August 4, 2012

The Lord Completely Controls the Situation!

10th Sunday after Pentecost, 8/5/12
John 6:1-15


The Lord Completely Controls the Situation!
I. To provide people with a sign
II. To test the faith of his disciples


“Things have gotten out of control.” I’m sure you’ve heard and made that statement repeatedly, perhaps just in the last few months. It’s been said about our federal government’s spending and power, whether you agree with those assessments or not. It’s certainly true regarding the near anarchy in Syria.

But it’s also stated about situations in your personal life. Perhaps that statement has been made about a relationship that you have with someone. Or maybe it’s your assessment of a loved one’s behavior. I’ve heard it spoken about a person’s spending habits and the damage it’s done to the rest of the family. Sadly, I’ve heard it spoken about a person’s use of alcohol or prescription medications.

And yet, right alongside of that statement, we express the truth, “Our God is in control.” Doesn’t the evidence we just cited prove otherwise? And if we believe he is in control, don’t we open ourselves up to questions such as, “In control of what? In control of whom? In control for what purpose? In control to what extent?”

The event before us this morning answers all those questions and doubts. It’s the familiar account of Jesus feeding the 5,000. What’s astounding about this event is not so much that Jesus uses his almighty power to feed this many people, but the fact that he used his knowledge and his power to completely control the situation. Jesus completely controls the situation. What comfort that gives God’s people whose lives so often seem out of control.

Part I.

What we see, what we witness, has a way of changing us, often either for the positive or the negative. The murders that occurred in Aurora, CO a couple weeks ago were tragic beyond words. I couldn’t help wonder if any of those surviving movie-goers had, prior to this, enjoyed watching violent movies or playing violent video games. If so, I’d be surprised if they do any longer. Or perhaps you’ve witnessed someone risking their safety and perhaps even their life to save someone else. It changes you. It reminds you that there are still decent, caring people in our world. What we see changes us.

Jesus wanted to change the thousands of people who came to see him on the day reported in our text. What did he want to change about them? They were “thrill-seekers.” I guess we can’t blame them too much. If we had seen Jesus do a miracle, we’d probably want to see him do another. In fact, if we had been in that crowd and had a physical problem, we’d want Jesus to use his power to heal us.

And that’s what Jesus did. Matthew’s account of this same event informs us that these people brought the sick to Jesus and he had compassion on them and healed them (Mt. 14:14). So, by doing so, wasn’t Jesus adding to the problem, feeding their misguided interest in him?

Not at all. John’s account makes it sound as if the people came to him and he fed them. That’s not all he did. Mark’s account informs us that “he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things” (Mk. 6:34). Yes, Jesus’ compassion moved him to heal the sick. But he knew that wasn’t what the people really needed. Eventually every one of the people he had healed would get sick again—some many times—and all of them would eventually die. So he gave the people what they really needed—the message about himself as the promised Savior. No doubt that was the heart and focus of what he taught them that day.

To accomplish his goal, he created the situation. John tells us that Jesus was with his disciples on a mountainside and he saw a large crowd coming towards him. Again, this crowd numbered 5,000 men. There were also women and children. You can easily double the 5,000. Imagine seeing that large a crowd coming at you. What would you do? I’d panic. What am I going to do with all these people?

I wouldn’t know, but Jesus did. He controlled the situation. When he saw the crowd coming toward him, Jesus asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” In doing so, he lets his disciples know that he intends to feed the crowd. And then John tells us, “He said this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.” That’s information the other gospel accounts don’t supply. This wasn’t a disaster foisted on Jesus so that his only recourse was to perform a miracle to alleviate the situation. This was a situation that Jesus controlled completely.

He intended to use this situation to give these people a sign. That’s the root meaning of the Greek word for miracle. He wanted these people not to be thrilled with his almighty power but to trust him as their Lord and Savior. Just as God had miraculously fed their ancestors with manna for 40 years in the desert, so now Jesus miraculously fed them. Jesus must be who he says he is, the Son of God.

Jesus completely controls the situation to provide these people with a sign.

Wouldn’t it be great if Jesus gave you a sign or two for your life? We’d love to pray, “Just do this for me Lord and then I’ll know you truly care about me.” But Jesus once said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah” (Lk. 11:29). Jesus was speaking about his death and resurrection. We have “seen” those signs. They are the greatest acts of our Lord’s saving love and power for us. There is nothing greater that we could see. And yet we doubt. We worry. We fret. We fail to trust. But that’s what his greatest signs were all about. They were his means to forgive us, to redeems us, to make us his own, not so that he can wave an almighty hand over whatever ails us in this life, but so that he can bless us with life with him forever. The next time your life appears to be out of control, recall what your Savior has already done for you. His blood-stained cross. His empty tomb. Jesus completely controls the situation.

Part II.

John begins our text with the words, “Some time after this.” He’s not very specific. But the other gospel writers are. They inform us that it was both the best of times and the worst of times for Jesus. Regarding the good things, the disciples had just returned from a brief mission trip and reported to Jesus about their preaching and even the miracles that Jesus enabled the disciples themselves to do. It was amazing!

But it was also the worst of times. While the disciples were out on this trip, John the Baptist was beheaded by King Herod. Such news deeply affected Jesus. He knew it would affect his disciples as well. No doubt they would realize that they might suffer the same fate.

So Jesus controlled this situation involving thousands of people coming towards him to help his disciples. He tested them. Before the crowd even arrived he asked them where they could buy bread for all these people. He directed his question to Philip. He wasn’t trying to single him out. Philip was from that very area. If anyone would know where that much bread was located, it would be Philip. And then Jesus began healing the people and teaching them.

The other gospel writers tell us that then evening approached and the subject of food surfaced again. By this time the disciples had thoroughly evaluated the situation. Philip even had a number. Not even 8 months’ wages would suffice even if there were that much bread to be purchased. So they told Jesus to send the people away to buy their own bread. Jesus told them, “You feed them.” That’s when Andrew chimed in, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish.” And then he rightly added, “But how far will they go among so many?”

And that’s when Jesus had them right where he wanted them. They had exhausted all their own means of solving the problem. They had concluded it’s hopeless. What Jesus wanted them to do was beyond their ability, far beyond it. And that’s when he told them, “Have the people sit down.” He’s in complete control of the situation.

He wanted them simply to do as they were told and to trust him for the results. And that’s exactly what happened. As the disciples themselves distributed the bread and the fish, it multiplied before their very eyes. The more they handed out, the more there was.

And a little more than a year later, on the Day of Pentecost, the disciples completely trusted Jesus to do the difficult work ahead of them—a work that seemed humanly impossible—sharing Jesus with the rest of the world. They could do so, knowing that Jesus completely controls the situation.

Jesus doesn’t manipulate people, but he does control the situation. He controlled this situation to test the faith of his disciples and to make that faith stronger. He does the same thing in your life. The question is, “How will you respond?” In doubt and hopelessness and despair? Lord, may your sacrifice for sins cover ours! Instead, cling to him by faith! He even controlled the events leading to his cruel death on the cross to win the greatest blessings for us. Indeed, Jesus controls the situation. Trust him! Amen.