The right kind of King

All righty.

So back into John 6, verses 1 to 21.

John 6:1–21

As we do, we're kind of looking at the character of Jesus, who he is,

what kind of leader he is, what kind of king he's going to turn out to be.

And friends, I'm going to suggest to you that he turns out to be

a pretty darn good kind of king, even by the standards that we have,

except that our standards kind of limit him a little bit too much.

You see, we have expectations of our leaders.

We have expectations that they will meet our demands.

Now, it doesn't always appear at the forefront of our minds

when we're electing our politicians.

We're grateful.

We're grateful to be in a country that Donald Trump isn't leading.

We are.

This is the kind of thing we talk about amongst ourselves, isn't it?

Amongst each other.

We dread the fact that Donald Trump will have a Twitter war

with another global, at least nuclear power in the world.

Suddenly, Donald Trump, who's someone who we can have a bit of a laugh about

and a snicker about over a coffee at work,

becomes someone who is affecting and impinging on our lives.

And then we start to get really interested in what he is doing

and our opinions kind of firm up into being somewhat more critical, shall we say.

It's the same with our leaders.

Same with our leaders here.

Our prime minister and his party.

You know, he's out there.

He's kind of in the back of our minds.

We kind of know who he is.

And if it was, you know, who wants to be a millionaire,

it probably wouldn't be the kind of question that we'd actually have to phone a friend on,

who is this, who is our prime minister.

But I can tell you, he comes to the forefront of our minds around budget time

when he starts to say who's going to get tax cuts

and who is going to get tax increases.

When the party starts to lay out what's going to happen

with the healthcare package this year.

What is the government contributing towards education?

What are all these things, these big decisions that they make,

going to do to our lives?

Are they going to improve them or not?

We have expectations of our leaders.

Expectations that they will make our lives better.

And expectations that when they don't,

they should expect to hear from us about it.

And so as Jesus emerges in John's gospel,

we start to see a little bit of what Jesus is like,

who Jesus is and the kind of leadership he's going to bring to earth.

We start to hear the controversy.

Who is this Jesus?

And is he really who he claims to be?

The authorities are actually starting to view him as an enemy of the state.

Why?

Because he's not delivering on their expectations.

But the witnesses, as David pointed out last week,

the witnesses say he is the true king.

He is the promised saviour.

He is God himself.

John is laying out Jesus' life and ministry to reveal the answer to this question.

Who is Jesus?

Not so that we can get the answer right in the pub quiz,

but so that we might believe in him and be saved.

In this next event in Jesus' life,

we get a glimpse of what kind of king he is

and what kind of salvation Jesus offers.

Let's have a look at it now.

So if you actually got your Bibles open,

chapter 6, verses 1 and following.

To start this event,

John actually provides the context.

He introduces this episode in Jesus' life,

kind of like a date in the diary,

like we might introduce.

You know, the where, the when, and the who are we meeting,

that sort of thing.

Kind of like a date in the diary.

But in light of the fact that John is wanting to witness to who Jesus is,

perhaps more like testimony in a witness box.

Testimony in a witness box.

So let me pray now as we start to look at the where, when, and who

and invite God to actually preside over us as we look at his word.

Father God, we thank you for people like John

who so faithfully represented Jesus in this gospel.

But we pray now as we look at it, Lord,

that what we would see is the truth, the whole truth,

and nothing but the truth.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Okay, so where were they?

Well, they were by the Sea of Galilee.

They'd just crossed it to a quiet place,

probably the area that we now know as the Golan Heights.

It was a remote place,

very quiet area.

But by the time John wrote this gospel,

the lake actually had another name,

and we get that other name as well.

It was also called Tiberius,

named after the Roman emperor at the time of Jesus' ministry.

By all accounts, Tiberius was a good emperor.

He was humble.

He was the first of a group of emperors

that actually refused to be deified,

turned into a god and worshipped in the emperor cult.

And he was a wise and capable leader.

So King Herod,

well, he tried to rename Galilee after Tiberius.

So both names were known at the time,

Sea of Galilee, Sea of Tiberius.

Why is this important?

Well,

perhaps John wrote both names

to include the non-Jews

who would read his gospel,

the people who would know the lake

by the name Tiberius.

Or perhaps he wrote

this other name to remind the Jews

that they were still under Roman rule.

Or perhaps

he wanted us

to be thinking about

the kind of ruler Jesus is

over and against

someone who was respected

in the world at that time.

Where were they?

They were by the Sea of Galilee,

a remote area

on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

So who was there?

