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February, 2024 (Vol.58-No.2) |
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Preached by Dr. Gene Scott on February 11, 1990 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? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. John 6:5-6 JOHN 6 BEGINS, “AFTER THESE THINGS Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 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?” Every year at Easter, I preach on the evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the basis of the Christian faith. Exposure to the facts surrounding the Resurrection drives us to a conclusion: either the disciples were liars who knew they were lying, or they were honest reporters of events they had seen and experienced. One of the proofs that the disciples were telling the truth is that the Gospels contain indirect and intrinsic evidences of honesty. This passage in John 6 contains one such piece of evidence. The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is recorded in all four Gospels. Luke 9 records that this event took place in a desert region near Bethsaida. John 1 tells us that Philip was from Bethsaida, along with Andrew and Peter. Matthew and Mark supply additional details, but John 6 is the one passage that says Jesus asked Philip the question, “Where shall we buy bread?” It makes sense that Jesus would ask Philip the question, because he was one of the few disciples from that area and thus would have known where someone could buy bread. These are subtle details, but consider that the Gospels were written by different men at different times and in different places. Matthew might have written his Gospel in Antioch, John probably wrote in Ephesus, and Mark likely wrote in Alexandria. It is not known with certainty where Luke wrote his Gospel. But when we piece together the various accounts of this event, they form a complete picture. This event occurred near Bethsaida, and Philip was from that region, so he was the one Jesus asked. That is an indirect indicator of the integrity of the record. Matthew’s account says the number 5,000 did not include the women and children. So there were more likely at least 12,000 people present. When Jesus saw this great company, He asked Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” We know why Jesus directed the question to Philip, but why did He ask the question? John 6:6 says, “And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.” Socrates perfected a method of teaching in which the teacher asks a series of rhetorical questions. Jesus’ question was not rhetorical, but it was designed by the Teacher to test His student’s knowledge. It was not asked to give His student an opportunity to instruct his Teacher. The One asking the question was not some fool who did not know the answer. I want to dwell on this awhile. I preached in an earlier message about how it can be difficult to get people on your wavelength. It is like dealing with an employee who arrives four hours late, and you say, “Do you know what time it is?” and he replies, “I believe it is 12:30, sir.” I do not want to leave this passage in John’s Gospel until you understand there is a degree of Philip’s nature in each of us. Perhaps Philip thought, “Jesus is asking me a question! Finally, God is seeking my advice. Now is my chance to show off. Everyone, come a little closer; I want to make sure my answer is heard. I have been waiting for such an opportunity: God finally recognizes He needs my help!” Pause and think about how Jesus set Philip up. If Jesus had asked a man who had just arrived from Egypt, that man might have answered, “How would I know where to buy bread?” The man’s ignorance would have allowed him to escape. But Philip had lived there his entire life, so everyone would have expected him to know the answer. It would be like me asking my congregation, “Where can I buy food in Glendale?” Jesus asked Philip the question “to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do,” but that thought never occurred to Philip. He was simply following Jesus with his feet, while his mind was elsewhere. It never dawned on him that Jesus’ question was to test him about spiritual things. Philip lived in the flesh. I have dealt with many people like this. They think mostly of themselves, and they easily lose any sense of responsibility and stewardship for the things of God. They are quick to make an excuse for doing a poor job, starting with their giving. But this not only applies to people’s giving; it applies to their prayer life, their time in God’s word, or anything they do at church. When you make a commitment to serve at church, you have made a commitment to God, to your pastor, and to yourself. If you have dedicated even a few hours per week to being an instrument of faith, then you ought to set that time aside and treat your commitment no less seriously than you treat your regular job. You should serve God with no less dedication than if you served on an important committee or in the National Guard. You become as Atlas holding up the world. That is the attitude you must have to win a battle of faith. As a pastor, I have had enough of commitments that are made and not kept. A pastor should not have to contend with a congregation’s sporadic response. The very faithlessness you give your pastor is the faithlessness that will keep you out of heaven! I do not monitor people’s personal behavior, but I do monitor their faithfulness to their commitments. Your righteousness will take you nowhere. But God will give you the gift of His righteousness for your faithfulness. People can make every kind of excuse and rationalization for faithlessness. Yes, you have all kinds of messes in your life. They are awful. But you come to church and the Spirit of God prompts you to listen to His word. God’s Spirit speaks to you, and you are challenged by the question, “Why don’t you have the faith to believe God for miracles?” I am reminded of what Gideon did in Judges 6. An angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “The LORD is with thee,” the One mighty in valor. But Gideon argued, saying, “Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of…?” And