John 6 JOHN 6:1-14 The Feeding of the Five Thousand After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias). A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick.
So Jesus went on up the mountainside and sat down there with his disciples. (Now the Jewish feast of the Passover was near.) Then Jesus, when he looked up and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, "Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?" (Now Jesus said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do.) Philip replied, "Two hundred silver coins worth of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little." One of Jesus’ disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, "Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good are these for so many people?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.) So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.
Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were all satisfied, Jesus said to his disciples, "Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted." So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves left over by the people who had eaten.
So when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus performed, they began to say to one another, "This is certainly the Prophet who is to come into the world." These verses describe one of our Lord's most remarkable miracles. Of all the great works that He did, none was done so publicly as this, and before so many witnesses. Of all the miracles related in the Gospels, this is the only one which all the four Gospel-writers alike record. This fact alone (like the four times repeated account of the crucifixion and resurrection) is enough to show that it is a miracle demanding special attention.
We have, for one thing, in this miracle, a lesson about Christ's almighty power. We see our Lord feeding five thousand men with "five barley loaves and two small fish." We see clear proof that a miraculous event took place in the "twelve baskets of fragments" that remained after all had eaten. Creative power was manifestly exercised. Food was called into existence that did not exist before. In healing the sick, and raising the dead, something was amended or restored that had already existed.
In feeding five thousand men with five loaves, something must have been created which before had no existence. Such a history as this ought to be specially instructive and encouraging to all who endeavor to do good to souls. It shows us the Lord Jesus "able to save to the uttermost." He is One who has all power over dead hearts. Not only can He mend that which is broken--build up that which is ruined--heal that which is sick--strengthen that which is weak. He can do even greater things than these. He can call into being that which was not before, and call it out of nothing.
We must never despair of any one being saved. So long as there is life there is hope. Reason and sense may say that some poor sinner is too hardened, or too old to be converted. Faith will reply--"Our Master can create as well as renew . With a Savior who, by His Spirit, can create a new heart, nothing is impossible." We have, for another thing, in this miracle, a lesson about the office of ministers. We see the apostles receiving the bread from our Lord's hands, after He had blessed it, and distributing it to the multitude.
It was not their hands that made it increase and multiply, but their Master's. It was His almighty power that provided an unfailing supply. It was their work to receive humbly, and distribute faithfully. Now here is a lively emblem of the work which a true minister of the New Testament is meant to do. He is not a mediator between God and man. He has no power to put away sin, or impart grace. His whole business is to receive the bread of life which his Master provides, and to distribute it among the souls among whom he labors. He cannot make men value the bread, or receive it.
He cannot make it soul-saving, or life-giving, to any one. This is not his work. For this he is not responsible. His whole business is to be a faithful distributor of the food which his Divine Master has provided; and that done, his office is discharged. We have, lastly, in this miracle, a lesson about the sufficiency of the Gospel for the needs of all mankind. We see the Lord Jesus supplying the hunger of a huge multitude of five thousand men. The provision seemed, at first sight, utterly inadequate for the occasion.
To satisfy so many craving mouths with such scanty fare, in such a wilderness, seemed impossible. But the event showed that there was enough and to spare. There was not one who could complain that he was not filled. There can be no doubt that this was meant to teach the adequacy of Christ's Gospel to supply the necessities of the whole world. Weak, and feeble, and foolish as it may seem to man, the simple story of the Cross is enough for all the children of Adam in every part of the globe.
The tidings of Christ's death for sinners, and the atonement made by that death, is able to meet the hearts and satisfy the consciences of all nations, and peoples, and kindreds, and tongues. Carried by faithful messengers, it feeds and supplies all ranks and classes. "The preaching of the cross is to those who perish foolishness, but to us who are saved it is the power of God." (1 Cor. 1:18.) Five barley loaves and two small fishes seemed scanty provision for a hungry crowd. But blessed by Christ, and distributed by His disciples, they were more than sufficient.
Let us never doubt for a moment, that the preaching of Christ crucified--the old story of His blood, and righteousness, and substitution--is enough for all the spiritual necessities of all mankind. It is not worn out. It is not obsolete. It has not lost its power. We need nothing new--nothing more broad and kind--nothing more intellectual--nothing more effectual. We need nothing but the true bread of life, distributed faithfully among starving souls. Let men sneer or ridicule as they will. Nothing else can do good in this sinful world.
No other teaching can fill hungry consciences, and give them peace. We are all in a wilderness. We must feed on Christ crucified, and the atonement made by His death, or we shall die in our sins. Technical Notes: 1. After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias . 2. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5.
Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and seeing a great multitude coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6. And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9. There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? 10. And Jesus said, Make the men sit down.
Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks he distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fishes, as much as they wanted. 12. When they were filled, he said to his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14.
Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is truly that prophet who should come into the world. 1.--[ After these things. ] The remark made in chapter 5:1 applies here. The expression denotes an interval of time having elapsed between the end of the fifth chapter and the beginning of the sixth. John passes over all the events which happened at the conclusion of our Lord’s defense of Himself at Jerusalem. In fact, if the feast spoken of at the beginning of the fifth chapter was really the passover, almost an entire year of our Lord’s ministry is unnoticed by John.
The events in this chapter, we should remark, are the only events in our Lord’s ministry in Galilee described by St. John, excepting the miracle of turning the water into wine at Cana and the healing of the ruler’s son. (Chapters ii and iv.) [ Went over the sea...Tiberias. ] This sea so-called was a fresh-water lake in Galilee through which the Jordan runs. According to Thomson, one of the most recent and accurate travelers in the Holy Land, it is about fourteen miles long, and nine wide at the widest part.
It lies no less than six hundred feet below the level of the sea and is often agitated by sudden and violent storms. Tiberias was a town on the west side of the lake, built by Herod about the time of our Lord’s birth and comparatively a modern place in our Lord’s time. In the days of Josephus, forty years after our Lord’s crucifixion, Tiberias had become an important city. It was spared by the Romans, when Vespasian’s army destroyed almost every other city in Galilee, for its adherence to the Roman cause, and was made capital of the province.
John is the only Gospel-writer who calls the lake the “sea of Tiberias.” His doing so is an incidental confirmation of the opinion that he wrote much later than Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and after the taking of Jerusalem. He naturally used the name by which the lake was best known when he wrote, and most familiar to the Gentile readers whom he had especially in view. The reason of our Lord going over the sea would appear to be His desire to withdraw Himself from public notice (Mark vi.31.), and perhaps from the persecution of Herod’s party after the death of John the Baptist.
Comparing John’s account with that of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, it seems most likely that he “went over the sea” from the west coast and landed on the northeast side of the lake not far from Bethsaida. Luke tells us distinctly that the miracle which John here records was wrought in “a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.” (Luke ix.10.) Add to this the fact that no less than three of our Lord’s disciples were inhabitants of Bethsaida, viz., Philip, Andrew, and Peter, and our Lord’s retirement to this neighborhood seems natural and reasonable.
The notion held by many that there were two Bethsaidas, one in Galilee where Andrew, Peter, and Philip lived, and one in Gaulanitis where this miracle of feeding the multitude was wrought, seems both groundless and needless. Bethsaida was at the head of the lake, in Galilee, near the point where the river Jordan entered the lake, and the district belonging to it extended most probably beyond the river into Gaulanitis. Thomson shows this satisfactorily. 2.--[ A great multitude followed...diseased. ] There seems no reason to suppose that this multitude followed our Lord from any but low motives.
