Where Do We Buy Bread? - John 6:1-15 - May 17, 2026

Matthew Poole: Good morning. Let's pray to God for his help as we jump into his word. you bow your heads with me? Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a speaking God and you have spoken. And we thank you that your words are life and comfort, blessing, pleasure, grace, mercy, kindness. God, your words are good. Would you give us grace this morning to hear your word, to understand it, to apprehend it, and to see the glory of Jesus Christ in it. God, exalt your son Jesus now. Fill our hearts with his glory, that our joy may be filled, or our joy may be full. God, speak to us now. Remove distraction, remove the busyness of our minds, help our hearts to slow down so that we may hear from you this morning. Feed us, God, we pray. In your name we pray, amen. Have you ever been in a situation where the need, the need absolutely outstripped the resources that you had? Maybe you're there even this morning. You have some need that you are facing. Maybe it's a relational need, a parenting need, or a marriage need, or a cultural need, an economic need, something that you're facing or have faced, and The need is just so great. compared to your resources that you are led to a place of despair or paralyzation or hopelessness? We act in all kinds of ways when we come to grips with some impossible situation and we realize we don't have the resources to meet it. There's a stress response that happens. And we tend to go into despair or paralyzation or maybe we get aggressive and we lash out, we get angry, try to fix things and usually we're not helpful. face impossible decisions, possible situations, and we lack resources. This world is broken. And because it's broken, are so many needs. I name the cause. And they all just dwarf us. They dwarf us. But the question is, is there a better way for us to respond to impossible needs? Is there a better way? Could there perhaps be a way we could respond to impossible needs with hope, with life, and maybe even with a joy-filled anticipation of how those needs are going to get met? Open with me to John chapter 6 verse... what we just read. I'll read it again. 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. And lifting up his eyes then, 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. And he said this to him to test him, for he knew what he would do. So we're just getting oriented to the context here. There's a large group of people following Jesus because he's been doing these signs on the sick. There's also a little detail here in John's gospel here that the Passover is at hand, and that means there's also this sort of context of national excitement that maybe the Messiah is here. And so they're chasing this guy, Jesus, he's healing the sick, like maybe he's the guy. And there's a lot of people. We'll see later, it's 5,000 men, which likely means that including ⁓ children and women, you're looking at 10,000 plus, perhaps. There's a big group of people. So imagine Reynolds Coliseum sold out. All those people, or 50 of these rooms, and you're all just following Jesus. and to make things worse, you're all hungry. Nobody likes anybody that's hangry, much less a hangry crowd, right? We don't wanna go there. Literally, a crisis is approaching. The is approaching Jesus and the disciples, but it is not the crowds that has Jesus' primary focus. He cares about the crowds. We're gonna see that. But he has something else in mind here. He cares to teach the disciples a lesson. So he turns to Philip. Where are we to buy bread? I want you to answer this, Philip. How's this problem going to get solved? Where are we going to get some bread to feed these people? This obvious issue here. And he said it to him to test him. What kind of test is it? Jesus is putting Philip in an impossible situation. From an earthly perspective, Philip is in a situation that cannot be solved from earthly resources. He's putting him He wants Philip to come square to square, face to face with an impossible situation from earthly means to see how he responds. That's what he's doing. How does Philip respond? We see this in verse seven. Philip answered him. Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. So Philip responds here, and this is not, okay Jesus, let's problem solve. He's not going into collaborative problem-solve mode here. I think this is actually critical. There's maybe a subtle hint here that he's mocking Jesus. Jesus asked about the crowds, his responses, this 200, this is like somebody's full-time wage for over half a year. So even if we had enough money for somebody's half-year wage, this would still only give crumbs to these people. Like Jesus, why would you even ask me that question? You're out of your mind. Philip's not the only one to respond this way. Then we see Andrew, verse eight, one of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother said to him, there's a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? Again, similar response as Philip. It's not problem solving. I there's a bit of mockery and a critical tone here. There's a little sack lunch here that one little boy has, but what's that, Jesus? You're out of your mind. Why are you even asking us how we're going to feed this crowd? It's not possible. You see what Andrew and Philip are both fixated on? What are they fixated on? The need and their lack of resources. Both of them. Same response. not Jesus. Jesus said, verse 10, have the people sit down. Have the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place so the men sat down about 5,000 in number. Jesus then took the load. When he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated, so also the fish, as