Worship Service Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
There Is A Boy Here
John 6:1-15
March 27, 2022
Read John 6:1-15
Let me begin with an outline of what we are going to cover as we look at these verses. There are two parts of this sermon: one, the major themes John was raising for his first readers, and, second, something that stands out for us today.
When we read the gospel of John, we need to remember that it was constructed thematically, not chronologically. The episodes were put together “so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”[1] In chapters 5-10, the focus was on developing the reasons for Jesus’ conflict with the religious authorities. The tension was highest around the times of the major festivals in Jerusalem. Our text today involves an episode leading up to a Passover celebration.
In verse 4, John wrote, “Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.” A cursory read suggests that John was simply giving the setting. However, the way John wrote the sentence indicates that he intended something more. Specifically, the middle clause “the festival of the Jews” is awkwardly highlighted.
Why would John write it this way? The setup for this story was prefaced by the end of the last, where Jesus declared that, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.” Moses was God’s agent declaring the first Passover, the event that marked Israel as God’s people. The people of Jesus’ day understood that Moses was a prophet. God used Moses to perform great signs and to deliver the people from bondage and slavery in Egypt. The Passover was the night the angel of death “passed over” the Jews – those who had the blood of a lamb on the lintel and two doorposts of their homes.[2] After the awful judgment of that night, Pharaoh and the Egyptians drove the Israelites out of their land, through the Red Sea, and into the desert towards Mount Sinai. It was in the desert that the people cried out against Moses and the Lord provided manna (bread) and quail.
It is important to see the parallels to those events as John described Jesus’ construction of this scene. After mentioning Moses, Jesus and the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee. He was followed by a large crowd. They had seen the signs he had been doing, healing the sick. Jesus saw them coming and he said to one of his disciples (they were not yet “the twelve”), Philip, “Where are we going to buy bread for these people to eat?” Philip’s response illustrated that there was no human way of accomplishing what Jesus asked. “Six months wages would not buy enough bread for each one to get a little;” in other words, financially, they did not have the resources even if there were no supply chain issues. It was a more elaborate way of saying, “Not gonna happen.”
Andrew took on the role of problem solver. “Well, Jesus, there is this boy who has five barley loaves and two fish.” Thus, we know the inventory available. Andrew went on, “But that’s not going to make a dent in what is actually needed.”
The scene was set. No finances and no inventory? No problem. Jesus told the disciples, “Have the people sit down.” They did a brief headcount and came up with about 5,000 people sitting in expectation of something happening. They were not disappointed.
Jesus took the bread, and after giving thanks distributed them to those who were seated. He did the same with the fish, so that people had as much as they wanted.
Friends, the miracle is so familiar that even non-Christians in our culture know the meaning of “loaves and fishes.” Even so, how much greater is the miracle when you know the back story and see what Jesus was showing: God provided the manna and quail for the Israelites in the desert. Here, it was Jesus. Jesus did something far greater than Moses; specifically, Jesus did something only God could do.
The leftovers were abundant, too. There were more than twelve baskets of bread. “The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. …He prepares a table for me in the presence of mine enemies, and my cup overflows.” Further still, do not miss the foreshadowing of the Lord’s supper – also a Passover meal in which revealed his Messianic role that was far greater than Moses – as great as Moses was.
John wrote, “When the people saw the sign he had done, they began to say, ”This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.” The people understood what it meant. It meant that Jesus was the one Moses had promised:
The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet. This is what you requested of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the LORD my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” Then the LORD replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable.[3]
The people of Jesus’ day understood that Moses’ words were one of the promises of the Messiah, and they believed Jesus was demonstrating he was the Messiah. This was it: this was the new Exodus for which they had been waiting for generations. He was going to lead them out of bondage and oppression from Rome! They were so excited; they began to plan amongst themselves – right there and then – to make Jesus king. It was not his time and it was not God’s plan, so Jesus withdrew to the mountain by himself.
One commenter summed up:
The statement as to the nearness of the Passover (v 4), the identification of Jesus as the prophet who should come (cf Deut 18:15), and the discussion on the bread from heaven within the discourse (vv 31–33) combine to indicate that the feeding miracle is understood as falling within the fulfillment of the hope of a second Exodus. This flows together with the thought of the event as a celebration of the feast of the kingdom of God, promised in the Scriptures (Isa 25:6–9).[4]
As we read this text, those are the big things John wanted readers to see. He wanted to make sure that readers understood what Jesus was revealing about himself.