They “saw His miracles;” that was all. Some few, perhaps, were in doubt and suspense, wondering whether He who wrought such miracles could possibly be the Messiah. The great majority probably “followed” from that vague idle curiosity and love of excitement which are the principles that gather nearly every crowd in the world. St.
Mark says that “the people saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran afoot thither out of all cities and outwent them and came together unto Him.” (Mark vi.33.) This they might easily do by going round the head of the lake to the point where Bethsaida was. 3.--[ Jesus went up into a mountain. ] The Greek here would be more correctly rendered “into the mountain.” Whether there is any special reason for this we cannot tell. It may be the one mountain which stood there in contradistinction to the more level ground composing the district.
Thomson, the American traveler, expressly says that there is a “bold headland” here with “a smooth grassy spot” at the base, “capable of seating many thousand people.” It may possibly be “that particular hill” to which our Lord was in the habit of going when He visited the district near Bethsaida. It may be “the hill country” generally, or mountainous district near Bethsaida. [ His disciples. ] This expression includes not only the twelve who had been chosen and set apart by our Lord by this time, but many others who professed themselves His disciples.
Many of them, it would appear from this very chapter (verse 66), were not really believers, and in course of time fell away. If Christ Himself had many such disciples and followers, ministers now-a-days (even the very best) must not be surprised to find the same state of things among their people. 4.--[ The passover...was near. ] John’s habit of explaining Jewish customs for the benefit of Gentile readers should here be noticed. The approach of the passover feast is no doubt specially mentioned in order to show the suitableness of our Lord’s discourse in this chapter to the season of the year.
The minds of His hearers would doubtless be thinking of the passover lamb and its flesh about to be eaten and blood about to be sprinkled. Our Lord takes occasion to speak of that “flesh and blood” which must be eaten and drunk by all who would not perish in sin. It is an instance of that divine wisdom with which our master spoke “words in season” and turned everything to account. Let it be noted that our Lord did not keep this passover in Jerusalem to all appearance but remained in Galilee.
Yet He generally observed all the ordinances of the law of Moses most strictly and “fulfilled all righteousness.” The reason evidently is, as Rollock remarks, that the enmity and persecution of the leading Jews at Jerusalem made it impossible for Him to go there. It would have cut short His ministry and brought on His death before the time. May we not also learn here that the use of outward ordinances and ceremonies is not so absolutely necessary that they can never be dispensed with? Grace, repentance, and faith are absolutely needful to salvation; sacraments and ordinances are not.
The near approach of the passover may possibly account in part for the crowds who were assembled on this occasion. Not a few of the people, perhaps, were on their way to Jerusalem to keep the passover feast and were drawn out of their road by hearing of our Lord’s miracles. 5.--[ Then Jesus...eyes...multitude. ] We must not conclude from these expressions that our Lord was suddenly surprised by the appearance of a great crowd.
On the contrary, Matthew and Mark both tell us that before He wrought the miracle of which we are about to read, He had felt compassion for the multitude because they were “as sheep not having a shepherd,” and had “taught them many things.” (Mark. vi.34.) When this teaching was over, He seems to have taken a survey of the crowd before Him, and seeing how large it was proceeded to show His tender concern for the needs of men’s bodies as well as of their souls. A great crowd is always an impressive and solemn sight.
It is an interesting thought that the same eyes which looked compassionately on this crowed are still looking at every crowd, and especially at every crowd of persons assembled in God’s name. [ He said to Philip...eat? ] Our Lord’s reason for asking this question is given in the next verse.
But it is worth notice that there was a certain propriety in asking Philip this question because Philip “was of Bethsaida,” the very town near which they were all assembled. (John 1.44.) Our Lord, therefore, might reasonably appeal to Philip as one most likely and able to answer His question, whether it were possible to buy bread for such a multitude. He would, of course, know the capabilities of the neighborhood.
The idea, maintained by Chrysostom, Burgon, and others, that Philip was a disciple peculiarly slow to recognize Christ’s godhead and therefore requiring special appeals, seems to be a far less satisfactory solution. 6.--[ This He said to prove him. ] We find the same kind of procedure on other occasions. When our Lord appeared to the two disciples at Emmaus, we read that after His discourse with them, “He made as though He would have gone further.” (Luke xxiv.28.) This was “to prove” whether they really wished for more of His company.
When on another occasion He came to the disciples walking on the sea, St. Mark says, “He would have passed by them.” (Mark vi.48.) When in this very chapter He would draw forth an expression of faith from His disciples, He says, “Will ye also go away?” (John vi.67.) Our Lord knows the sluggishness and coldness of our hearts, and He sees it good to stir our spiritual senses and draw forth our spiritual desire by such a mode of dealing with us. Explanatory observations like this, made by the Gospel writer himself, are more frequent in St.
John’s Gospel than in any of the other three. [ He himself knew...do. ] This would be rendered more literally “what he was about to do.” Our Lord’s foreknowledge of the miracle He was about to do should be noted. The words He used in the last chapter should be remembered. They were not works which were done by chance and accidentally, in consequence of unforeseen circumstances, but foreseen and predetermined.
They were “the works which the Father had given Him to finish.” (John v.36.) 7.--[Philip answered...not sufficient, etc. ] What quantity of bread this sum would have procured we have no accurate means of knowing. But we may remember that the Roman “denarius,” or penny, represented a very much larger sum than a penny does among ourselves. We must remember also that bread was much cheaper then than it is now. The quantity Philip named was probably much larger than we suppose.
Burgon thinks that the sum named by Philip was the whole “store of money contained in their common purse,” viz., about six or seven pounds. But this cannot be proved. 8.--[ One of His disciples, Andrew, etc. ] Let it be noted here that Andrew, as well as Philip, was a native of the district of Bethsaida where all these things happened. There is a propriety, therefore, in his speaking and giving information on the present occasion. 9.--[ There is a lad...fishes. ] We should note in this verse how small were the provisions which our Lord miraculously multiplied.
The fact that one “little boy” (for this is the meaning of the word we render “lad”) could carry all the supply that Andrew mentions is a plain proof that the “loaves” could not have been large nor the “fish” of great size. The “fishes” were probably small dried fish such as are not uncommonly used as food now in hot countries, and, near the sea of Galilee would be, of course, common.
Barley was regarded, according to the Talmud, as a coarse food only fit for horses and asses. [ What are they among so many? ] This expression of Andrew’s is purposely reported, no doubt, in order to show how strong was the conviction of our Lord’s disciples that they had not sufficient provision to feed the multitude, and then to bring out into clear light the greatness of the miracle which our Lord wrought. It also helps to prove that the wonderful feeding of the multitude was not a preconcerted and prepared thing arranged by our Lord and His disciples.
Even His own immediate followers were taken by surprise. 10.--[ Jesus said, Make the men sit down. ] This arrangement prevented confusion and preserved order—points of vast importance when any large assembly of people is gathered together. Moreover, it made less easy to practice any imposition or deceit in the feeding of the multitude. When every man was sitting steadily in his appointed place, no one could be passed over in the distribution of food without it being observed. St.
