Home • Bible Studies • The Feeding of the Five Thousand & the Sufficiency of Christ: A Study of John 6
The Problem Described
By Jake Hanson
II. The Problem Described (5-9)
Now that we have seen the introductory information, let’s now turn to the Problem. Read verses 5-9:
5Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” 6This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. 7Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” 8One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 9“There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?”
In these verses, we find the problem clearly laid out: There was a crowd of people who needed food. How were they going to be fed?
We are told here that Jesus saw the crowd, and so turned to Philip, who was from the area, to ask where they were to buy bread. And then we find an interesting note in verse 6. We are told that Jesus already knew what He was about to do, but asked Philip in order to “test” him.
Key Question: Why does God test us?
There are many reasons given in Scripture for why God allows us to be tested. But here are a few primary reasons.
First, God uses tests in order to strengthen our character and devotion to Him. Trials and temptations drive us into places that help us to grow in endurance and strength (James 1).
Second, tests come to us in order to purge us of evil. 1 Peter 1:7 talks of trials as purifying us, just as silver and gold thrown into the fire purifies it. Tests can help us to drive out the dross from within ourselves.
Thirdly, look at Deuteronomy 8:2 where the Lord speaks to the people of God about the reasons they are in the wilderness.
“You shall remember all the way which the LORD your God has led you in the wilderness these forty years, that He might humble you, testing you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.”
So we see here in this verse that one of the reasons the Lord allows tests is so that the people of God might be humbled (though not humiliated), in order to know what is in your heart.
Key Question: If one of the reasons for tests is to “know what is in your heart” and the Lord already knows what is in your heart, then who needs to know what is in your heart?
God does not need to know what is in your heart. We need to know what is in our own heart. Tests are given in God’s grace in order to show us how weak our own hearts are. Often, we do not even know how wicked we are and the very real potential we have for evil, nor how far our hearts are from the Lord. This is often God’s warning to us about our real need for dependence on Him, and Him alone. Some tests we will pass, and we will rejoice. Others will be reminders of our weakness.
Key Question: So, why does Jesus test Philip?
Jesus tests Philip, it seems, for all the reasons above. Jesus is continually telling the disciples that they are in danger themselves, and are far less committed to Jesus than they think they are. This is especially true of Peter, who Jesus takes to task for his brash faith. And He points this out over and over again to Judas who ultimately would reject and betray Jesus. Here, Philip and the disciples did not have as much faith in the Lord as they thought they did, and neither do we.
But beyond the refining process associated with Jesus’ test, this question raises the insurmountable problem to the disciples, and therefore to us as readers. It points out that there is neither the money to get the food, nor the resources to provide for the food. In short, there is no hidden ace up Jesus’ sleeve with which to provide for these people in a natural way. This could only be accomplished supernaturally.
First, there is not enough money. Philip points out that two hundred denarii would not be enough to feed all the crowd. A denarii is about the wage earned by a laborer in one day. So two hundred denarii would be over half of a year’s worth of wages—something like $10-15,000 in today’s money.
Second, there was not enough food within the crowd. As the disciples searched the crowd, only one boy had food—a meager five loaves of barley bread and two fish. Now, we have in mind from our childhood pictures big loaves of bread, and sizable fish, but John is making clear here that these are more like biscuits, and the fish more like sardines—fish that were pickled and eaten whole on a sandwich. And the text goes on to tell us that Jesus would use these meager resources in order to feed this crowd which we read was at least 5,000 people strong, not counting women or children.
Key Question: What does this bit of information teach us?
The emphasis in this passage is on the little. It is a boy who shares his lunch. The lunch is of just a few, small pieces of bread, with just two small fish.
Jesus is showing us that He can do a lot with just a little.
Key Question: What then does that say to us in our lives?
This teaches us not to despise the little things that we might offer to the Lord. Our offerings might be small and insignificant in our eyes (and the eyes of other snoopers), but the Lord can do great things with the little that we offer. Think of the widow in Mark 12, and her two small mites (a cent). Even though it offered so little for the treasury of the Temple, the act of sacrifice resonates two thousand years later to today. Did anyone expect that her offering would be greater than the large sums put in by the rich?
Key Question: What then does this say about our spiritual gifts?
Often we view ourselves as weak and useless to the Kingdom of God. We rely on the work of the pastor, and the work of the famous evangelists. But our gifts, Scripture teaches again and again (1 Peter 4, 1 Corinthians 12), work together in production (1 Peter 4:11) to offer something great and beautiful. God can and does use your gifts in powerful ways as you offer them up to Him.
Let’s just say this again:
God can do a lot with a little!