’s miracles.

When that 5,000 in attendance at TMEC comes true, many of them will be like the 5,000 men but you who are hearing this sermon today will be like the boy… and you will say, “…It’s good for me to get involved… or else… I would have missed the blessing of seeing Jesus’ miracles.

I also had a testing of my faith last year when my father had to go to his extended vacation at St. Boniface. Everything was already so into motion for getting married, moving out, buying my first car and then life hits you.

The reality of having to cancel most of the things planned start to set in and worry and anxiety begin to grip my inner being.

The most devastating thought I had was the fact that if the wedding was to push through, my father won’t be present just like when I was baptized and I didn’t want to do that to him a second time.

I wanted him to be there with me for this milestone in my life but at the time, I was reminded that whatever God’s plan is, He will also provide the peace and comfort.

And he did more than that. My father was able to attend my wedding because God enabled him to be strong enough and this one event sparked joy in my heart.

The only regret I had about last year’s whirlwind of events was that I spent time to be worried and afraid of what’s to come when instead we can turn to God and remember that He is faithful to carry us through whatever the circumstance we are in.

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