Mark tell us that they “sat down in ranks, by hundreds and by fifties.” (Mark vi.40.) [ There was much grass in the place. ] The time of the year when these things happened would be the very time when there was the most “grass.” It was in the springtime, just before the passover, when the winter was gone and the parching heat of summer had not begun. Thomson, the American traveler, reports that at this very day there is an open space of green grass at the foot of a hill at the very place where, in all probability, this miracle took place.
Let us note our Lord’s consideration for the bodily comfort of His followers. He chooses a place where there was “much grass” to sit down on. [ So the men sat down...five thousand. ] The word “men” here is probably emphatic, in contradistinction to the “women and children,” whom Matthew expressly mentions as having been present beside the five thousand men.
In the Greek the word is not the same as that rendered “men” in the first clause of this verse. 11.--[Jesus took the loaves...given thanks. ] The expression here seems rather to imply a solemn action of prayer and blessing, as well as of giving thanks, as the first preliminary to the mighty miracle about to follow. In fact, St. Luke says, “He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven He blessed them, and brake, and gave,” etc. (Luke ix.16.) This also seems implied in St.
John’s subsequent reference to this miracle where He speaks of “the place where they did eat bread after that the Lord had given thanks.” (John vi.23.) The Greek word here used is precisely the same that is used in the account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper given by St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. Paul. St. Matthew and St. Mark say that our Lord “gave thanks” when He took “the cup.” St. Luke and St. Paul say that He also did it when He took “the bread.” So here we can hardly doubt that blessing and giving thanks went together.
The Greek word is the one which we have borrowed and transferred to our own language in the expression “Eucharist.” [ He distributed to the disciples, etc. ] I think there can be no doubt that this was the point at which the mighty miracle here wrought by our Lord came in. As fast as He broke the loaves and the disciples carried them away to distribute them, so fast did the loaves multiply under His hands. It was in the act of breaking and distributing to the disciples that the miraculous multiplication took place. In fact, there was a continual act of creation going on.
Bread was continually called into existence which did not exist before. The greatness of this miracle is perhaps not sufficiently realized. One loaf and less than half a fish to every thousand men! It is evident there could not have been more than a small morsel for each one without a miraculous increase of the food. Bishop Hall remarks: “He could as well have multiplied the loaves whole. Why would He rather do it in the breaking? Was it not to teach us that in the distribution of our goods we should expect His blessing, not in their entireness and reservation?
There is [he] who scatters and yet increases.” 12.--[ When they were filled. ] That expression deserves notice. It is one of the strongest proofs of the reality of the miracle we are reading. It would be impossible to convince five thousand hungry men in a wilderness that they were really filled if they were not. A few enthusiasts and fanatics might possibly have been found who might have fancied they had eaten when they had not.
But it is absurd to suppose that so strong a bodily sensation as hunger could possibly be relieved in five thousand men if there had not been a real supply of food and real eating of it. [ He said...Gather up, etc. ] In this little circumstance, again, we have a proof that real food was supplied and in sufficient quantity for all. There was not merely a morsel for each man but an abundant supply, enough and to spare. Our Lord’s care for little things and dislike of waste and extravagance appear strong in this sentence.
It would be well if the principle contained in the words was more remembered by Christians: “Let nothing be lost.” It is a deep principle of very wide application. Time, money, and opportunities of showing kindness and doing good are specially to be remembered in applying this principle. It admits of question whether the “disciples” who distributed the bread on this occasion, and afterwards gathered the fragments, did not include other helpers beside the twelve apostles.
The time necessary for the distribution of bread among five thousand people, if only twelve pairs of hands were employed, would prove on calculation to be very great. 13.--[Therefore...filled twelve baskets, etc. ] This simple fact is enough to prove that a mighty miracle had been wrought. Our common sense can tell us that five loaves and two fishes alone could not have filled a single basket. Now, if the fragments left after the meal were enough to fill “twelve baskets,” there must evidently have been a miraculous multiplication of the food at some stage of the proceedings.
The fragments alone were probably fifty times more bulky than the original supply of food with which the meal began. The identity between the number of the baskets filled and the number of the apostles will, of course, strike any reader. One might think that each apostle had a basket. St. Mark mentions that there were fragments of “fishes” put into the baskets as well as loaves, so that the fishes also were miraculously multiplied as well as the bread. Some early writers, not without justice, call this the greatest miracle that our Lord ever wrought.
Perhaps we are poor judges of such points and little able to make comparisons. But it is certain that on no other occasion did our Lord manifest so clearly His creative power. No doubt it was as easy for Him to cause bread to be as to say “Let there be light,” or to make the earth bring forth herbs and corn at the creation of the world. But the miracle was clearly intended to be one which Christians should hold in special remembrance. It is, at any rate, noteworthy that this is the only passage in Christ’s life which all the four Gospel writers alike record.
In this respect the miracle stands alone. The attempts of Neologians to explain away this miracle are simply contemptible and ridiculous. It requires more faith to believe their explanations than to believe the miracle and take it as we find it.
None but a person determined to disbelieve all miracles and cast them out of the sacred narrative would every try to make out (as some actually have tried) that the four times-repeated story of the miraculous feeding, which we have considered, only meant that the multitude brought out the hidden stores of provisions which they had carried with them and shared them with one another! 14.--[ Then those men. ] This probably means the whole crowd and multitude who had been fed on this occasion. [ When they had seen the miracle. ] Signs and wonders were expected to accompany the appearance of any prophet or messenger from God.
Here was a mighty miracle, and at once the minds of all who saw it were excited. [ This is truly that prophet, etc. ] This meant, that “prophet like unto Moses,” whom all well-instructed Jews expected to appear, and for whose speedy appearing the ministry of John the Baptist had prepared the minds of all the dwellers in Palestine. “Truly”, i.e ., really and indeed.“That prophet” would be more literally “the prophet.” JOHN 6:15-21 Walking on Water Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone.
Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, got into a boat, and started to cross the lake to Capernaum. (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.) By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea was getting rough. Then when they had rowed about three or four miles, they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake, approaching the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, "It is I. Do not be afraid." Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land where they had been heading.
We should notice, in these verses, our Lord Jesus Christ's humility. We are told that, after feeding the multitude, He "perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king." At once He departed, and left them. He wanted no such honors as these. He had come, "not to be ministered unto, but, to minister and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matt. 20:28.) We see the same spirit and frame of mind all through our Lord's earthly ministry.
From His cradle to His grave He was "clothed with humility." (1 Pet. 5:5.) He was born of a poor woman, and spent the first thirty years of His life in a carpenter's house at Nazareth. He was followed by poor companions--many of them no better than fishermen. He was poor in his manner of living--"The foxes had holes, and the birds of the air their nests--but the Son of man had not where to lay his head" (Matt. 8:20.) When He went on the Sea of Galilee, it was in a borrowed boat. When He rode into Jerusalem, it was on a borrowed donkey. When He was buried, it was in a borrowed tomb.
"Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor." (2 Cor. 8:9.) The example is one which ought to be far more remembered than it is. How common are pride, and ambition, and high-mindedness! How rare are humility and lowly-mindedness! How few ever refuse greatness when offered to them!
How many are continually seeking great things for themselves, and forgetting the injunction--"Seek them not!" (Jer. 45:5.) Surely it was not for nothing that our Lord, after washing the disciples' feet, said--"I have given you an example that you should do as I have done." (John 13:15.) There is little, it may be feared, of that feet-washing spirit among Christians. But whether men will hear or forbear, humility is the queen of the graces.