much as they. as much as they wanted. Disciples get everybody seated. Jesus does three actions here. He took the loaves, He gives thanks to God in heaven, and then He distributes. The result, everybody gets as much as they want. And some. It's like golden corral. It's like eat as much as you want. Better ingredients though. If you go home hungry, it's your own fault. It's not the fault of the supplier here. Jesus supplies, and he supplies in abundance. The limitation of resources and the greatness of the need has no effect on Jesus' ability to supply provision for this crowd. Zero effect. For Jesus to supply one more loaf of bread for another five, 10, 100, 1000 people does not diminish him. It's no harder for him to do 10,000 or 20,000. Jesus is not limited by external factors. He's sufficient in who He is. He provides. He is the provider here, and our God does not give a little, He gives an abundance. We see something about the character of God here. He lavishes us with His grace and mercy, does He not? He is not stingy with the resources of heaven. He gives them. freely, abundantly. Verse 12, we pick back up. 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 they filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. So there was such an abundance of food that there's all this food left over and Jesus then sends the disciples out to gather the fragments. And there's 12 basketfuls that come back. One basketful for each disciple and what is going on here? What is going on here? Why is this part of what Jesus is teaching the disciples? It's not an accident that there's leftover. Jesus knows exactly what he's. doing? Well, some people look at this and say, Jesus is showing the disciples that if you are in ministry feeding other people, you yourself will not go hungry. You will be fed. Absolutely, that is true. When we work for Jesus, we do not go without. He supplies everything we need. I think that's absolutely true. But there may be something else also going on here. The baskets become the personal reminder to the lesson that Jesus has been teaching the disciples. A basket full is way more than what a disciple needs. So they have to literally carry around the fact that they were wrong about Jesus and that Jesus abundantly provided. Like everywhere they go it's like, gosh, I got it wrong, but Jesus is great. He's sufficient carrying that basket as a constant reminder of the Lord's provision to do the impossible. It's gracious, it's not a condemning thing. It's a gracious training measure. There's another layer of meaning that could be here. The 12 baskets for the 12 disciples also are representing the 12 tribes of Israel, which represent the full number of the people of God. And so what Jesus is saying is I am sufficient for the people of God. I feed them all. We see something very interesting later on in chapter six, verse 38. Jesus repeats this language of losing. And I think this is the key to understanding some of the text here. Verse 38. For I have come down from heaven. not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I should lose, it's the same word, nothing of all that He has given me, but raise it up on the last day. I think what Jesus saying is, I'm not going to lose the people. I'm here for the people that the Father has given me. I've come for them. Jesus will gather his people, he will keep his people, he will carry his people to glory, that none will be lost. Praise God for that. Jesus is sufficient for ministry. Jesus, the source of ministry, the means of ministry, and the end of ministry, that he may receive all the glory. That's what he's teaching the disciples. How did the crowds respond here? Verse 14 back to earlier. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who has come into the world. This is that kingly Messiah expectation. Here he is. Here's the prophet. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. So the crowds, they are actually perceiving correctly. They're getting this right. This is from Deuteronomy 18.15. There's a prophecy that there is coming, there's coming another Moses, right? And so there's Passover context here, there's like wilderness context. Moses is in people's awareness. Where is the one to come that is like Moses? Here he is. And they get it right. but they get the type of king that Jesus is wrong. And they get wrong how Jesus is actually going to take the throne. They're ready to put Jesus into power and Jesus disappears because they want a king who's in their own image. They want a king that's gonna serve their purposes. They're not ready to bend the knee of the king Jesus. So Jesus disappears. I think he's also disappearing because of the exact lesson he's trying to teach the disciples. He's disappearing because he's still trying to teach a lesson. Now what is that lesson? This is what I think it is. By multiplying bread to feed the multitudes, Jesus shows himself to be both God and Redeemer, working his sovereign power for the good of the people who are hungry and This is the full lesson he's teaching them. I'm God. And I'm here as creator and redeemer to help the people. This foreshadows a greater meal to A meal that will not take place on a grassy hillside, but a meal that will take place on a bloody hillside. A meal where Jesus doesn't break bread, but He is broken as bread to feed a hungry world. That's what this meal is foreshadowing. says later in chapter 6 verse 35, Jesus speaking, I am the bread of life. