John 6:1-15
The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle of the Lord Jesus which is recorded in all 4 gospels.
This miracle occurred between 6 months and a year after the healing of the man at the pool.
This period, on which John is silent, is covered in Luke 6:1 to 9:10 and Mark 3:1 to 6:30. During the same period, the Lord Jesus taught 'The Sermon on the Mount' (Matthew 5 to 7).
The Lord Jesus had gone to the mountain to be alone with His disciples.
But the crowds followed Him, attracted by the miracles which He had performed.
They became hungry.
The Lord asked Philip where they could buy bread. This He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
Though Philip had already seen great miracles such as the turning of water into wine, he did not have miracles in his thinking. He could not see how such a huge crowd could be fed.
We may be critical of Philip for his lack of faith, but we too, sometimes fail when the Lord tests us.
We may find ourselves in very difficult situations when we should instinctively turn to the Lord in prayer, trusting to see Him work, but we do not. Oh, let us be more prayerful and more conscious of the Lord's presence with us! He will never let us down!
Andrew introduced to the Lord Jesus a lad who had 5 barley loaves and 2 fishes, and Jesus performed the miracle.
Every person in the crowd was fed with plenty to spare.
The crowd responded to this miracle by acknowledging that the Lord Jesus was 'the Prophet' (or the Messiah).
They wanted to make Him their king but He slipped away from them, to be alone on a mountain.
They did not realise that His kingdom is not political or earthly.
They wanted a miracle-worker to meet their needs, but they were not willing to follow Him, in obedience to His Word and in self-denial.
Does the Lord Jesus have the sincere love and devotion of our heart or are we lukewarm in our devotion to Him?
The feeding of the 5000 is the only miracle of the Lord Jesus which is recorded in all 4 gospels.
This miracle occurred between 6 months and a year after the healing of the man at the pool.
This period, on which John is silent, is covered in Luke 6:1 to 9:10 and Mark 3:1 to 6:30. During the same period, the Lord Jesus taught 'The Sermon on the Mount' (Matthew 5 to 7).
The Lord Jesus had gone to the mountain to be alone with His disciples.
But the crowds followed Him, attracted by the miracles which He had performed.
They became hungry.
The Lord asked Philip where they could buy bread. This He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
Though Philip had already seen great miracles such as the turning of water into wine, he did not have miracles in his thinking. He could not see how such a huge crowd could be fed.
We may be critical of Philip for his lack of faith, but we too, sometimes fail when the Lord tests us.
We may find ourselves in very difficult situations when we should instinctively turn to the Lord in prayer, trusting to see Him work, but we do not. Oh, let us be more prayerful and more conscious of the Lord's presence with us! He will never let us down!
Andrew introduced to the Lord Jesus a lad who had 5 barley loaves and 2 fishes, and Jesus performed the miracle.
Every person in the crowd was fed with plenty to spare.
The crowd responded to this miracle by acknowledging that the Lord Jesus was 'the Prophet' (or the Messiah).
They wanted to make Him their king but He slipped away from them, to be alone on a mountain.
They did not realise that His kingdom is not political or earthly.
They wanted a miracle-worker to meet their needs, but they were not willing to follow Him, in obedience to His Word and in self-denial.
Does the Lord Jesus have the sincere love and devotion of our heart or are we lukewarm in our devotion to Him?