"Tell me," it has been said, "how much humility a man has, and I will tell you how much religion he has." Humility is the first step toward heaven, and the true way to honor. "He that humbles himself shall be exalted." (Luke 18:14.) We should notice, secondly, in these verses, the trials through which Christ's disciples had to pass. We are told that they were sent over the lake by themselves, while their Master tarried behind. And then we see them alone in a dark night, tossed about by a great wind on stormy waters, and, worst of all, Christ not with them. It was a strange transition.
From witnessing a mighty miracle, and helping it instrumentally, amid an admiring crowd, to solitude, darkness, winds, waves, storm, anxiety, and danger, the change was very great! But Christ knew it, and Christ appointed it, and it was working for their good. Trial, we must distinctly understand, is part of the diet which all true Christians must expect. It is one of the means by which their grace is proved, and by which they find out what there is in themselves.
Winter as well as summer--cold as well as heat--clouds as well as sunshine--are all necessary to bring the fruit of the Spirit to ripeness and maturity. We do not naturally like this. We would rather cross the lake with calm weather and favorable winds, with Christ always by our side, and the sun shining down on our faces. But it may not be. It is not in this way that God's children are made "partakers of His holiness." (Heb. 12:10.) Abraham, and Jacob, and Moses, and David, and Job were all men of many trials. Let us be content to walk in their footsteps, and to drink of their cup.
In our darkest hours we may seem to be left--but we are never really alone. Let us notice, in the last place, our Lord Jesus Christ's power over the waves of the sea. He came to His disciples as they were rowing on the stormy lake, "walking on" the waters. He walked on them as easily as we walk on dry land. They bore Him as firmly as the pavement of the Temple, or the hills around Nazareth. That which is contrary to all natural reason was perfectly possible to Christ. The Lord Jesus, we must remember, is not only the Lord, but the Maker of all creation.
"All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made." (John 1:3.) It was just as easy for Him to walk on the sea as to form the sea at the beginning--just as easy to suspend the common laws of nature, as they are called, as to impose those laws at the first. Learned men talk solemn nonsense sometimes about the eternal fixity of the "laws of nature," as if they were above God Himself, and could never be suspended. It is well to be reminded sometimes by such miracles as that before us, that these so-called "laws of nature" are neither immutable nor eternal.
They had a beginning, and will one day have an end. Let all true Christians take comfort in the thought that their Savior is Lord of waves and winds, of storms and tempests, and can come to them in the darkest hour, "walking upon the sea." There are waves of trouble far heavier than any on the Lake of Galilee. There are days of darkness which test the faith of the holiest Christian. But let us never despair if Christ is our Friend. He can come to our aid in an hour when we do not think, and in ways that we did not expect. And when He comes, all will be calm. Technical Notes : 15.
When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again to a mountain himself alone. 16. Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17. entered into a boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum . And it was now dark, and Jesus had not come to them. 18. And the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. 19. So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. 20. But he said to them, It is I; do not be afraid. 21.
Then they willingly received him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. 15.--[ When Jesus therefore perceived. ] This would be more literally rendered, “Jesus knowing,” or “having known.” It seems to imply Divine knowledge of the multitude’s secret intentions.
Jesus knew men’s hearts and thoughts. [ That they would come. ] This would be more literally, “that they are about to come.” [ Take him by force...king. ] The intention or wish was probably to place Him at their head and proclaim Him their king, with or without His consent, and then to hurry Him away to Jerusalem so as to arrive there at the passover feast and announce Him as a Deliverer to the crowd assembled at that time.
The idea evidently in their mind was, that one who could work such a mighty miracle must be a mighty temporal Redeemer, raised up, like the Judges of old, to break the bonds of the Romish government and restore the old independence and kingdom to Israel. There is no reason to suppose that there was any more spiritual feeling in the minds of the multitude. Of sense of spiritual need and of faith in our Lord as a Savior from sin, there is no trace. Popularity and the good opinion of excited crowds are both worthless and temporary things.
Rollock remarks that the Jews were very sensitive about the tyranny and dominion of the Romans, while they did not feel the far greater tyranny and dominion of sin. He points out that we who are expecting the second advent of Christ in the present day should take care that we increasingly feel the burden and yoke of sin from which Christ’s second advent will deliver the creation. Otherwise, Christ’s second advent will do us no more good than His first advent did to the Jews. [ He departed...a mountain...alone. ] This would be more literally rendered “the mountain” as at verse 3. St.
Matthew and St. Mark both mention another reason why our Lord withdrew to the mountain, beside His desire to avoid the intention of the multitude. They tell us that He “sent the multitude away and departed to pray.” (Matt. xiv.23; Mark vi.46.) Some think that a miracle must have been wrought when our Lord withdrew himself from the multitude, and that He must have passed through them invisibly, as after the miracle at Bethesda and at Nazareth. Yet it seems hardly necessary to suppose this. It is worth noticing that after St.
Luke’s account of this miracle, he immediately relates that our Lord asked the disciples, “Whom say the people that I am?” (Luke ix.18.) It does not, however, follow that He asked immediately, but after an interval of some days. But the wish of the multitude here related may have occasioned the question. 16.--[ When evening...to the sea. ] St. Matthew and St. Mark both say that our Lord “constrained” them to embark in the boat and depart. He “obliged” or “compelled” them.
He probably saw that in their ignorance of the spiritual nature of His kingdom, they were ready to fall in with the wishes of the multitude and to proclaim Him a king. 17.--[ Entered into a boat. ] This would be more literally “the boat.” It seems to mean that particular vessel or fishing boat which our Lord and His disciples always used on the lake of Galilee, and which probably was lent for His use by the relatives of those of His disciples who were fishermen, if not by the four themselves, viz., James, John, Andrew, and Peter.
There is no necessity for supposing that when they left their calling to become disciples they gave up their boats so entirely as to have no more use of them when they wished. The last chapter of this very Gospel seems to prove the contrary. When Peter said, “I go afishing,” there was the boat ready for them at once. (John xxi.3.) [ Went over the sea toward Capernaum . ] This would be more literally “were going,” “were in the act of going.” Capernaum lay on the northwest shore of the lake of Galilee, and the point where the disciples embarked was on the northeast shore.
To reach Capernaum, they would pass the point where the Jordan ran into the lake and leave that point and the town of Bethsaida on their right hand. The place where the miracle was wrought was not at Bethsaida itself, we must remember, but in the desert country and district lying to the east of Bethsaida. St. Luke specially mentions this (Luke ix.10), and unless we keep it in mind, we shall not understand St.
Mark’s words that our Lord made His disciples “go to the other side before unto Bethsaida.” To go to Capernaum, they must need go “in the direction of” Bethsaida, though they would leave it on the right as they passed. Thomson, in the “Land and the Book,” maintains this view, and Rollock, 250 years ago, held the same opinion. I repeat the opinion that I see no necessity for the theory of Alford and other commentators that there were two Bethsaidas. Capernaum was the city where our Lord passed more time, and probably worked more miracles, than He did in any other place during His ministry.
This is probably the reason why our Lord speaks of it as “exalted unto heaven.” (Matt. xi.23.) No city had such privileges and saw so much of the Son of God while He was manifest in the flesh. [ It was now dark...not come. ] The Greek word for “dark” is always rendered “darkness” in other places, except John xx.1. The simple circumstance of the disciples being alone in the boat, on the sea, and in darkness, has been felt in every age to be an instructive emblem of the position of the Church of Christ between the first and second advents.
