John the Baptist has been executed.

He was in jail for a while, probably as much for his own safety as because of his comments about Herod taking his brother’s wife. Herodias wanted him dead. In jail he was kind of like in “protective custody.”

There is a great scene from the 1977 film Jesus of Nazareth where John the Baptist publicly rebukes Herod on his wedding day.

Herod recognized John as a prophet. And Herod may have been wicked but he wasn’t ignorant of Israel’s history. He knew what had happened to Judah because they killed the prophets. He was afraid to harm John. But kings who make extravagant promises to dancing girls in front of guests are not wise men.

John the Baptist is beheaded and the news reaches Jesus at just about the same time the disciples He had sent out have returned. Jesus seeks solitude to grieve the death of His cousin and faithful prophet, John.

But He doesn’t find it.

Sometimes the needs around us just don’t let up. The people we serve have no idea how tired or torn up we may be.

There was a saying at my Bible College from Mark’s account of this story in the KJV.

“And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while…”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭6‬:‭31‬ ‭KJV‬‬

And our teachers would remind us to rest and to “come apart before you come apart.”

The map below is my best guess of the travels of Jesus and the disciples in this story, based on the Gospels. There is a famous church called Tabgha on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee that is the traditional site of the multiplication of loaves and fish. And perhaps that IS the correct location. But Luke’s and John’s accounts seem to indicate that the miracle was done somewhere in a wilderness near Bethsaida (of which there may have been 2 towns by that name, neither location precisely known).

I’m guessing that Jesus was somewhere around Capernaum (his home base of ministry) when He got the news about John. He then got in a boat with the disciples and they began the 3-4 mile (ish) trip across the lake, perhaps even pausing to catch some fish. At any rate, the people went around the north end of the lake on foot and by the time Jesus lands on the opposite shore, there are crowds of people waiting for Him. (We’ll discuss the rest of the map markings in a moment.)

Jesus teaches and heals until late in the day and now there is a crowd of over 5000 hungry people. Jesus tests Philip by asking how they would feed all these people.

🧔🏻‍♀️ Jesus: Hmmm I wonder how we could feed all these people?

🧑🏽 Philip: We’d need a lot of money.

❌

Wrong answer.

The correct answer: “Well Jesus, You are the Son of God. You could rain down manna from heaven if you wanted. And maybe some quail too.”

How often do we think like Philip. (And y’all, I’m preaching at myself here) “Well, that would be great if I had a lot of money.”

Jesus does not require money.

Remember our quote from the OT?

“God does not require favorable circumstances.”

Jesus was challenging Philip’s faith. And He is only too happy to challenge ours. How can this need be met?

• We need more money
• God will provide

Where will I put my faith?

The Feeding of the 5000 is one of the few events recorded in all 4 Gospels:

• Matthew 14:15-21
• Mark 6:35-44
• Luke 9:12-17
• John 6:5-14

We all know the story well. Five loaves. Two fish. In John’s account we see Andrew bringing another person to Jesus – the boy with the lunch. But I’d like to point out that the blessing Jesus says is not what we may think, “Lord, bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies.” Jesus blessed the Father, not the food.

“Blessed art thou O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who gives us bread from the earth.”

It may have been something along those lines. Jesus gave thanks and praise to the Father for the food, over the food, and gave the Father the credit for providing it, but as far as I can tell, He does not bless the food itself.

Here is the word translated as “bless.”

We use this word at funerals. It’s where we get the word “eulogy.” The eulogy is when someone speaks well of the person who has passed away. They recall memories and notable deeds. They praise the person’s good qualities and express thanks for all the good they did.

Jesus wasn’t eulogizing the food…

“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to recall the lives of the loaves and fish. I remember when these barley loaves 🥖 were just kernels on a stalk. Theirs was a short life but full of meaning. And these fish… 🐟 they were brave little fish. Born and raised from guppies right here in the Sea of Galilee. Alas, they were caught and smoked. They were taken from us far too soon. They made the ultimate sacrifice.”

😆 I don’t think I’ll ever be able to read the story of the loaves and fish again without imaging Jesus doing a little funeral.

The disciples had everyone sit in groups of 50’s and 100’s in a grassy spot.

Jesus starts pulling apart barley rolls and pinching smoked fish into pieces.

And somehow there is always more.

It’s like the miracles of Elijah and Elisha. Elijah stayed with the widow and her jar of flour never went empty and her jug of oil never ran out. Elisha fed 100 men with only 20 barley buns (2 Kgs 4:42-44).

But this is WAY bigger.

Everyone ate their fill and each disciple got a full basket of leftovers.

John tells us that this event REALLY threw the fat into the fire. The people began openly suggesting that Jesus was the promised “Prophet like unto Moses” and were ready to overthrow Herod and Rome and install Jesus as King whether He liked it or not.

THAT is why Jesus sends the disciples back across the lake in the boat and He Himself goes up a mountain to be alone. He hadn’t come to overthrow Rome and Herod. So Jesus sends the crowds home and climbs a nearby mountain.

And then we get Jesus’ “super sight” moment. If you’re a fan of Lord of The Rings you may recall…

Legolas then describes the movements of a small band of orcs dozens of miles away.

Or, if you’re a little older, you may remember The Six Million Dollar Man with his bionic left eye that had a 20x zoom lens and infrared built in.

Jesus is like a Six Million Dollar Legolas.

He is on a mountain.

At night.

In. The. Dark.

It was windy.

🤓 Ooo… “It was a dark and stormy night…”

And He SEES the disciples in a 25-30ft wooden boat (with no lights) that is 3-4 miles away on a lake with high waves.

Think about that.

The purple line represents a possible path of the disciples in their boat. The dashed yellow line is Jesus going walking out to them.

This is not a short walk. Jesus is walking for MILES in the dark on top of water.

AS. A. HUMAN.

We really need to grapple with this.

Jesus was just as flesh and blood as you and I. I have no idea how He defied the laws of gravity and physics but He did.

This is another connection to the triumph of God over the chaos void at the beginning of Creation. Jesus is walking on top of the waters of Chaos. 🌊

And Peter wants to try it too. Or, perhaps it’s some kind of test to verify that this figure walking on the water really is Jesus.

😐 Weird test. Cuz wouldn’t a ghost 👻 be like, “Sure. Come on out here. It’s fine. You’ll be fine.”

I have no idea what Peter was thinking but he got out of the boat and walked on water. Until he became afraid– which Jesus identified as “doubt.”

🤔 Question. If Jesus could walk on water in a human body, does that mean glorified human bodies will be able to walk on water too?

I sure hope so. How cool would that be?

🤓 Oooo… and super night-vision sight too?!

I suppose that’s possible. Except that there is no night in the Heavenly City.

🤓 oh… yeah.

As soon as Jesus got into the ship with Peter, the wind stopped. This is the 2nd time Jesus has calmed the sea.

John includes an intriguing detail:

“Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”
‭‭John‬ ‭6‬:‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

It seems to suggest that as soon as Jesus got in the boat, they kinda teleported about 6 miles to Gennesaret.

Jesus hasn’t had a moment’s rest since He heard about John. He taught all day, fed 5000 in the late afternoon then had to get that crowd to go home, climbed a mountain and prayed through half the night, climbed back down the mountain and walked 3-4 miles out on a lake in the middle of the night, then pulls into harbor in the wee hours of the morning. Maybe he dozed for a couple hours before dawn. Because as soon as people realize that He was there, here they come with more sick folk in need.

For all the people who work their tails off, and often do not get enough sleep, Jesus is the “patron saint” of back-to-back shifts, barely finding time to eat, and being up most of the night doing rescue work. He gets you.