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not. as sinners, you and I are starved for the presence of God. When we sin, we are choosing to feast ourselves on spoiled food that does nothing for us. We are malnourished, feasting on the things of this world. Starved for the presence and the life, the very life of God. That's what sin does. We're choosing to eat poison. And we're starved. Jesus, He comes to give us life. We deserve to be starved, do we not? We deserve it. That's our judgment for going against God, for being those, just like Andrew and Philip, that doubt God, that doubt Jesus, that doubt his power, don't see him or believe him or worship him. We deserve judgment, we deserve to be on a cross. But God comes through Jesus, go on that cross for us. He's the one that does that. As sinners, we're starved for the life of God, but Jesus gives up His fullness for our sake, going hungry in death, so that we might have life forever. This is the gospel message for sinners like you and myself this morning. We have a God that took our judgment in Jesus to give us life forever with Him. And when Jesus comes out of the grave, He declares the meal for our eternal life is sufficient. The meal of his death and resurrection is sufficient. We believe in that, we have life forever. The impossible becomes possible. There's nothing more impossible than us getting to God. That's our real need, right? How do we get God? How does that happen? God makes the impossible possible. To His glory and our joy. You see this is why Jesus I think had to disappear from the crowds. Why he couldn't become king? It's because he had to suffer first or there is no kingdom. There's no life. It's not King you want, you will be judged. He had to suffer if he's going to bring any love and blessing to the people. Feed and suffer first, nobody's getting fed, we're gonna starve. He goes to the cross, that's his way to kingship. This morning, this is what you were invited to. First thing we need to see is you are invited to feast upon Jesus Christ in your place. God has taken your sin so that you may not be judged. And coming out of the grave, like I said, it's sufficient sacrifice. You get the acceptance of God now forever. There is no condemnation if you believe in the blood of Jesus Christ. Zero condemnation. Feast on the sacrifice of Christ. Feast on his resurrection. Feast on the power he now gives you that's sourced in him, not yourself. feast on the truths of the gospel. You are invited this morning to take a seat at God's table and to have as much as... Believe Jesus. Taste and see that the Lord is good. He is a good king and he provides a feast for his people. And after we feast, then what? What then? Having been satisfied with this meal, we share it with others. We that feast on Christ share the feast of Christ with the world. Scholar Edward Clink makes this very point. He says this, the basket that each carries serves as a tangible reminder of the miraculous provision of Jesus and the duty they now need to In a real way, Christian ministry is emulating the hospitality of Jesus, inviting people to enter the hospitality of God and serving as an intermediary host until God embraces them himself. This is our joy-filled duty as those that have been satisfied at the table of Christ. How can we not go and share Him with the hungry? So we are stretched here, we see the needs of the world and we get stretched. There are relational needs and there are economic needs and there are cultural needs and there are all kinds of needs and we should go and meet those needs. But we don't lose sight of the core spiritual need which is Jesus. People are starved for Jesus. That is what they are ultimately hungry for. We do all these other things to adorn the gospel as the gospel message goes forth. The starving world is out there for starving for Jesus. We consider our world, and it stretches us. We consider our neighbors and the nations that are far from Jesus. We consider entire people groups that have never heard of the name of Jesus. That stretches us. From our neighbors across the street to the neighbors, nations across the ocean, we are stretched here. These are impossible needs. But we cannot run. We cannot duck. We cannot despair. We don't go into hopelessness. The world is starving. The question is, where are we looking for help? Are we going to be a church that's full of excuses? Or are we going to be a church that's full of faith? it's not hard at all to come up with excuses. Everybody's good. The need is too great. There's just too many of them, right? or look at our resources. God, you can't use me. Right? God, you can't use me. I'm not smart enough. I'm not creative enough. I've got a train wreck of a past. I'm beaten, broken. Don't know the Bible super well, can't engage in apologetics and understanding of that. I just can't be used. I'm not good enough to be on your team. Jesus says that's ridiculous. You're missing the whole point. The point is not about what you do or do not bring to the table. The point is about whose hands are you in and who's multiplying the loaves and the fishes. Praise God for this little boy. Right? A little sack lunch and a little boy and Jesus feeds multitudes. A sack lunch in the hands of a sovereign God feeds the multitudes. You know what you and I are? We're sack lunches. And there's all kinds of excuses that are gonna come. Not me, I can't, I can't, I can't. Right, this was Moses, don't send me, I can't speak. Come on, don't you have a better plan? God says no, I don't have a better plan. Why? He says to Paul in Corinthians, because my grace is sufficient for you. My grace is sufficient for you because my power is made perfect in weakness, not in strength. It's not about us. It's about Him magnifying His grace among us and His power in our weakness. It's about Him for His glory and our joy. Our impossibilities are God's possibilities for His glory. We