Like them, the Church is on a sea of trouble and separate from its Head. In estimating, however, the position and feelings of the disciples, we must not forget that four of them at least were fishermen and familiar from their youth with the management of boats and all the dangers of the lake. We must not therefore think of them as inexperienced landsmen or as little children unable to take care of themselves.
We learn to know the value of Christ’s company when we have it by the discomfort we experience when we have it not. 18.--[ And the sea arose...blowing. ] The Greek word rendered “arose” would be more literally rendered “was being raised or stirred.” At first sight, it may seem surprising that the waters of an inland lake, like the sea of Galilee, could be so much agitated. But it is remarkable that the testimony of travelers in modern times is distinct that this lake is peculiarly liable to be visited by violent squalls of wind and to become very rough while they last.
Thomson, the American traveler, says: “My experience in this region enabled me to sympathize with the disciples in their long night’s contest with the wind. I have seen the face of the lake like a huge boiling cauldron. The wind howled down the valleys from the northeast and east with such fury that no efforts of rowers could have brought a boat to shore at any point along that coast.
To understand the cause of these sudden and violent tempests, we must remember that the lake lies low (six hundred feet lower than the ocean), that watercourses have cut out profound ravines and wild gorges converging to the head of the lake, and that these act like gigantic funnels to draw down the cold winds from the mountains. On the occasion referred to, we pitched our tents on the shore and remained for three days and nights exposed to this tremendous wind.
We had to double-pin all the tent ropes and frequently were obliged to hang with our whole weight upon them to keep the quivering tabernacle from being carried up bodily into the air. No wonder the disciples toiled and rowed hard all that night.” In another place he says, “Small as the lake is and placed in general as a molten mirror, I have repeatedly seen it quiver and leap and boil like a cauldron, when driven by fierce winds.”— Land and the Book.
Burkitt remarks that the position of the disciples—immediately tempesttossed after witnessing and partaking in a mighty miracle—is an instructive type of the common experience of believers. After seasons of peculiar privileges, there often come sharp trials of faith and patience. This sudden trial of faith by danger was no doubt intended to be a lesson to the disciples as to what they must expect in the exercise of their ministry.
Affliction and crosses are the grindstones on which God is constantly sharpening those instruments which He uses most. 19.--[ So when...rowed...furlongs. ] We might gather from the disciples “rowing” and not sailing, that the wind was against them, and we are expressly told, both by St. Matthew and St. Mark, that “the wind was contrary.” From the distance they had rowed and the known width of the lake at that particular part of it, they were probably now about the middle of their passage. St.
Matthew says they were “in the midst of the sea.” (Matt. xiv.24.) This would make them at least two or three miles from shore, a fact which should be carefully noted with reference to what follows. Let the expression “twenty-five or thirty” be noted. It is not necessary to define to a hair’s breadth distances and quantities in narrating an event. Even an inspired writer does not. He uses the common language of men and such language as those present on the occasion would have used. In a dark night, they could not possibly have spoken with precise accuracy.
John was there himself and knew that excessive accuracy is sometimes suspicious and looks like a made-up story. (John ii.6 is a similar expression.) Bengel says, “The Holy Spirit knew and could have told John precisely how many furlongs there were. But in Scripture, he imitates popular modes of expression.” [ They saw Jesus walking, etc. ] This was undoubtedly as great a miracle as any that our Lord wrought. “Moses,” says Theophylact, “as a servant, by the power of God divided the sea.
But Christ, the Lord of all, by His own power walked on the sea.” For a solid body to walk on the face of the water as on dry land is an entire suspension of what are called the laws of nature. It was, of course, as easy for Him by whom the waters were first created to walk upon them as to create them.
But the whole proceeding was so entirely supernatural that we can thoroughly understand the disciples being “afraid.” Nothing is found to alarm human nature so much as being suddenly brought into contact with anything apparently supernatural and belonging to another world, and especially in the night. The feelings called forth on such occasions, even in ungodly and irreligious men, are one of the strongest indirect proofs that all men’s consciences recognize an unseen world.
That a mighty miracle really was wrought upon this occasion is the only reasonable account that can be given of the fact that we are told. St. Mark adds to St. John’s account, that when Jesus came near the ship “He would have passed by them.” (Mark vi.48.) St. Matthew adds another fact of even greater importance. He tells us that Peter said, “Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water. And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.” (Matt. xiv.28,29.) Such a fact as this cannot possibly be explained away.
Not only did our Lord walk on the water Himself, but He also gave one of His twelve apostles power to do the same. To say in the face of such facts as these that there was in reality no miracle—that the disciples were mistaken, that our Lord was only walking on the shore near the vessel, that the superstitious fear of the disciples made them fancy that He was walking on the sea, that they finally put to shore and took Him on board—to say such things as these pleases some persons who profess not to believe any miracles at all!
But such views cannot possibly be reconciled with the account of what really happened, given by two witnesses, Matthew and John, who were actually present on the occasion, and by another writer, viz., Mark, who was intimate with that very Peter who walked on the water himself. If the disciples were “in the midst of the sea” and two or three miles from shore, how could they possibly have seen our Lord walking on the shore? If it was “dark” when these things happened, it stands to reason that they could not distinguish anyone on shore, even supposing that they were not two miles off.
If there was a heavy gale blowing and the waves were rough, it is absurd to suppose that they could hold a conversation with anyone walking on shore. The plain truth is that it requires far more faith to accept such improbable and preposterous explanations as these than to take the whole account simply as we find it and to believe that a real mighty miracle was wrought.
Unless men are prepared to say that Matthew, Mark, and John wrote accounts of the events of this night which are incorrect and not trustworthy, it is impossible for any honest and unprejudiced person to avoid the conclusion that a miracle took place. Of course, if Matthew, Mark, and John give incorrect accounts and are not to be trusted here, they are not to be trusted anywhere, and all their records of our Lord’s doings and sayings become utterly worthless. This, unhappily, is the very result to which many would be glad to lead us.
From denying all miracles to downright infidelity is nothing but a regular succession of steps. If a man begins with throwing overboard the miracles, he cannot stop logically till he has given up the Bible and Christianity. 20.--[ But He said...not be afraid. ] Our Lord’s tenderness for His disciples’ feelings appears beautifully here. No sooner does He see fear than He proceeds to calm it. He assures them that the figure they see walking on the deep is no spirit or ghost, no enemy or object of dread. It is their own beloved Master.
His voice, well-known as it must have been, would, of course, help to calm their fears. Yet even that was not enough till Peter had said, “If it be Thou, bid me come to Thee.” The practical remark has often been made that many of the things which now frighten Christians and fill them with anxiety would cease to frighten them if they would endeavor to see the Lord Jesus in all, ordering every providence and overruling everything so that not a hair falls to the ground without Him.
They are happy who can hear His voice through the thickest clouds and darkness, and above the loudest winds and storms, saying, “It is I; do not be afraid.” It has been thought by some that the words, “It is I,” might be more literally rendered, “I am,” and that they are intended to refer to the name of God so familiar to Jews, “I am.” But I doubt the correctness of the idea. It is a pious thought but hardly in keeping with the context and the circumstances of the occurrence.