There is a boy here.
All of that being true, what I want you to see today is the line, “There is a boy here…who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?”
The boy does not have any lines of dialogue. He was not appointed to be a waiter distributing his possessions to others. We do not have any indication as to what Jesus said to him, whether he was paid for the fish and loaves, or if he knew what was going on at all. As far as we know, this was his entire appearance in scripture; it may have been his only encounter with Jesus.
So, why do I want to spend time here?
Simply: this boy could be any one of us. Not everyone that Jesus encountered, not everyone who witnessed Jesus perform a miracle, not everyone who heard Jesus speak and teach ended up leaving everything and going on the road with him. Some did, most did not.
Many people encountered Jesus and went back to their lives. Yes, the encounter was transformative – but in a spiritual and personal way rather than an abandon your world and take up a bohemian lifestyle kind of way. In other words, we do not know what happened with the boy, but it is reasonable to assume that he went back to his family and went back to his life.
And that was enough.
He had a story to tell.
So many people think they need to be a walk-with-Jesus-for-3-years disciple before they have anything worthy of sharing. It is not so. So many people think that what they have would not make any difference. It is not so. So many people see with eyes of the world, “But what is this among so many people?” But with God, it is not so.
Jesus took what the little boy had to give. In light of the circumstances, it was little. It really did not seem like much. Let’s be real: it wasn’t much. But isn’t that the point? Jesus takes what little we have and does miracles with it. God is not bound by our expectations and our limitations.
Let mee blunt: Jesus did not need the boy in order to do the miracle. Jesus incorporated – literally, made a part of the event – Jesus incorporated the boy and his gifts into the miracle as a measure of grace for the boy. The boy was blessed to see what Jesus could do with what little he thought he had. How do we know this? Because Jesus intended the whole scene – we read that in verse 6: “He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.”
The same is true for all of us. God knows – tone is important here – God knows what he is going to do with us. We may not know; but God does. What we do know, what we can know, what we need to know is this: God incorporates us in what He is doing to will and to work for his good pleasure.
The team going to Belize reminded me of something from my own life. Years ago, Dan Chun – pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Honolulu – invited me to go on a Compassion International trip to the Philippines. There was a team going to Manila and some other areas of the Philippines to do conferences encouraging the people and also to do some dental medical missions. I was honored to go. The conferences went well. But the reason I tell you this story is because of something that happened during the dental mission part of the trip.
Aside from pulling loose teeth from my own kids, my experience and education left me remarkably unqualified to do much while we were there. So, I sat in some of the waiting areas and just talked with people. Their gratitude for the opportunity to sit and talk with me was overwhelming – and what I mean by that is so many said, “We cannot believe you would take time from your schedule to come here to us. You came all the way from the United States to see us.” I did not think of it as a burden, and I did not think of being there as a big deal; but our presence – my presence – was to them an indication that God really does answer prayer and God really does care about them.
To be clear: I am confident that not a single person there will remember my name. That is not the important part of the story, I am not the important part of the story. What is important is that God used me – nothing more than my presence – God used me as a part of doing something remarkable, powerful, transformative, and life changing for the people there. And, then, after that day and that mission, we all came home and went on with our lives.
Because I was willing to go, Jesus took what little I had to give. In light of the circumstances, it was little. It really did not seem like much to me. Let’s be real: it wasn’t much. But isn’t that the point? Jesus takes what little we have and does miracles with it.
And that was enough.
I had a story to tell.
When Jesus asks, will you be willing to go? Will you be willing to give? Do not worry about whether it will be enough. It will. Jesus takes what little we have and does miracles with it.
Amen.
Questions:
- Were you aware of how clearly Jesus was revealing his identity through his words and actions? The people understood but the experts missed it. Are you looking with eyes to see God at work in our midst today?
- Do you ever worry whether your gifts really matter? Do you ever wonder if your gifts are enough? We see people with great faith and think, “Wow, that person is someone God can use.” We see people with great talent and think, “I could never do that. ” Yet, what do you have that God has given you – what do you have that you can offer?
- Has God ever used you and your gifts to bless others? Have you ever marveled at how the outcome was so much bigger, better, greater, or transformative than what you thought you could offer?
[1] John 20:31
[2] Exodus 12:22-23.
[3] Deuteronomy 18:15-19.
[4] George R. Beasley-Murray, Word Biblical Commentary NT, John, volume 36, p. 88.