Well,

Jesus,

and most likely

his 12 disciples were there.

Why do I say that?

Well,

they all fit into one boat,

so it's unlikely

that there were more than that.

So it was round about that,

round about the inner 12.

But we also learn as well here

that a large crowd

followed Jesus.

Jesus and his disciples

went in a boat,

the crowd had to walk around the edge,

they took longer.

And we read in verse 2,

a large crowd was following him.

We even read,

why?

Because they saw the signs

that he was doing on the sick.

They followed Jesus

because of what he could do for them.

Where,

who,

and when.

Finally,

the when.

The date,

we read again,

is around the time of the Passover.

Now,

this date is important.

It's the first event

God put into the Jewish calendar.

On this date,

the Jews remembered

their exodus from Egypt.

A lamb was killed and eaten.

Its blood was painted

on the doorposts of the house.

And a prophet called Moses

led them out of captivity

into freedom.

This was a time of year

when Israel probably felt

their captivity the most,

their Roman occupation

most.

At this point of the year,

more than any other,

they longed for salvation.

They longed

for the new Moses.

This is the context

that John presents

this feeding of the 5,000.

This is the context.

But the question is,

who is

this Jesus?

Now we move on

and see the actual sign

of the feeding of the 5,000.

To answer the question

of who Jesus is,

John gives us

this next sign.

John peels back

the layers of Jesus' life

to reveal

who Jesus is.

And this next layer

begins with a problem.

As we've already seen,

Jesus and his disciples

had come to a remote area

and the crowd

that had followed them

had followed them

into this remote area.

And Jesus can't help

but see the problem.

If we read in verse 5,

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?

Jesus' first response

is to lift his eyes.

He takes in everything,

the crowd,

their need,

the resources at his disposal.

And he has compassion on them.

Jesus is in control.

They are hungry

and he's going to do

something about it.

That's who Jesus is.

But,

ever the teacher,

Jesus doesn't miss a chance

to test his disciples.

We read in verse 6

that Jesus said this

to test him

for he himself

knew what he would do.

Now Jesus probably asked Philip,

singling out Philip of the Twelve,

because it seems pretty rough,

doesn't it,

to be the one

that actually gets this question.

But he probably asked Philip

because Philip is a local.

And if there's a shop nearby,

Philip is going to know

where it is.

And Philip's answer

gets straight to the point.

In verse 7 we read,

Philip answered him,

200 denarii worth of bread

would not be enough

for each of them

to even get a little.

Paraphrase that.

Philip is saying,

I don't know.

Perhaps I don't know

isn't even strong enough

to describe the sense

of Philip's response.

Philip is really saying,

impossible.

There is no shop.

There is no money

for this scale of catering.

We're talking 200 denarii.

That was over 30 weeks

of wages

for the average labourer.

tens of thousands

of dollars

we're talking about.

Now Andrew,

he tries to

bail Philip out

a little bit,

maybe take the pressure off

like you do

in the classroom.

In verse 9 he says,

he chips in and says,

there's a boy here

who has five barley loaves

and two fish,

but what are they

for so many?

Five barley loaves

and two fish

were not enough

to go around.

They couldn't just,

I don't know,

cook up a little rice

or throw in a side salad

and try and pad the meal out

to make it bigger.

The task was huge.

Not even the Minter family,

Manning,

Manning at KFC

could actually meet

this demand.

Not even the Walker family

and the resources

of Curry McDonald's

could meet this demand.

But even if they could,

there was no KFC,

there was no McDonald's,

there was no money

to meet this need.

Jesus set a test

and the disciples failed.

But what was the test?

Jesus knew what he would do.

We can read that here.

So the test wasn't actually

to provide the meal.

The test was to accept

the evidence

that David described last week

that we saw in John 5.

The test was to realize

who Jesus is

and act on it

to begin to trust in him.

But they don't get it.

So Jesus gives them

this sign.

In verse 10 we take up,

Jesus said,

have the people sit down.

Now there was much grass

in the place

and the men sat down,

about 5,000 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.

Jesus had them sit down.

It's a nice grassy area

we read here.

Plenty of room

for 5,000 men.

Probably twice that number

were present

when you count

the women and children.

They didn't count

women and children

in their counts.

And we know there was

at least one child there

because he had the lunchbox,

the only lunchbox there.

And then in verse 11,

Jesus took the loaves

and he gave thanks

and distributed them.

He fed more than 5,000 people

with five loaves

and two fish.

