April 27, 1986
When Jesus fed the five thousand in John chapter 6, He demonstrated His ability to provide in abundance. With sympathy toward the crowd and certainty of His Father’s power, Jesus tested His disciples and demonstrated His power. Alistair Begg teaches that in our Christian lives, God is in the habit of challenging us in the realm of faith. By stepping out in obedience to God, we have the opportunity to witness the Holy Spirit at work in us.
1After this jJesus went away to the other side of kthe Sea of Galilee, which is lthe Sea of Tiberias. 2And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3Jesus went up on mthe mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4Now nthe Passover, the ofeast of the Jews, was at hand. 5pLifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to qPhilip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7rPhilip answered him, “Two hundred denarii1 worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8One of his disciples, sAndrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9“There is a boy here who has five tbarley loaves and two fish, but twhat are they for so many?” 10Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” uNow there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11Jesus then took the loaves, and vwhen he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, w“This is indeed xthe Prophet ywho is to come into the world!”
15zPerceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus awithdrew again to bthe mountain by himself.
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