Creating, Not Replicating – John 6:1-15

In 2013 “NASA awarded a $125,000 six month grant to the Systems & Materials Research Corporation to design a 3D printer capable of printing a pizza from 30-year shelf stable foodstuffs.”  The pizza would be made from organic powders made from algae, insects and grass.  What is fascinating is that in 2020 there are now 3D food printers available for the public.  But what Jesus did cannot be replicated by such replicators.

After this Jesus left for the other side of the Sea of Galilee (the Sea of Tiberius).  A huge crowd followed him, because they were seeing the signs he performed for the sick.  Jesus went up the mountain and sat there with his disciples.  It was nearly the Passover, the feast of the Jews.

So Jesus looked up and seeing the large crowd coming to him he said to Philip, “Where will we buy bread for them to eat?”  He said this to test him.  He knew what was about to happen.  Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for them to each get a little.”  One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said, “There’s a little boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two fish.  But what is this for so many?”  Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”  There was a lot of grass in this place.  So the men sat down five thousand in number. 

Then Jesus took the bread and after blessing it he distributed it to those sitting to eat, and in the same way the fish, as much as anyone wanted.  And when everyone was fully satisfied, he said to his disciples, “Gather the remaining fragments so there isn’t any loss.”  So they gathered the fragments and filled twelve baskets full of barley bread left over from those who had eaten.  For this reason the people who saw the sign that had been done were saying, “This is surely the prophet who is to come into the world.”  Because Jesus knew they were about to come and seize him to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.  (John 6:1-15)

If you’re counting, this is the fourth miracle John highlights in his Gospel.  The main differences in this account and that of the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) is that there Jesus simply instructed the disciples to give the crowd food to eat before they protested that there was not enough money, as Philip says, to feed them even a little, and in this account John tells us that Jesus was testing his disciples, something we infer from the Synoptics.  John is not saying that Jesus did not tell the disciples at first to give the crowd something to eat.  He simply does not need to include that part for his purposes.

The miracle is so astonishing, the crowd is obviously aware that God has used Jesus to create food.  The only miracle that could possibly be as, or more, astonishing would be raising someone from the dead.  Jesus perceives that the crowd is ready to crown him as Israel’s king.  Who wouldn’t want such a king who can feed us miraculously.  But this is not Jesus’ immediate purpose and the people’s motivation is not right, so he withdraws.

We are all tempted to make the Lord something He is not, at least not in the way He should be.  We want to have God in our image and likeness, shape Him in a way that meets what we think our needs are, have Him be predictable in a way He isn’t, so that we feel more in control.  Heaven help us.  He will not dance to our fife.  He is the sovereign of the universe and the only dancing done is or should be our own.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the best sit-down meal you have had?
2. What do you think is the significance of John mentioning Passover being near?
3. How do you feel about Jesus testing his disciples and does he test you, too?
4. How has Jesus tested you?
5. What do you make of twelve baskets of fragments being left over?
6. How have you found yourself wanting to make Jesus something he isn’t?