A God Without Our Limits

A GOD WITHOUT OUR LIMITS

Matthew 14:13, John 6:1-14

Introduction: The passage before us is a very familiar one-perhaps one of the most famous incidents from the life of Christ. The ironic thing about familiar passages is that to avoid bad preaching we have to be more careful, not less. There have been so many opportunities for traditions and opinions to become fixed as more and more times we have come at this passage with the attitude, "I know what it says," that we have to be extremely careful in handling this passage, to avoid confusing what this text says with what we have heard over and over.

I would like to suggest one fundamental starting point to guide our study: this Book [the Bible] is not ultimately about us; It's about Him. It's His story, His revelation about Himself. If we miss this, we miss the point of the Book, and we begin to lose our bearings as we navigate Its various parts. In short, as we study the Bible we look for what God is teaching us about Himself, not for what's in it for us.

Of course, we always start with the context. The passage starts with the phrase ?????????? - "After these". This doesn't mean that this immediately follows the events of chapter five. In fact, there has been quite a gap (6:4 cf. 5:1). If the feast of chapter 5 was the Feast of Tabernacles we have a 6-month gap; if it was Passover, we have a 1-year gap, during which (we learn from Matthew and Mark) Jesus was ministering throughout the most populous area of Galilee. Crowds had begun to gather every time Jesus made an appearance. And the crowds kept getting bigger and bigger, swelling with numbers of pilgrims traveling to observe Passover.

Yet, Jesus turns His back on the crowds and withdraws with His disciples. There were at least two reasons for this: the disciples had just returned from their first evangelistic outreach and needed the rest; and Herod's execution of John the Baptist had prompted Jesus to enter semi-seclusion for a time.

The retreat was held at Beth-saida, the "house of fishing". An interesting side note about this place is that both unclean and clean fish swam in the waters here. In fact, the Jewish rabbis debated whether or not that made the waters unsuitable for cooking. Perhaps there is something symbolic in the location God chose for this miracle, although John was not writing primarily to Jews.

So Jesus went on a staff retreat with His disciples. BUT word got out where He was. A great crowd was approaching. Jesus saw their needs and began to minister to them, even in His exhaustion and sorrow. As the day wore on the disciples wanted to send them away to fend for themselves. Jesus' reaction was different. Matt. 14:15-16

Spurgeon paints the picture in his imitable style:

"Look, there are the people! Five thousand of them, as hungry as hunters, and they all need to have food given to them, for they cannot any of them travel to buy it! And here is the provision! Five thin wafers - and those of barley, more fit for horses than for men - and two little anchovies, by way of a relish! Five thousand people and five little biscuits wherewith to feed them! The disproportion is enormous: if each one should have only the tiniest crumb, there would not be sufficient."

* What happens next is profound-far too profound to be cheapened into some sort of "Jesus will give you stuff" sermon.

- v. 2 refers to the "signs" that Jesus performed. Some translations say "miracles," but we have to be careful-the ??????, "signs" had a very specific purpose, and it wasn't about making sick people feel better. These were the Messianic credentials. The marginal reference in the NASB calls these "attesting miracles." These were signs to identify Jesus as the Messiah.

If we miss that, we miss the point of the whole story-a story so important that it is the only miracle recorded by all four Evangelists. But if we keep our gaze focused on Christ, rather than on the bread, we will gain tremendous insights into the God and Savior we serve.

* We'll take these in no particular order, except to build up to the main point behind this account.

1. We have a God Who is sovereign. (vs. 1-4)

- None of this just happened. They were right where they were supposed to be, when they were supposed to be there. The hungry crowd was not unforeseen. It was not the result of an oversight. Jesus was not reacting to a situation that "came up".

Acts 2:22-23; 4:27-28

* And don't think of God's sovereignty as sort of working everything out in the end, of tying up the loose ends, nor of just making sure the big things don't get out of hand. God's sovereignty is exhaustive. He controls the blizzard and every snowflake.

Lk. 12:6-7

"Are not ??five sparrows sold for two ??cents? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.

7 "??Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows."

* Jesus was not the only person on that hillside for a reason. Over 5,000 lives had been directed from birth - before that, even - to put each and every person on that hillside that day. Pause a moment to let the full impact of that hit you. God's sovereignty is staggering to contemplate.

2. We have a God Who is both transcendent and immanent.

* That sovereign God was standing there on the hillside before them, healing the sick and ministering to the crowd. God is transcendent - He is high, holy, exalted far above us. AND He is immediately accessible. Isa. 57:15

- We must be very careful that we do not tip or overcorrect in our thinking-that we expound His transcendence but ignore His immanence, or vice versa.

3. We have a God Who patiently teaches us. (vs. 5-6)

* Obviously Jesus was not testing Phillip's managerial and organizational skills. And Jesus was not trying to gain some information He did not have. This test was not about Jesus learning about Phillip; it was about Phillip learning about Jesus (v. 6).

