JOHN LESSON 16
We will begin this lesson in John 6:1.
V-1, "After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee,
which is the sea of Tiberias."
V-2, "And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his
miracles which he did on them that were diseased."
The city of Tiberias on the side of the sea of Galilee was named
for Tiberias Caesar. This happens after Jesus' encounter with the
Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. John leaves out things like how they
came from Jerusalem to the Sea of Galilee, because to him that is not
important. This period of time, Jesus is very popular with the masses
of people because of the miracles they had seen and heard of Him
doing. Great numbers followed Him in hopes of having a miracle done
for them. Excitement over miracles always draws a crowd.
V-3, "And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with
his disciples."
Jesus' favorite place to go to get away from the throngs of
people was a mountain. There is a hill on the side of the Sea of
Galilee and that is where Jesus went with His disciples. Jesus is not
going to be able to run this group off. They want to be near Jesus
and will go to a lot of trouble just to be near Him. From His vantage
point, He could look down and see this enormous group of followers.
V-4, "And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh."
This feast and the grass growing (verse 10) lets us know that
this happens in early spring. This mountain by the Sea, here at
Passover time, could certainly be symbolic of the Exodus out of Egypt
where they crossed the Red Sea and ate manna. Perhaps, that is why
Passover is mentioned here.
V-5, "When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company
come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that
these may eat?"
This question is for Philip's benefit. Jesus knows where the
bread will come from as we see in verse 6.
V-6, "And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he
would do."
Let us look at the spiritual meanings for a moment in all of
this. When Jesus looks up and sees these large numbers coming, I
believe it is symbolic of those who are looking to Jesus to help them
from all ages. We must see in this far more than the physical feeding
of the multitude and see Jesus feeding all the peoples throughout the
ages with His Word. As we go on with this, notice how Jesus has them
to make small groups (like a church). Jesus will then bless the food,
and hand it to a disciple (preacher), who then passes this food (Word
of God) to the people.
V-7, "Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not
sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little."
Two hundred pennyworth is two hundred days of work. This was a
fairly large sum of money, but even at that would not be sufficient
for all of this great company to eat.
V-8, "One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith
unto him,"
V-9, "There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two
small fishes: but what are they among so many?"
Little is much, when God is in it. We need to look at the number
five which means grace and the number two which means agreement.
Jesus is the bread of life. This bread was furnished by the grace of
God. Matthew 18:19, "Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall
agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be
done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
V-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."
The mention of much grass here probably indicates that it was
early spring. Grass on the desert would have to be near water. This
happens near the Sea of Galilee.
V-11, "And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks,
he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were
set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would."
We see in this the order that the message in the church should
come. The message must come from our Lord, to the minister, then the
minister must deliver this bread (Word of God) to the people. The
preacher should give this Word (bread) until the w hole congregation
is full.
V-12, "When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather
up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost."
V-13, "Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve
baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained
over and above unto them that had eaten."
These fragments are showing us that there is always enough of the
Word of God left over to feed the hungry of all ages. The twelve
disciples are a representative number of all Christendom. The
disciples are the ministers. It is so strange, when you believe you
have preached every word God would have you to, there is still plenty
of the Word that has not been consumed. Notice there was much more
left after they ate than when they started. Jesus is the Bread of
life, we must feed on Him daily . This Bread like the manna which
fell from heaven never runs out.
V-14, "Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus
did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the
world."
This miracle Jesus had performed was of such magnitude that the
people witnessing it believed Jesus to be the great Prophet which had
been promised in the Old Testament. The enemy of these Israelites
were the Romans. They wanted Jesus to lead them in the overthrow of
the Romans.
V-15, "When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and
take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a
mountain himself alone."
Not only was Jesus sought by the rulers of the temple, but now
was sought by the people to force Him into rulership before He was
ready. He felt His only safety at this point was isolation, so He
went to the mountain.
V-16, "And when even was now come, his disciples went down unto
the sea,"
V-17, "And entered into a ship, and went over the sea toward
Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus was not come to them."
The disciples were taking a ship across the Sea of Galilee to
Capernaum where Peter's home was and where they worked out of. The
Sea of Galilee is known for it's rough water, and especially at night.
Whether Jesus had told them to go ahead or not, we do not know.
V-18, "And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew."
V-19, "So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty
furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the
ship: and they were afraid."
This was a stormy night, and they had not progressed very far
because of the wind. They look up and see Jesus walking on the Sea.
In the Matthew account of this miracle, it goes into a little more
detail. They thought Him to be a Spirit. It also tells in Matthew of
Peter walking on the sea to meet Jesus. Peter doubts and begins to
sink, and Jesus reaches out, and saves Peter. In this account here in
John, it just mentions their fear.
V-20, "But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid."
Jesus encourages them not to fear. Having Jesus with you should
calm every fear, then or now. If Jesus be for you, who can be against
you.
V-21, "Then they willingly received him into the ship: and
immediately the ship was at the land whither they went."
In Matthew 14:22-27 and Mark 6:45-52, we do not see the last
miracle that John shows here that the ship was automatically at their
destination. In Matthew and Mark, it speaks of Gennesaret on the way
to Capernaum. There is no discrepancy. They are very near each
other.
V-22, "The day following, when the people which stood on the
other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there, save
that one wherinto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not
with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone
away alone;"
V-23, "(Howbeit there came other boats from Tiberias nigh unto
the place where they did eat bread, after that the Lord had given
thanks:)"
V-24, "When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there,
neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum,
seeking for Jesus."
When daylight came, these people started searching for Jesus.
They knew the disciples went across the sea by ship, but they also
knew that Jesus had not left with them. They searched the mountain
and He was not there, either. Some of these people knew that Jesus
stayed in Capernaum when He wasn't out ministering, so many of them
took a boat across the sea, but probably some of them walked to
Capernaum to seek Him.
Notes
John 16 Questions
1. What is another name for the Sea of Galilee?
2. Why did the multitude follow Jesus?
3. Who was the city of Tiberias named for?
4. Why was Jesus popular with the people?
5. In verse 3, who went up the mountain with Jesus?
6. Which feast of the Jews was nigh?
7. What two things indicate it is early spring?
8. Which disciple did Jesus speak to about where they would buy bread
to feed the multitude?
9. Why did Jesus ask him this question?
10. What symbolically can we see in this feeding of the multitude?
11. What can we see in the groupings of the multitude?
12. What does it symbolize when Jesus hands the food to a disciple for
a specific group?
13. What large amount of money did Philip say was not enough to buy
food with?
14. Which disciple told Jesus about the lad with the five loaves and
two fishes?
15. What does the number five symbolize?
16. What Scripture in Matthew tells us that two indicates agreement?
17. How many men were fed?
18. Who did Jesus give the bread to?
19. Where should a minister's sermon originate?
20. How many fragments were left?
21. What message can the Christian get from these leftovers?
22. When the people saw this miracle, who did they declare Jesus to
be?
23. Who was the Israelites' enemy?
24. The people were going to come and force Jesus to do what?
25. Where did Jesus go to get away from the people?
26. Where did Jesus' disciples go?
27. The sea arose by what?
28. Where did they see Jesus?
29. What did they think He was?
30. What did Jesus say to them?
31. What part of the miracle is not in the other gospels?
32. What did the people do when they discovered Jesus was gone?
Notes
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