he said, “Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? Behold, my family is poor…and I am the least…” What a miserable, faithless response to an opportunity from God! Now look at the opportunity that was given to Philip. When Jesus asked him, “Where can we buy bread for these people?” Philip could have answered, “Buy bread? You are greater than Moses, who gave us enough manna from heaven to feed millions of people every day. This is an easy job for You!” Or Philip could have answered, “You are greater than Elijah, and he turned one meal into a lasting provision!” Or he could have said, “I know why You led us out here. You are the same God who, as it says in Deuteronomy, led His people into the wilderness and made them hunger, in order that He might prove them and teach them that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord. You spoke and the universe was created! All You have to do is say the word, Lord, and their hunger will be satisfied!” There was a Roman centurion who had more faith than all of Jesus’ disciples. He even surprised Jesus with his faith. He asked Jesus to heal his servant, and Jesus would have gone to the man’s home. But we read in Matthew 8:8-10, “The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.” What is Christianity? Is this church just another church in form only, a place for people to go on Sundays? Or have we been called out to demonstrate a faith that starts with the Resurrection and believes that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever? Jesus led His disciples to a desert area to prove them, and He asked Philip the question to prove him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Jesus simply wanted to see if Philip had enough faith to anticipate what He would do. There are too many Philips in the church. He is so much like all of us that you should look at yourself in a mirror and rebuke yourself. I am preaching to myself as well as to you, so you should not leave yourself out while I take my correction from God’s word. Philip was presented with an opportunity, but look at how he responded to Jesus: “Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.” Did Philip think that Jesus did not know how to count? They were standing in the midst of at least 12,000 people! Did Philip think his Master had gone blind? Philip could have been forever immortalized in history by simply tuning in to the opportunity and exhibiting faith. But instead, he covered himself. Maybe he thought that when Jesus was finally finished asking His stupid questions, when He finally understood what he and the other disciples had been telling Him all along, and when He finally agreed to send the people away, at least He couldn’t say that Philip hadn’t tried to tell Him. Think of how demeaning Philip’s attitude was. He must have thought, “Pastor Jesus obviously cannot see or count. He is asking me to do something that anyone in their right mind knows cannot be done.” Notice that Philip counted pennies: “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient…” In the other Gospel records, all the disciples agreed with this and repeated what Philip said. Oh, how doubt spreads! A man of faith might only get a few people to follow him. For example, when Gideon finally got enough courage to act in faith, Gideon’s father stood up against the men of the city and defended him. But if you let a moaning groaner get a chance to air his point of view, soon everyone will be repeating the same litany of unbelief. Have you seen any of Philip in your nature? When you are presented with an opportunity to participate in a miracle, do you start counting pennies and looking at your circumstances? You see, God “told on” Philip. So what do you think will happen at the Judgment Seat of Christ, assuming that you make it there? What is the Judgment Seat of Christ? The Bible teaches us that there will be two judgments: the great “White Throne Judgment” and the “Judgment Seat of Christ,” called the bema judgment. No Christian will be judged at the White Throne Judgment, because Jesus stood in for us and took the wrath of God in our place. Those who appear at the White Throne Judgment will be judged according to their works. They will be found to have fallen short of God’s standard, and they will be cast into the lake of fire. But Christians will be judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ, where He will reward us for our acts of faith. Assuming your faith can be kept alive long enough for you to make it into heaven, your rewards and status throughout eternity will be determined at the Judgment Seat of Christ. God told on Philip, and at the Judgment Seat of Christ, He will tell on each of us. Every opportunity for faith gives us the same choice as Philip had. He had the chance to act in faith and not underestimate Christ, but he counted pennies instead. He looked at his circumstance and filtered God’s promises through the reality of time. Now let’s turn our attention to Andrew. He had a little more faith than Philip. We read, “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes…” Peter Marshall, the late Chaplain of the U.S. Senate, preached a message on Andrew, in which he pointed out that Andrew’s outstanding characteristic was that he was always bringing someone to Christ. Andrew brought the lad who had a basket of five loaves and two fishes. In biblical numerology, five is the symbol of grace, and two represents an adequate witness. I am certain that Andrew knew the numerological significance, because he had been raised in that Hebrew frame. The numbers themselves should have inspired faith on his part. He said, “There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes,” but he should have stopped right there. Oh, for the gift of knowing when to shut your mouth! If he had said no more, he would have been a hero. We would never have known how small his faith was. Now, watch him ruin it: “There is lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?” “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. 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. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 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.” Think of that! There were twelve basketsful left over. You might ask me, “Do you believe that really happened?” I sure do. This miracle is much easier to believe than the Resurrection, and I have already crossed that hurdle. Do you think the miracle of the loaves and the fishes was any harder for God than the miracle of His providing for you today? God has given you the promise: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, said the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” God has promised to pour you out a blessing you cannot contain. When you consider all the miracles He has done, don’t you think He is able to do that for you? Now turn to Mark 6, where another version of the episode is recorded. The story starts at verse 34: “And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd…And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed…” it was dinner time. The disciples said to Jesus, “Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.” But Jesus said to them, “Give ye them to eat.” Let’s dwell on that for a moment. The moment that Jesus said, “Give ye them to eat,” Philip might have thought, “He expects us to feed them?” Then Jesus focused on Philip and asked him where one could go and buy bread. In Mark’s record, it was the disciples who replied, “Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?” Jesus miraculously multiplied the provision. We read again starting from verse 43, “And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men. And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people.” Jesus had led His disciples into a desert place and He proved them there. Now He sends them into a storm. I have been telling you that storms are going to come. Christianity does not allow us to escape from life’s deserts and life’s storms. After Jesus made His disciples get into the ship, He went to a mountain to pray. “And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.” The great storm hit them, and “they saw him walking upon the sea…and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.” At what? We need to examine the text to understand why the disciples were amazed and wondered. The next word is “For,” which is a translation of the Greek word gar. This word was used as a rhetorical device to introduce a sentence that explains what came before. So it is clear in the original Greek text that the disciples were not “amazed in themselves beyond measure” that Jesus calmed the storm, which is what most people would assume if they were to read the passage quickly. But if that were the case, the next verse would have said, “For Jesus had calmed the storm.” But that was not the case. They were amazed and wondered at themselves for having doubted in the storm! We read, “For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.” They had just witnessed the miracle of the loaves and fishes. But as soon as they got into another circumstance that challenged their faith; they were terrorized, instead of believing that the same Jesus who sent them into the storm would enable them to go through it. In Matthew’s account, when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, Peter cried out, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” And Jesus said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and started walking on the water. Before anyone criticizes Peter, they should take note that he walked on more water than any other man in this world other than Jesus. He got out of the boat and walked. But when he saw the waves rolling and the wind blowing, he began to sink and he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus put forth His hand and saved him, but He said to Peter, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?” Jesus gave Peter a new name: He called him “little-faith.” Jesus asked him, “Why did you doubt?” A more literal translation is, “Why did you double-think?” In other words, why did you think twice? You knew the wind was blowing and the waves were rolling. So why did you get out of the boat, and when you did get out, “why did you think twice about it?” Why did you pause and look at the circumstance instead of continuing to walk by faith? Jesus did not condemn Peter for having little faith, but He asked him, “Why did you double-think?” These episodes in the Gospels present us with a sequence of lessons on faith. Philip had no faith at all. All he could do was count the crowd and count pennies. Andrew had half faith. He did bring the boy with the loaves and fishes, but then he said, “What are they among so many?” The best Peter could muster was a little faith, and he thought twice about it. Before you start feeling bad about the track record of these disciples, do you realize what “little faith” accomplished? Little faith walked on water! Have you gotten the message? Will you not count pennies for the rest of the week? Will you not focus on the circumstances and double-think? Faith seizes a promise of God and does not let go. The man or woman of faith says, “God made a promise, and I will act on it unto death if necessary!” Recognize when God gives you an opportunity to exercise faith in the furtherance of His work. Renew your commitment, be faithful in your giving, and let’s move forward into all that God has called us to do! Reprinted with permission from Pastor Melissa Scott | February, 2024 Wingspread | January, 2024 Wingpread | | Year 2019 Wingspreads | August, 2016 Wingspread | 2016 Wingspreads | 2014 Wingspreads | 2013 Wingspreads | 2012 Wingspreads | 2011 Wingspreads | 2010 Wingspreads | 2009 Wingspreads | 2008 Wingspreads | 2007 Wingspreads | 2006 Wingspreads | 2005 Wingspreads | 2004 Wingspreads | 2003 Wingspreads | 2002 Wingspreads | 2001 Wingspreads | August, 2001 Wingspread | November, 2001 Wingspread | December, 2001 Wingspread | 2000 Wingspreads | 1999 Wingspreads | 2015 Wingspreads | Year 2017 Wingspreads | 2018 Wingspreads | Year 2020 Wingspreads | Year 2021 Wingspreads | Year 2022 Wingspreads | Year 2023 Wingspreads | Year 2024 Wingspreads | | Return Home | Current Wingspread | Wingspread Archives | Contact Us | |
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