get the joy to participate. And he delights to use us in all the oddities and strangeness and weakness that we are. He delights to use every single one of us. We are his body. We are his body walking this earth. to magnify Him. So he says, go. Go and gather the lost fragments. gather the fragments so none may be lost. Go, go and be a part of gathering the people of God for God's glory, for Jesus Christ. Right, he says in the end of Matthew, all authority has been given to me, so go. My presence is with you, so go. I will be with you to the end of the age, so go. Go and gather my people. This is what we are about, Harvest. This is what we are doing, even better yet. This is what God is doing through us. He is not an instrument for our mission. We are instruments for his mission. He is gathering a people that love and feast on the sun. And he's doing it through you and I. Praise God. He's doing that right now in this service. You being here, singing, gathering, welcoming, encouraging one another, he is building and gathering his people. When you send an encouraging text message to somebody else and show up at small group and give somebody a scripture, he's building a people and take a meal to someone, he's gathering his people through you. When you pray for your neighbor and you try to engage the lost and you're praying for your coworker and you engage them at work, the best of your ability, and when you pray for the nations, we're partnering with our our mission partners who are serving in the nooks and crannies of the world where there is no gospel witness, God is gathering a people through us. He's doing the sovereign work and we get the joy of participating. And it is designed that way for our joy. There's no joy in living for our kingdom. No joy there. Death there. We live for Jesus. We experience life. And this is a mission that is guaranteed. Even more joy. We have the end of the story. We see... the image given in Revelation, this mission will be accomplished. The end game is there where we see a people and tongues and tribes gathered around this throne of glory, the Lamb standing as one that's slain in this new heavens and new earth. And they're all praising the Lamb because He has ransomed a people from every tribe. He's ransomed them, He's redeemed them. We're going out to gather the people. that he has shed his blood for. We go in confidence anticipating this glorious end. This new heavens and new earth is coming in Jesus. The starving world will be over. There's no more starving. We will be filled to the brim with as much as we want with the presence of God. It fills the new heavens and the new earth. Right now we're like foretasting. It's an appetizer. The appetizer's even too much for our souls to even contain and to bear, but then with glorified bodies we will feast. We will feast in the fullness of Christ's presence. With no sin, no mixed motives, no flesh to get in the way. Just pure enjoyment of Christ. Our Lord will receive the reward of His suffering. we can go in confidence to one another and to this world. We might be stretched. We will be stretched. But we remember our Savior was stretched. And so we go. Jesus has become the bread of life for us and his death and resurrection and that transforms us into those that are not afraid of the impossibility but that press in, believing in the sufficiency of Christ for all of life and for all of ministry. Various. Christ our sufficiency. This is the better way for us to respond, church. We don't have to respond by paralyzation or despair or lashing out in anger. We respond with hope. We respond with joy-filled, humble activity. We respond looking to Jesus. There might be a crisis, but we have something better. We have a Christ. Let's Father, thank you for your grace and your mercy for us this morning. Thank you for the word that comes to us that says no matter what we have done, your Son, Jesus, has paid the penalty for us. That we may experience the forgiveness of sins and partake of the divine nature of being made new. Having a new heart. that treasures Christ, that feasts on Christ. We thank you for the gift of new life. God, we also pray. We pray that you would help us to be a people that do not hoard the gift of God. you would make us a people who are generous with it. God, that we would not hold the blessing of God, but we would seek to give it away, knowing that giving away the blessing, more loaves does not diminish our enjoyment of it. It only means more joy in the kingdom economy of Christ. Living on mission and dying to ourselves means more life, more enjoyment of Christ. God, we pray that you would empower us, give us courage. You know our frame, you know we are afraid. You know we are prone to wander from you, prone to doubt you, prone to just go into the fetal position with all the opposition and darkness that's around us. Lord, you told your disciples though, take heart. Take heart. In this world you will have trouble, but I have overcome the world. God help us to be a church that believes in the overcoming grace and power of Jesus Christ. Fill us with your spirit, God, that we may be a force against the darkness, advancing in the name of Christ for the glory of Christ. Let no one be too far and too gone and to hear the message of Jesus. God send us out, send us to one another in this church, building one another up that none of us may be lost and send us to the world as we face Kerry and Fuqua and Apex and Durham and all these surrounding areas and as we think about the nations across the sea. Use us, Use us. Fill us, satisfy us, and send us for your glory and our joy now and forever. It's in your name that we pray.

John 6 · chapter mention