The power of Jesus

John 6:1-21 ESV

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?"  He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost."  So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!" Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

Rev. Dwight Yoo

Science has not disproved miracles. It presumes that there are only natural causes. It does not examine supernatural forces. It assumes none. Miracles are presumed to be supernatural. They are God suspending natural processes. The gospels were written within the lifetimes of those who were eyewitnesses to the miracles of Jesus. For more info, read "The reason for God" by Tim Keller.

Our limited power/resources

Jesus' disciples see these crowds following Jesus. The crowd is the size of the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA (full capacity of 19,000). Jesus asks Phillip what needs to be done to feed these people. Phillip says that we need a lot of money. Andrew says that this boy has five barley loaves and two fish. But this is not two nice loaves and two pieces of salmon... This boy was poor. Barley bread is the cheapest bread available. And the fish was probably sardines. So the picture is five little crusty pieces of bread and two sardines. No way, Andrew, no way can this work. Jesus did this on purpose. The disciples wanted to send these people away. Jesus was the one that stopped them.

We often feel powerful, but we are really weak. We are educated, good at our jobs. But our home is chaos, we can't keep our kids under control. Or marriage is struggling. Or we aren't getting anywhere in our job search. There are plenty of things that we have no control over. Far less than we would like to believe.

The abundant power of Jesus

So... after Phillip was done calculating and Andrew had contributed this poor little boy's food. Jesus sits them all down. And the crowd ate. Not just a little, but until they were full. Like a buffet...all you can eat. Then Jesus sent them to pick up the leftovers. They picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. One basket for each disciple. One for each tribe of Israel. Jesus is enough for them. All of them. The disciples were probably humbled. Jesus has enough to meet our every need.

The promise of power for God's purposes

The people wanted to make Jesus king. They wanted him to free them from the oppression of the Romans. But Jesus knew this and He withdrew. They wanted Jesus's for their own purpose. An earthly kingdom. God's promises are not for our kingdoms or our purposes. They are for His kingdom.