Who do you know that can walk on water and multiply bread and fish to feed thousands? I know nobody who is capable of doing this. The disciples are all in my shoes, they don't know anyone who can do so. But they also probably don't even think it's possible. But here in John 6, Jesus does exactly these things.

These things Jesus does is just two more signs that he is in some way divine, the son of God as he claims. I encourage you to also read this chapter because this chapter has a lot more meat to it than I will be discussing within this post today.

Jesus Feeds Five Thousand

[John 6:5 ESV] 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?”
[6] He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
[7] Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”
[8] One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
[9] “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”
[10] 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 asks a question to test his disciples, "Where are we to buy bread". Considering the large crowd coming towards them after hearing about what Jesus has done for the sick, Jesus's disciples must have been thinking how crazy Jesus was for considering to want to feed so many people. And their answers tell us how they are feeling.

One of the disciples remarked how 200 Denarii worth of bread will not even cover them with a tiny bit of food. 200 Denarii in modern currency is $13,400 AUD or $8,700 USD. That's wild.
Another disciple remarks that a single child has a basket of five loaves of bread and two fish is not even close to enough to feed the five thousand.

Yet Jesus despite that knowing what he was about to do, tells everyone to sit down. So everyone does sit down, and Jesus does something incredible.

[John 6:11 ESV] 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.
[12] And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”
[13] So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.
[14] When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”

He gives thanks to God for the five loaves and two fish, then breaks them to be distributed. And all five thousand people eats of the five loaves and two fish till they are full. But there was five full baskets of leftovers, that to me sounds like they ended up with MORE bread than they started with.

What do you think the disciples thought or felt when they were one quarter of the way through distributing the food among the five thousand people? When the people sat down and were going to eat food, what do you think the people at the back of the crowd thought as the food was being distributed? How would you have reacted if you were in this scene and you were holding one of the five baskets of leftovers after witnessing this duplication of food?

Jesus Walks On Water

[John 6:15 ESV] 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.
[16] When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,
[17] got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.
[18] The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.
[19] 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.
[20] But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”
[21] Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going

Following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus withdrew to a mountain to be on his own. He does this many times in the story, but take note of this first occurrence. This detail is usually missed and not talked about too much, so ponder before we move on. What do you think he did on that mountain? Why did he go alone?

Once Jesus had spent time alone on the mountain, he went out to rejoin his disciples. One small problem though... His disciples were out at sea on a boat. And here Jesus shows his twelve disciples another sign that he is indeed divine. He walks across the water towards their boat. They were frightened seeing something that to humans is impossible. A man walking on waters in the middle of some rough waves and strong winds. Jesus comes to them and encourages them that they need not be afraid and that it's him. And once he steps into the boat, the storm dies down as they are able to very quickly make it to their destination.

This scene is a good visual example that God is in control of everything, and if you put your trust into him, the storm no matter how crazy or intense it is. God can calm down the rough seas of life.

If God can calm literal storms, can you trust God to take control of the stormy situations in your life? Are there any storms in your life which you can allow Jesus to step into your boat?

Jesus Is The Bread Of Life

[John 6:32 ESV] Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
[33] For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
[34] They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
[35] Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
[36] But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
[37] All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
[38] For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
[39] And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
[40] For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

In the book of Exodus 16, God gave Moses and all the people of Israel this bread from heaven to eat so they wouldn't go hungry. Here Jesus makes the claim that the true bread of life is someone who God had sent down from heaven. And shortly after claims that it was him who was sent. Jesus talks about how he came to do God's will and not his own, and that those who believe in him will have eternal life and will be raised up from the dead on the "last day."
But this seemed to annoy them.

[John 6:41 ESV] So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
[42] They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?

They know the human mother that birthed him into the world, and mistake Joseph for his father since Joseph was the husband of Merry who birthed him. And because of this he can't have come down from heaven. This shows they have a bias on what they expect is the way someone could come from heaven. If that expectation is a beam of light, trumpets sounding and someone floating down in that beam of glory or not is a different question.

However, regardless of how they are thinking, they are putting their human understanding above God's glory. This will lead them to doubt Jesus's authenticity and ignore all the signs he has shown them like the feeding of five thousand, healing the sick, and turning water into wine. And all because they are thinking Joseph is the father of Jesus, and not God.

What do you think is causing the people to doubt Jesus? Do you have any doubt about who Jesus is? Are you looking for signs from god and missing the ways he is working in your life because of your bias towards specific things?

What do you dear reader think of this chapter in the bible? What draws your interest, raises questions, or speaks to you? Leave a comment below with your thoughts as you read the bible. God Bless you 😄