From my John study in the Everyday Bible Study series with HarperChristian Resources, and at the bottom you can see the type of questions Becky Castle Miller provides for each day’s reading. (Hey, a good Christmas gift.)
The Gospels are about Jesus. Front and center, left and right, up and down — they are biographies of Jesus. So, we try to place Jesus on the bread board.
Photo by Franzi Meyer on Unsplash
Jesus Performs Two Signs
John 6:1-21
1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
Multiplying Bread and Fish
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” 6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, 9 “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Walking on the Water
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17 where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
John 6 is an amazing chapter, reveling in, while revealing, who Jesus is. It opens with his miraculous feeding of 5000 men, which means at least 10-15,000! The men had wives and children, after all. Then Jesus walks on the water. The first is called a sign at 6:14, and at 6:26 Jesus referred to “signs,” so most think there are two signs here. (I sure do.) Signs, again, are public deeds of Jesus that reveal who he is but to perceive them as signs a person must enter into the deed by faith, trusting in what that deed reveals. Which is not always obvious, truth be told. And thus after the two signs John has a lengthy discourse that, like chapter five, explains who Jesus is (6:22-59). Tragically, some observe the signs but walk away (6:60-71).
John provides a brief context to get the two sign-scenes started: (1) Jesus goes to the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee to get away from the crowds; (2) many follow him anyway “because they saw the signs”; (3) Jesus was on a mountainside and “sat down,” which was a customary posture for teaching; and (4) the “Jewish Passover was near” (6:1-4). Passover indicates either it was a year since the previous Passover event (2:13, 23; Exodus 12). Remember the original Passover led to the manna miracles in the wilderness (Exodus 16), which anticipates Jesus’s provision of bread.
The Bread Sign
Jesus tests the faith perceptions of his followers but those closest to Jesus fail (6:5-9). Jesus, unperturbed by their lack of perception, orders them to get the crowds to sit down, and then Jesus utters words that are now familiar to us because they are part of the Lord’s supper: “Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks [eucharistein], and distributed to those who were seated” (6:11). As with the wine at Cana, there was plenty left over (6:12-13; cf. Exodus 16:4-18). Twelve baskets were filled with the leftovers (one basket for each of the apostles/disciples).
The “people” experiencing this abundance openly express that Jesus had to be “the Prophet who is to come into the world,” that is, the future Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15; cf. 1:21). For John this is a thin perception because John’s comment is that Jesus perceived that the people wanted to make him “king” and to do so “by force,” which means a coup d’etat (John 6:15; see 1:49). Their sign perception fails the sight test.
What does this sign reveal about Jesus? Jesus will explain the Bread sign in our next passage (6:25-59), but for now we note that he is revealing himself as the abundant divine provider of both material sustenance, like the provision of manna, and eternal redemption that satisfies the deepest human hunger. He is more than that prophet and more than and different than any king they may want. His kingdom, we will read later, is not of this world (18:36), which is why he “withdrew again to a mountain by himself” (6:15). They want a king, he wants a different kind of king and kingdom.
The Walking on Water Sign
That very evening the disciples decide to return back to the western side of the Sea of Galilee, that is to their mission headquarters, to Capernaum (which is more the northern end of the Sea). A “strong wind” breaks out and the “waters grew rough” (6:18). On a recent tour with Northern students in Galilee we crossed the Sea in the midst of a rain storm. While listening to a wonderful reflection by a student on this story, I was more than once distracted by imagining how dangerous it would have been without a motor and in a much smaller boat. The storm’s fierceness spelled danger for the disciples.
Enter Jesus. At 3-4 miles away they spot Jesus “approaching the boat, walking on the water” (6:19), and instead of the disciples saying, “Of course, the One who can stir water into wine, who can speak healing into a man’s bones, and who can multiply bread and fish, could also walk on the water.” But, no, they were scared. Jesus reveals himself with, not “It is I” (NIV) but simply “I am” (ego eimi; 6:20 as at 4:26; cf. Exodus 3:14), which indicates the presence of God. Jesus does more than identify himself as a water-walker. Then comes a calming “Do not be scared” (my translation). The words of the Logos himself pierce their fears, they invite him into the boat and then, what seems to be another miracle, “immediately the boat reached the shore” (6:21). Or were they so pumped the time flew by?
Signs reveal Jesus to the eye of faith. What that eye perceives here is at least that Jesus, like God, is Lord of nature and the winds and the waves (Psalms 77:16-19; 107:29-30). As Lord of the sea, like the exodus, he rescues humans in the midst of the dangers of water and ushers them into the tranquilities of safety. Those who thought Jesus was the Prophet or a king (John 6:15) perhaps now see that Jesus is more than that, he is the I Am, the incarnation of God (6:20).
Questions for Reflection (by Becky Castle Miller)
and Application
1. Why do you think Jesus’ disciples and followers continually failed to rightly perceive him?
2. What does the bread sign reveal about Jesus?
3. Compare God’s provision of manna in Exodus 16 to Jesus’ provision of bread and fish. What is similar? What is not?
4. What does the water sign reveal about Jesus?
5. Look again at the definition here of a sign: “public deeds of Jesus that reveal who he is but to perceive them as signs a person must enter into the deed by faith, trusting in what that deed reveals.” What role does faith play in interpreting signs? What signs of God’s work in your life have increased your faith?
“We always find what we’re looking for.”
That statement comes into my thinking a lot. It comes to mind today out of this passage of John, and fro Becky’s questions.
It’s not that Jesus’ disciples expect to discover the Signs. It appears to be just the opposite, they haven’t quite discovered the manna of faith Jesus scatters as He travels from place to place, even across the water! But, these “bread crumbs” aren’t just for them, are they!
Could it be that tucked away in the stories we can discover other bread crumbs?
The Scripture says that they got into a boat. Is it their boat? Was it a common act of seaside hospitality to leave boats pulled up, in case travelers would need them? Did “The Lord provide” again? Or, did John assume we would all surmise it was one of their boats?
Faith really is like manna, or bread, or fish, or the very nature of God, isn’t it!
Thank you, Scot! Thank you, Becky!
I was an atheist until my 40s even though God saved me through a dream to my Uncle when I was dying as a baby. I didn't understand WHAT He had done until he removed my blinders. Once I became a Christian, He revealed more and more of Himself and I saw a different Jesus than is portrayed in some churches. My faith, trust and obedience to Him has increased exponentially.