- The testing here was ????????. There were two Greek words in the New Testament, with slightly different meanings. This kind of testing was trial "with the purpose of discovering what of good or evil, of power or weakness, was in a person or thing . . . or, where this was already known to the trier, revealing the same to the tried themselves . . . so that men may, and often do, come out of them holier, humbler, stronger than they were when they entered in." [Trench]

- The way I hear Christians talk, there are times when it seems like we start to feel like we are just taxing God's patience, like we are just wearing His grace thin. Surely we're taking too long, we should be over this or that sin by now, we should be farther along than we are.

- May I remind you that God is the One Who wrote the rule book. He could glorify us instantly - in fact, He will one day. But He doesn't. For whatever reasons (and He does have His reasons) He has chosen to sanctify us slowly over our entire lifetime.

- YES, God has said, "Be ye holy, for I am holy". But how? By a tremendous act of self-effort? NEVER!!! By a lifetime of submitting to the work of the Holy Spirit!!!

Ps. 25:8-12

* How many disciples did Jesus fire?

4. We have a God Who lets us play. Matt. 14:15-20

* Could Jesus have created the food out of nothing? Yet he chose to use a young boy's lunch. The Greek word translated "lad" in v. 9 is ?????????. It's a diminutive word. We have something like it in English-instead of "child" we say "kid". This word referred to a "young slave".

- That's why his lunch included barley loaves - that was poor food. (Rev. 6:6)

- If Andrew were around today, he would say, "Lord, here is a punk kid off the street."

- Jesus let that little urchin have a part in one of the greatest miracles of all history.

* And these disciples had no idea what the plan was. They had no idea how Jesus was going to feed the multitude-in fact, He'd just told them to do it! Then they had promptly blown it once again (v. 7). In fact, they were forgetting what they had learned as little kids in synagogue. Num. 11:21-23, 31-32

- Yet, to whom did Jesus turn to serve the bread?

F. B. Meyer wrote:

"In all our Lord's miracles there is a marvelous economy of power. The servants must fill the water-pots with water before He makes it wine. Jairus and the mother must give their daughter something to eat when the Master has given her back to them. Others must roll away the stone, though only He can throw the life-giving Word into the tomb. So here. He used the lad's loaves and fishes as the basis of the miracle; and instead of distributing the food by miraculous agency, He passed it through the hands of the disciples, giving them a memorable share in the joyous work."

- When God wanted multitudes fed with the Bread of Life, to whom did he turn? Us.

Illus: When I was in high school we had a baseball coach who only played his starters. The whole season, that was it. Nine guys. The rest of the team never got off the bench. They existed only to help the starters warm up. The football coach was another story. He liked to give everybody a shot at game time. If nothing else, if you were totally clueless, he'd put you on the field for a kickoff. Why? He wasn't interested in making history; he was interested in making men. He let you play. What a gift.

* TEENAGERS - That is how we need to view the will of God. It's not God saying, "Where can I put her to make sure she has no fun?" It's God saying, "Get off the bench; I'm going to let you play."

5. We have a God Who worked miracles to display His glory.

* I touched on this earlier, so we won't spend much time here. Now, while there is a technical distinction to be made, that the signs performed by Jesus and the Apostles are not performed today; there are miracles performed today.

- There are people alive today despite assurances by doctors that they would be dead years ago. There are people sitting here this morning who have been the recipient of a miracle.

- Our culture drives us inward, building up layer upon layer of protective shell around ourselves. Don't miss out on the amazing people around you.

- But as you rejoice with them over what God has done, DON'T EVER let the miracle become about them. Miracles today are done for the same reason that they were then-to point to GOD!!!

- When you see a preacher on TV who is making healing and other miracles about YOU, two words should come to mind: FALSE TEACHER.

* But don't let those heretical con artists cause you to doubt that God can and does perform miracles today - for His glory.

Jer. 32:17-20

17 '??Ah Lord ??God! Behold, You have ??made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! ??Nothing is too difficult for You,

18 who ??shows lovingkindness to thousands, but ??repays the iniquity of fathers into the bosom of their children after them, O ??great and ??mighty God. The ??Lord of hosts is His name;

19 ??great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose ??eyes are open to all the ways of the sons of men, ??giving to everyone according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds;

20 who has ??set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, and even to this day both in Israel and among mankind; and You have ??made a name for Yourself, as at this day."

6. We have a God Who does not work mechanistically.

(vs. 12-13)

* Now look at another, similar incident: Matt. 15:32-38

- Fewer people, more food to start with; but . . . fewer leftovers. It's out of proportion!

* A sovereign God does not operate according to tables, charts, and sets of formulas. This is another fallacy we've fallen into. I call it the "Jabez Fallacy". God is not a cosmic vending machine!