Then after everyone had eaten

their fill,

you read here,

Jesus told them

to gather up the leftovers

and they did.

Twelve basketfuls

of leftovers

from one kid's

happy meal.

It's an incredible feat.

But there's more going on here

than a miraculous free meal.

The phrasing,

even the phrasing

of this verse

of what Jesus does

and how he does it,

well, it's very close

to the accounts

of the Lord's Supper.

If you can read through,

go and have a look

at those later

when you get home.

But the accounts

of the Lord's Supper

in the other Gospels

with Jesus taking bread,

breaking it,

giving thanks.

And the abundance

of the provision

in a wilderness area

is meant to remind us

of the Israelites

in the wilderness

and that manna,

the bread from heaven.

Jesus wants us

to make these links.

He wants us to hear

about what he did

and think Exodus.

Now, if you're thinking

I'm stretching things

a little bit here

and that's, you know,

where are you seeing

all this in the passage,

then what I would encourage you

to do is to keep reading.

Keep reading in this chapter

and look at the links

that Jesus makes.

See, when Jesus goes back

to the other side of the lake

and the crowd catches up

with him,

he starts explaining

exactly what he was doing

and he overtly

makes these links.

So he's setting us up here

to be starting to think

along these lines.

He wants us to hear

about what he did

and think Exodus.

He wants us to think

Passover lamb

and Moses

leading the people

out of slavery.

This sign is meant

to tell us

who Jesus is.

It's meant to tell us more.

It's meant to tell us

about what kind of kingship

he is going to have.

what kind of king

Jesus is going to be

and it does.

The word of what Jesus

had done

spread through the crowd

and it provokes

a response,

a right response

and a wrong response.

In verse 14

we read this.

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 has just claimed

to be this prophet

in chapter 5

verses 45 to 47

and the Jewish leaders

didn't believe him.

Now the crowd

is making the connections.

Connections

that the Jewish leaders

wouldn't.

They are beginning

to believe

that he is the prophet.

It's the right response

but it comes

with a wrong response.

the wrong response

is that they then

try to make him king.

Their kind of king

in verse 15.

Perceiving then

that they are about

to come

and take him

by force

to make him king

Jesus withdrew again

to the mountain

by himself.

Jesus is the king

the ruler

over everything

but he's not

the kind of king

that they want.

When the people

of Israel

saw what Jesus

could do

they saw a man

who could save them

from the problems

as they saw it.

They saw their problem

as their circumstances.

Life was hard

under the Romans.

Things were difficult

in a subsistence

economy

living day to day.

Sickness and disease

went virtually unchecked.

Life expectancy

was half of what

ours is today.

We're going to say

that 2,000 years later

things aren't too

different for us.

We want our leaders

to sort out

our problems.

Even our prayers

reflect our worries

our circumstances

our jobs

our families

and relationships

or lack of

our health.

These were

and are

real problems.

we should

take them

to Jesus

and Jesus

is genuinely

concerned about them.

Jesus fed

the 5,000.

He healed

many.

But even though

he fed the 5,000

we need to understand

that he was

concerned for

far more

than their stomachs.

He was concerned

for something

a little north

and west

of our stomachs.

He was concerned

for our hearts.

So he didn't come

as their kind of king.

He fled from that.

They wanted the

Moses of the Exodus.

Jesus

came as the Lamb.

The Lamb of God

who takes away

the sins of the world

is how John the Baptist

introduced him

in John 1,

John 1:29

verse 29.

The Lamb.

You see,

our problems

are only symptoms

of the real problem.

Our problem

is that we are

separated from God

by our sin.

We live in rebellion

against God

as our rightful king

and so we don't

experience the goodness

of God's rule.

We experience

our brokenness

and his wrath,

his judgment.

And you know

the world is messed up.

Here's the problem

and this is what I think.

I'm guessing

that most of the time

you and I,

we spend our time

thinking about

the problems

and the mess

being stuff

that's out there

that impinges on me,

that sticks to me

but it's not my fault.

It's all this other stuff

going on.

It's the stuff

going around us

but not in us

that we see

so clearly.

And if that stuff

could change,

we think

everything would be

all right.

But am I the only one

in the room

who knows

he's a mess inside?

Am I the only one

who has those moments

of lucidity?

I'm afraid

there are,

you know,

unfortunately

there are moments.

Those moments though

where I say something

or I do something

or I think something

that genuinely shocks me.

sometimes I even

can feel these thoughts

actually forming

in my mind

and I can't stop them

from coming out

in an action

or words.