Our Lord desired first to relieve the fears of His disciples by showing them who it was that they feared, and the Greek words for “It is I” are the only words that He could well have used. It may be noted here that there seems to be no feeling or passion to which Christians are so liable as “fear.” There is none, certainly, against which our Lord so often exhorts His disciples.
“Fear not,” “be not afraid,” “let not your heart be troubled,” are very common sayings of His. 21.--[ Then they willingly received...boat. ] This would be rendered more literally, “Then they were willing,” “they were glad and wished.” It evidently implies that at first the disciples were afraid of our Lord.
But as soon as they recognized Him, their fears departed, and so far from wishing to be rid of the figure they had seen walking on the sea, their great desire now was to receive Him on board. [Immediately...at the land...were going. ] This sentence either means that shortly after our Lord joined the disciples in the boat they reached their destination, or that immediately—by miraculous agency—they arrived at the shore. There is, perhaps, no occasion to suppose any other miracle. Both Matthew and Mark distinctly say that “the wind ceased” as soon as our Lord entered the boat.
The storm, according to the custom of storms on the lake, suddenly ceased, and the disciples consequently had no trouble in rowing to the shore. The wind was no longer against them, and the sea, in so small a compass as the lake of Galilee, would naturally soon go down. The old practical lesson still remains to be remembered. Christ’s Church is now a tossed ship in the midst of a stormy sea. The great Master has gone up into heaven to intercede for His people, left alone for awhile, and to return.
When Jesus returns again to His tossed and afflicted Church at the second advent, their troubles will soon be over. They will soon be in harbor. His voice, which will fill the wicked with terror, will fill His people with joy. The place where they landed was evidently Capernaum, or close to it. The discourse which follows was at any rate finished (wherever it may have begun) in “the synagogue at Capernaum,” and follows in unbroken succession after the events we have now been considering. The statement of St. Matthew and St.
Mark, that our Lord and His disciples reached the shore in “the land of Genesaret,” is quite reconcilable with St. John’s account. The “land of Genesaret” was a plain on the northwest coast of the Lake of Galilee extending from Magdala at the south to Capernaum at the north. In leaving this passage, I call the reader’s attention to the very marked and peculiar position which the two miracles recorded by St. John in this chapter occupy.
They immediately precede that wonderful discourse in the synagogue of Capernaum in which our Lord proclaims Himself to be “the living bread which came down from heaven and gives life to the world,” and declares that, except we eat His flesh and drink His blood we have no life in us. I believe that the two miracles were intended to prepare the minds of the disciples to receive the mighty truths which the discourse contained. Did they stumble at the announcement that He was the “bread of God” and “gave life to the world”?
It would surely help their weak faith to remember that the very day before they had seen Him suddenly supply the needs of a mighty multitude with five loaves and two fishes. Did they stumble at the doctrine that “His flesh was meat indeed and his blood drink indeed”? It would surely assist their feeble spiritual apprehension to remember that the very night before they had seen that body walking on the face of the sea.
They had had ocular proof that there was a deep mystery about our Lord’s human nature, and that although He was real and true man, there was at the same time something about Him far above man. These things I believe are worth noticing. The connection between our Lord’s miracles and His teaching is often far closer than at first sight appears.
JOHN 6:22-27 Jesus’ Discourse About the Bread of Life The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake realized that only one small boat had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. But some boats from Tiberias came to shore near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" Jesus replied, "I tell you the solemn truth, you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted. Do not work for the food that disappears, but for the food that remains to eternal life--the food that the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him." We should mark first, in this passage, what knowledge of man's heart our Lord Jesus Christ possesses.
We see Him exposing the false motives of those who followed Him for the sake of the loaves and fishes. They had followed Him across the Lake of Galilee. They seemed at first sight ready to believe in Him, and do Him honor. But He knew the inward springs of their conduct, and was not deceived. "You seek me," He said, "not because you saw the miracles, but because you ate the loaves, and were filled." The Lord Jesus, we should never forget, is still the same. He never changes. He reads the secret motives of all who profess and call themselves Christians.
He knows exactly why they do all they do in their religion. The reasons why they go to Church, and why they receive the sacrament--why they attend family prayers, and why they keep Sunday holy--all are naked and opened to the eyes of the great Head of the Church. By Him actions are weighed as well as seen. "Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7.) Let us be real, true, and sincere in our religion , whatever else we are. The sinfulness of hypocrisy is very great, but its folly is greater still.
It is not hard to deceive ministers, relatives, and friends. A little decent outward profession will often go a long way. But it is impossible to deceive Christ. "His eyes are as a flame of fire." (Rev. 1:14.) He sees us through and through. Happy are those who can say--"You, Lord, who know all things, know that we love you." (John 21:17.) We should mark, secondly, in this passage, what Christ forbids. He told the crowds who followed Him so diligently for the loaves and fishes, "not to labor for the food that perishes." It was a remarkable saying, and demands explanation.
Our Lord, we may be sure, did not mean to encourage idleness. It would be a great mistake to suppose this hard labor was the appointed lot of Adam in Paradise. Labor was ordained to be man's occupation after the fall. Labor is honorable in all men. No one need be ashamed of belonging to "the working classes." Our Lord himself worked in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth. Paul wrought as a tent-maker with his own hands. What our Lord did mean to rebuke was, that excessive attention to labor for the body, while the soul is neglected, which prevails everywhere in the world.
What He reproved was, the common habit of laboring only for the things of time, and letting alone the things of eternity--of minding only the life that now is, and disregarding the life to come. Against this habit He delivers a solemn warning. Surely, we must all feel our Lord did not say the words before us without good cause. They are a startling caution which should ring in the ears of many in these latter days. How many in every rank of life are doing the very thing against which Jesus warns us!
They are laboring night and day for "the food that perishes," and doing nothing for their immortal souls. Happy are those who early learn the respective value of soul and body, and give the first and best place in their thoughts to salvation. One thing is needful. He that seeks first the kingdom of God, will never fail to find "all other things added to him." (Matt. 6:33.) We should mark, thirdly, in this passage, what Christ advises. He tells us to "labor for the food that endures to everlasting life." He would have us take pains to find food and satisfaction for our souls.
That food is provided in rich abundance in Him. But he that would have it must diligently seek it. How are we to labor? There is but one answer. We must labor in the use of all appointed means. We must read our Bibles, like men digging for hidden treasure. We must wrestle earnestly in prayer, like men contending with a deadly enemy for life. We must take our whole heart to the house of God, and worship and hear like those who listen to the reading of a benefactor's will. We must fight daily against sin, the world, and the devil, like those who fight for liberty, and must conquer, or be slaves.
These are the ways we must walk in if we would find Christ, and be found of Him. This is "laboring." This is the secret of getting on about our souls. Labor like this no doubt is very uncommon. In carrying it on we shall have little encouragement from man, and shall often be told that we are "extreme," and go too far. Strange and absurd as it is, the natural man is always fancying that we may take too much thought about religion, and refusing to see that we are far more likely to take too much thought about the world.
But whatever man may say, the soul will never get spiritual food without labor. We must "strive," we must "run," we must "fight," we must throw our whole heart into our soul's affairs. It is "the violent" who take the kingdom. (Matt. 11:12.) We should mark, lastly, in this passage, what a promise Christ holds out. He tells us that He himself will give eternal food to all who seek it--"The Son of man shall give you the food that endures unto everlasting life." How gracious and encouraging these words are!