7. We have a God Who demands stewardship. (v. 12)

- Jesus had just created food for thousands out of nothing. Why bother taking the time to collect up the leftovers? What is He teaching? As one old preacher put it, "The bounties of Providence are not to be squandered."

- The fact that God abundantly supplies is never an excuse for wastefulness. Neh. 9:25-26

- Our God demands stewardship. You and I will one day give account of our time, money, talents, everything - to a God Who had His disciples gather up leftovers.

- This is especially important if, as some have suggested, this is symbolic of the preservation of the Church.

8. We have a God Who is never limited by circumstances.

* Learn from the disciples that when God directs we are foolish to begin to recite our assets and liabilities. If God is sending you to a task, it is not because He didn't realize the difficulties.

- "But I'm the only Christian in my workplace . . . on my block . . . in the whole city!" So many Christians respond to God, "but what is that among so many?"

- The simple answer is: in God's hands, it's MORE THAN ENOUGH!!

- Get your eyes off of your circumstances, your resources, your solutions; and behold your God!!

9. We have a God Who is compassionate. Matt. 14:13-14

Mark 6:34

"When Jesus went ??ashore, He ??saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because ??they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things."

The historian Edersheim wrote:

"Presently, as He saw the great multitudes gathering, He was 'moved with compassion toward them.'?? ?? There could be no question of retirement or rest in view of this. Surely, it was the opportunity which God had given-a call which came to Him from His Father. Every such opportunity was unspeakably precious to Him, Who longed to gather the lost under His wings. . . . It was this depth of longing and intenseness of pity which now ended the Saviour's rest, and brought Him down from the hill to meet the gathering multitude in the 'desert' plain beneath." 1

* The word translated "felt compassion" or "was moved with compassion" is a powerful word. It refers to feeling a pity or sympathy at the core of your being. And in the New Testament it is a word used exclusively of God. It is a feeling ascribed to God.

Kittel's Theological Dictionary of the NT says that this word "characterizes the Divine nature of [Jesus'] acts".

- Think about this: people look at the Old Testament God as angry, vengeful. Even today many Christians look at God the Father as a scowling, stern, distant God.

- But when Jesus acts out of pity and sympathy, it is not His humanity coming out; it is His Deity!! Ps. 23

* It was humanity - in the form of the disciples - that wanted to send the crowds away; it was God Who stepped in and fed them!

- We must NEVER be guilty of sending away those the Savior would feed!

* Let me break off a couple of $10 words on you. Our God is both benevolent and beneficent. He is benevolent, that is, He is disposed to good; and He is beneficent, that is, He actually does good for us.

* And we know that God loves us NOT because of who we are, but because of Who He is!

- That takes a lot of pressure off, doesn't it? The Christian life is not about performance and activity!! It is about a living, loving relationship!!

1 John 4:19

"We love Him because He first loved us."

10. We have a God Who supplies and Who IS the supply.

(vs. 26-35)

* Jesus wasn't feeding them bread because they were hungry and needed a meal. This was an object lesson for a sermon He was about to preach.

- There were actually two miracles in which Jesus exercised His creative power in public view, refreshing and nourishing the crowd that was watching. The other took place at a wedding in the little town of Cana. What did He create there?

- Bread and wine. Sound familiar?

* Jesus IS the provision. No detail of this miracle was accidental. The bread pointed to Jesus as the Bread of Life. While they were preparing to celebrate the Passover, the great Passover Lamb was feeding them.

- It is no accident, by the way, that immediately following this miracle Jesus' next act is walking on the water in the middle of a storm. In the Passover that Israel was about to celebrate there were two elements that were primarily commemorated: God's provision of bread in the wilderness and His control over water (at the Red Sea).

- The Psalmist uses these two mercies of God as his theme in Psalm 78. These are the two miracles Paul mentions to the Corinthians in 1 Cor. 10. No accident.

- This miracle was Christ pointing to Himself as the meaning of Passover, as the salvation that God has sent.

- And, He has committed to us, His followers, to break forth the Bread of Life to a hungry world.

Conclusion: This miracle has an element of judgment to it. The sign of the feeding is going to divide the people into two groups: those who saw Jesus feed the multitude and said, "Wow! Cool! Do it again!" and those who saw it and said, "Messiah!" - those who focused on the bread and those who focused on the Bread.

Christ is your provision. Not simply of physical food or healing-that is what that crowd wanted in a Messiah. He provided what only He as God could provide: life. And He invites you to partake.

Isa. 55:1-7

* That is what this miracle is all about: a God without any of our limits, Who clothed Himself in flesh to save His people from their sin.

And just as the bread was broken on that hill to feed many, the Bread of life was broken on another hill to save many.

1Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (Bellingham, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1896, 2003), 1:679.

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