And when they do,

they become words

and attitudes

that do real damage

to the people around me.

these attitudes

that actually come

from within me,

attitudes that take

the blood,

sweat

and tears

of Jesus

to untangle.

Jesus is that

kind of king.

The kind of king

who would take

our brokenness

and God's anger

on himself.

the kind of king

who would get slain

like a lamb.

The kind of king

who would be the lamb

so that he could

be the Moses

and lead us

out of slavery

to this mess

once and for all.

So Jesus,

when they tried

to make him king,

he withdrew from them.

He left his disciples

alone

to return to Capernaum

without him.

Who knows

how they must

have been feeling.

Who knows

after all that

had just gone on.

The melee

that must have

actually happened

around these people

starting to surge

toward Jesus.

I can tell you now though,

we know enough

to know this,

that these 12 disciples,

even these 12 disciples

argued over

who would be the greatest

in the kingdom of God.

These 12 disciples

lobbied for

who would sit

at his right

and his left

in the kingdom

when it came.

These 12 disciples

resisted Jesus'

servant leadership

and we'll see that

in John 13

when Jesus tries

to wash Peter's feet.

These 12

defended Jesus

with force

when the soldiers

came to arrest him.

They likely

wanted a Moses too.

I think at least

a part of them

was hoping

that the will

of the crowd

would have its way

that day.

But instead,

they were left alone,

crossing the Sea

of Galilee at night

without Jesus.

And the crossing

was turning out

to be a hard one.

In verse 18,

we read these words,

the sea became rough

because a strong wind

was blowing.

When they had rode

about three or four miles,

they saw Jesus

walking on the sea

and coming near the boat

and they were frightened.

Now,

the Sea of Galilee

is roundish.

It's not massively

bigger than Lake Macquarie,

but it's kind of roundish

and it's deep,

way deeper

than Lake Macquarie.

So the water

can get pretty rough

when the wind

picks up.

And three or four miles,

that kind of puts them

roughly in the middle

of this lake.

But it wasn't until

they saw someone

walking on water

that they really

started to freak out.

In the ancient Near East,

water was a sign

of the,

well,

the chaos,

of chaos in the world.

It was one of these forces

that they just could not

even think of controlling

and they struggled

to live alongside.

Working on the water,

therefore,

was a dangerous job.

I remember Joe

and I on our holiday

recently.

We went back to England

and we went to a coastal town

called Bridlington,

which was a fishing town.

And we discovered,

I didn't realise this,

but you know the cable

knit jumpers that we don't

tend to wear over here

because it's too warm?

We've got Ugg boots,

like Matt.

Yeah.

The cable knit jumpers

all have their own

unique pattern

according to the village

that the person

comes from.

Why?

Because when you get

lost at sea,

you're not always

easily identifiable.

And so they would look

at the jumper

to see what village

they came from.

They could take the body

back to that village

and they would know

who was missing.

It was a dangerous job

working on the sea.

So people who worked

on the water

were often

incredibly superstitious.

someone

walking across

the surface

of the water

in the middle

of stormy weather

was not going to

send their thoughts

in a healthy direction.

They were alone,

demoralised

by what had happened

that day

and afraid.

And something

was coming

toward them

across the water.

So Jesus spoke

to them.

In verse 20

we read,

he said to them,

it is I,

do not be afraid.

It is I.

A literal translation

would be,

I am,

like,

I am the bread

of life,

which we'll read

as we go into

the next part

of chapter 6,

635.

As John also

recalls Jesus saying,

I am the light

of the world

in chapter 8,

verse 12.

I am the good shepherd

in chapter 10,

verse 11.

I am the way,

the truth,

and the life

in chapter 14,

verse 6.

But this time,

when the disciples

are totally confused

about who Jesus is

and totally freaked out

about how he's appeared,

it's just,

I am.

This is the Greek version

of God's personal name,

Yahweh.

When they were feeling

at their lowest

and most helpless,

Jesus appeared

and he said,

I am.

Who is Jesus?

He is the king,

but more,

he is I am.

He is Yahweh,

the God who cares

for his people,

even in the mess.

Whoever you think

Jesus is,

he's more.

Whatever you want

Jesus to do,

he delivers more.

whatever the mess

in your life,

he is with you

in that mess,

working toward a time

when one day

all of that mess

will be wiped away.

That time

when the Lamb

once and for all

deals with the sin

in the world,

deals with the sin

in our hearts,

and restores peace

to us all.

Whoever you think

Jesus is,

he's more.