Whatever we need for the relief of our hungering souls, Christ is ready and willing to bestow. Whatever mercy, grace, peace, strength we require, the Son of man will give freely, immediately, abundantly, and eternally. He is "sealed," and appointed, and commissioned by God the Father for this very purpose. Like Joseph in the Egyptian famine, it is His office to be the Friend, and Benefactor, and Reliever of a sinful world. He is far more willing to give than man is to receive. The more sinners apply to Him, the better He is pleased.
And now, as we leave this rich passage, let us ask ourselves, what use we make of it? For what are we laboring ourselves? What do we know of lasting food and satisfaction for our inward man? Never let us rest until we have eaten of the food which Christ alone can give. Those who are content with any other spiritual food will sooner or later "lie down in sorrow." (Isa. 50:11.) Technical Notes: 22.
The following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which his disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but his disciples had gone away alone— 23. however other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks-- 24. when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum , seeking Jesus. 25.
And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? 26. Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say to you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye ate of the loaves and were filled. 27. Do not labor for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him. 22.--[ The following day, etc. ] In this and the three following verses, we have an instance of the extreme minuteness with which St.
John describes all the particulars connected with any of the miracles of our Lord which he records. Here, for example, he tell us that our Lord’s remaining behind and not accompanying His disciples when they went into the boat, was observed by the multitude; and that, nevertheless, they could not find our Lord the next morning and were puzzled to account for His being found at Capernaum when they got there. All these little things help to prove that the circumstance of our Lord’s joining the disciples was something miraculous and cannot be explained away, as some Rationalists pretend to say.
In particular, the question “When did you come here?” (ver. 25) is plain evidence that the multitude did not think it possible for our Lord to have walked along the shore, as some modern writers suggest, and did not understand how He got to Capernaum, except in a boat. In each of the seven great miracles recorded by St. John, this fullness and minuteness is very noticeable. Had he been inspired to relate as many miracles as we find in Matthew and Mark, his Gospel would have been fifty chapters instead of twenty-one.
Writing long after the other Gospel writers and at a time when many who witnessed our Lord’s miracles were dead, there was a fitness and wisdom in his supplying the abundant particulars which characterize his descriptions. [ The people who were standing on the other side of the sea. ] This means the multitude, or some of them, whom Jesus had fed on the northeast shore of the lake, and whom the disciples had left standing near the banks when they embarked before our Lord sent them away.
Matthew and Mark both mention that our Lord first made the disciples embark, and then sent the multitude away and retired to the mountain to pray. [ However other boats came, etc. ] This verse either means that other boats came from Tiberias the morning after the miracle of feeding the multitude, which were not there the evening that the disciples embarked, or else it means that there were other boats from Tiberias not far from the place where the miracle was worked, though they were not actually at the spot where the disciples embarked, except their one boat.
The verse is carefully inserted parenthetically in order to account for the multitude following our Lord to Capernaum. Had it not been inserted, the infidel would have asked us triumphantly to explain how the people could have followed our Lord when they had no boats!
We need not doubt that every apparent discrepancy and difficulty in the Gospel narrative would equally admit of explanation if we only knew how to fill up the gaps. [ After the Lord had given thanks. ] This is purposely inserted to remind us that it was no common eating of bread that had taken place, but an eating of food miraculously multiplied after our Lord had blessed it. 24.--[ When the people. ] There is no occasion to suppose that this expression means the whole five thousand whom our Lord had fed.
For one thing, we are distinctly told that our Lord “sent them away,” and the greater part probably dispersed and went their way to their homes, or to Jerusalem to the passover. For another thing, it is absurd to suppose that so large a multitude could find boats enough to convey them across the lake.
It evidently means the remaining portion of the multitude, and probably included many who followed our Lord about from place to place wherever He went in Galilee, without any spiritual feeling, from a vague love of excitement and in the hope of ultimately getting something by it. [ They also got into boats. ] This means that they embarked in the boats which came from Tiberias and crossed over the lake. 25.--[ And when they found...sea. ] The place where they found our Lord was on the northwest side of the lake of Galilee, on the opposite side from where the miracle of feeding the multitude was worked.
The precise spot, however, where they found Him is a point which it is not very easy to decide. Of course, if we read the discourse which follows as one unbroken discourse (all spoken at one time without breaks or pauses, except such as arise from the remarks of the people who heard our Lord), there can be no doubt where our Lord was.
The 59th verse settles the question: “These things said He in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.” But if we suppose a break at the 40th verse (where the Jews begin “to murmur”) and a short interval before the discourse was resumed, it seems highly probable that the crowd found our Lord at the landing place of Capernaum or just outside the city—that the discourse began there and continued up to the 40th verse—and that then, after a short pause, it was resumed “in the synagogue of Capernaum.
It certainly does seem rather abrupt and unnatural to suppose the crowd landing at Capernaum, going up to the synagogue, and there beginning the conversation with the question, “When did you come here?” [ When did you come here? ] The question evidently implies surprise at finding our Lord, and inability to understand how He could possibly have got to Capernaum if He did not go in the boat with His disciples. It is a question, be it remarked, to which our Lord returned no answer.
He knew the state of mind of those who asked it and knew that it would be of no use to tell them when He had come or how. Wordsworth’s idea that there is a mystical reference in this question to the manner and time of Christ’s presence in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper appears to me very fanciful and far-fetched. 26.--[ Jesus answered, Verily...to you. ] This solemn expression, as usual in St. John’s Gospel, introduces a series of sayings of the deepest importance.
They very first was a sharp and cutting rebuke of the carnalmindedness of those whom our lord addressed. [ Ye seek Me...miracles...filled. ] This was a severe saying and one which He, who knew all hearts and read all secret motives, could say with peculiar power. It is a sad exposure of the true reason why many followed our Lord, both on this occasion and on others. It was not now even desire to see miracles performed, as it had been the day before (see v.2). These, after a time when the novelty was past, would cease to astonish and attract.
It was a lower and more carnal motive still; it was the mere wish to be fed again with loaves and fishes. They wanted to get something more out of our Lord. They had been fed once, and they would like to be fed again. The poor, mean, and carnal motives which induce men to make some religious profession are painfully exhibited here. Perhaps we have but a faint motion how little the reasons of many for coming to public worship or communion would bear sifting and examination. We may be sure that all is not gold that glitters, and that many a professor is rotten at heart.
It was so even under our Lord’s ministry and much more now. Augustine remarks how seldom “Jesus is sought for the sake of Jesus.” Our Lord’s perfect knowledge of the secret springs of men’s actions is strikingly exhibited here. We cannot deceive Him even if we deceive man; and our true characters will be exposed in the day of judgment if they are not found out before we die. Whatever we are in religion, let us be honest and true. To follow Christ for the sake of a few loaves and fishes seems miserable work.
To some who know nothing of poverty, it may appear almost incredible that a crowd of people should have done it. Perhaps those only can thoroughly understand it who have seen much of the poor in pauperized rural parishes. They can understand the immense importance which a poor man attaches to having his belly filled and getting a dinner or a supper. Most of our Lord’s followers in Galilee were probably very poor. To deal plainly with people about their spiritual condition and faithfully expose their false motives, if we know them, is the positive duty of ministers and teachers.
It is no kindness or charity to flatter professing Christians and tell them they are children of God and going to heaven if we know that they only make a religious profession for the sake of what they can get. Wisdom and discrimination in giving temporal relief to the poor are very necessary things in ministers, and indeed in all Christians. Unless we take heed what we do in such matters, we do more harm than good.
To be always feeding the poor and giving money to those who make some profession of religion is the surest way to train up a generation of hypocrites, and to inflict lasting injury on souls. 27.--[ Do not labor...set His seal on Him. ] This verse is peculiarly full of instructive lessons. (1) There is something forbidden. We are not to labor exclusively or excessively for the satisfaction of our bodily wants, for that food which only perishes in the using and only does us a little temporary good. (2) There is something commanded.
We ought to work hard and strive for that spiritual food—that supply for the needs of our souls which once obtained is an everlasting possession. (3) There is something promised . The Son of man, even Jesus Christ, is ready to give to every one who desires to have it that spiritual food which endures forever. (4) There is something declared . The Son of man, Jesus Christ, has been designated and appointed by God the Father for this very purpose, to be the dispenser of this spiritual food to all who desire it.
The whole verse is a strong proof that however carnal and wicked men may be, we should never hesitate to offer to them freely and fully the salvation of the Gospel. Bad as the motives of these Jews were, we see our Lord, in the same breath, first exposing their sin and then showing them their remedy. The figure of speech used by our Lord, which supplies the keynote to the whole subsequent discourse, is a beautiful instance of that Divine wisdom with which He suited His language to the mental condition of those He spoke to. He saw the crowd coming to Him for food.
He seizes the idea and bids them labor not for bodily but spiritual food. Just so when He saw the rich young man come to Him, He bade him “sell all and give to the poor.” Just so when the Samaritan woman met Him at the well, as she came to draw water, He told her of living water. Just so when Nicodemus came to Him, proud of his Jewish birth, He tells him of a new birth which he needed. When our Lord said “do not labor for the meat that perishes,” we must not for a moment suppose that He meant to encourage idleness and the neglect of all lawful means in order to get our living.
It is a kind of expression which is not uncommon in the Bible, when two things are put in comparison. Thus, when our Lord says, “If any man come after Me and hate not his father and mother and wife and children, etc., he cannot be my disciple,” we see at a glance that these words cannot be taken literally.
They only mean “If any man does not love Me more than father,” etc. (Luke xiv.26.) So here the simple meaning is that we ought to take far more pains about the supply of the needs of our souls than of our bodies. (See also 1 Cor. vii.29; 2 Cor. iv.18; 1 Sam. viii.7; John xii.44.) When our Lord says “labor for the meat that endures,” etc., I think He teaches very plainly that it is the duty of everyone to use every means, and endeavor in every way, to promote the welfare of his soul. In the use of prayer, the Bible, and the public preaching of God’s Word, we are specially to labor.
Our responsibility and accountableness, the duty of effort and exertion, appear to me to stand out unmistakably in the expression. It is like the commands, “Strive, Repent, Believe, Be converted, Save yourselves from this untoward generation, Awake, Arise, Come, Pray.” It is nothing less than wicked to stand still, splitting hairs, raising difficulties, and pretending inability, in the face of such expressions as these. What God commands, man must always try to obey. Whatever language Christ uses, ministers and teachers must never shrink from using likewise.
The “meat that endures to everlasting life” must doubtless mean that satisfaction of the cravings of soul and conscience, which is the grand need of human nature. Mercy and grace, pardon of sin and a new heart, are the two great gifts which alone can fill the soul, and once given are never taken away but endure forever. Both here and in many other places, we must always remember that “meat” did not mean exclusively “flesh” in the days when the Bible was translated, as it does now. The Greek word rendered “meat” here means simply “food” of any kind.
When our Lord says, “The Son of man shall give you the meat that endures to everlasting life,” He appears to me to make one of the widest and most general offers to unconverted sinners that we have anywhere in the Bible. The men to whom He was speaking were, beyond question, carnal minded and unconverted men. Yet even to them Jesus says, “The Son of man shall give to you.” To me it seems an unmistakable statement of Christ’s willingness and readiness to give pardon and grace to any sinner.
It seems to me to warrant ministers in proclaiming Christ’s readiness to save anyone, and in offering salvation to anyone, if he will only repent and believe the Gospel. The favorite notion of some—that Christ is to be offered only to the elect, that grace and pardon are to be exhibited but not offered to a congregation, that we ought not to say broadly and fully to all whom we preach that “Christ is ready and willing to save you”—such notions, I say, appear to me entirely irreconcilable with the language of our Lord. Election, no doubt, is a mighty truth and a precious privilege.
Complete and full redemption, no doubt, is the possession of none but the elect. But how easy it is, in holding these glorious truths, to become more systematic than the Bible and to spoil the Gospel by cramping and limiting it! When our Lord says, “Because God the Father has set His seal on Him,” He probably refers to the custom of setting apart for any specific purpose, and marking for any peculiar use, by a seal. So also deeds and public documents were sealed to testify their execution and validity and give them authority.
So it is said in Esther: “The writing that is written in the king’s name and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.” (Esther viii.8.) The expression applied to our Lord in this place certainly stands alone, but I think there can be little doubt as to its meaning. It signifies that in the eternal counsels of God the Father, He has sealed, commissioned, designated, and appointed the Son of man, the Incarnate Word, to be the Giver of everlasting life to man. It is an office for which He has been solemnly set apart by the Father.
Parkhurst thinks that the word means “Him has God the Father authorized with sufficient evidence, particularly by the voice from heaven;” and he refers the sealing entirely to the testimony which the Father had borne to the Son’s Messiahship. This also is Suicer’s view and Alford’s. Stier remarks: “This sealing is not to be understood merely of miracles, but of the stamp of divinity which was impressed upon His whole life and teaching.” This is Poole’s view and Hutcheson’s.
It has been thought by some that there is a tacit reference here to the history of Joseph, and that our Lord meant that as Joseph was appointed to be the great almoner and reliever of the Egyptians by the king of Egypt, so He is appointed by the King of kings to relieve the spiritual famine of mankind. At any rate, it is an apt and suitable illustration. The idea of Hilary and some others, that the expression “sealed” refers to our Lord being the “express image of the Father’s presence,” appears to me far-fetched and without foundation.
The last words of the verse would be rendered more literally, “Him has the Father sealed, even God.” It almost suggests the idea that our Lord desired to prevent His hearers supposing that He referred to Joseph as His father. It is as if He said, “the Father I mean, remember, is not an earthly father, but God.” Rollock remarks on this verse that our Lord does not confine Himself to showing the folly of only seeking “the meat that perishes,” but is careful to show the true food of the soul and to point out who alone can give it.
He observes that this is an example to us in teaching man the Gospel. The remedy must be as plainly taught and lifted up as the disease. He observes, truly, that none can speak better of the vanity of earthly things and the glory of heaven than many Papists do. But it is when they come to the feeding of man’s soul that they fail. They try to feed him with man’s merits, the intercession of saints, purgatory, and the like, and do not show him Christ. It is noteworthy that it was the remembrance of this verse which made Henry Martyn persevere in preaching to poor Hindoos at Dinapore in India.
He had found they only came for temporal relief and cared nothing for his preaching, and he was on the point of giving up in despair. But this verse came across his mind. “If the Lord Jesus was not ashamed to preach to mere bread-seekers,” he thought, “who am I, that I should give up in disgust?”