The boy who gives
Notes
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Introdcution: Jesus’ question (v5-6)
the common perpective when we look at this passage - the miracles itself on how Jesus has fed the five thousand. This morning, we want to look for a very different perspective, by focusing on the boy.
who is this boy? the common understanding of a little boy.
the truth of this boy - long for Jesus, thirst for His word, willingness to give his limited resources to the Lord. he took initiative and wanted to offer what he had. He was with the crowd listening to Jesus’ teaching until very late ().
Jesus’ question: Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? (v5) the underlying need is the problem of hunger. At the sight of the crowd, Jesus’ sympathy was kindled. They were hungry and tired, and they must be fed. However, Jesus did not only fulfill their physical hunger, but spiritual hunger as well. Today, God is asking us the same question.
When Jesus asked the question he already had ini mind what he was going to do. He was going to use a little boy to fulfill his plan. This might be shocking for many of us. How could a little boy be part of God’s work and plan?
What would be our response when we are asked? There are three possible responses.
first response: Philip’s response (v7) - unbelief/no faith
“It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite”. / “are you going to spend that much for them to eat?”
Problem bigger than God.
do not understand God’s heart
do not see the boy at all. Sometime, we even discredit the children. “we have here only five loaves of bread and two fish”. They do not even bother to mention the boy, where these food came from. perhaps, they want to kept them for themeselves.
Philip’s response betrays the fact that he can think only at the level of the marketplace, the natural world. He was too materialistic and secularistic in seeing God’s kingdom. Philip thinks only in terms of the immediate reality of limited resources and makes his calculations accordingly
Sadly, our response to the Lord’s testing is too often the same as Philip’s. We measure the need, quantify our inadequate resources, and resign in hopelessness. It is all beyond us; the need cannot be met
Philip thinks only in terms of the immediate reality of limited resources and makes his calculations accordingly
Milne, B. (1993). The message of John: here is your king!: with study guide (p. 106). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
it has nothing to do with our years in following Christ. Sometimes, we just still no confidence in what God is going to do with the kids. Philip, who had been his disciple from the first, and had seen all his miracles, and particularly that of his turning water into wine, and therefore it might be expected that he should have said, “Lord, if thou wilt, it is easy to thee to feed them all.” the most likely person to understand God’s heart, can sometimes be the most likely person who do not see God’s plan. Philip was of Bethsaida, in the neighbourhood of which town Christ now was, and therefore he was most likely to help them to provision at the best hand; and probably much of the company was known to him, and he was concerned for them. Now Christ asked, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_child_saints
Philip
Second response: Andrew’s response (v8-9) - doubt/little faith/weak faith
“here is a boy with five small barley laoves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
solution bigger than God
partially understand God’s heart
see the boy but do not believe that God will use them. with limitation/reservation. do not think what the child has can make a difference. Andrew’s contribution is to introduce a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish (v. 9). Only the Fourth Gospel specifies that these were barley loaves, the inexpensive bread of the poorer classes. something that is inferior.
The ‘small fish’ (opsaria) were probably pickled fish to be eaten as a side dish with the small cakes (scarcely ‘loaves’) of barley bread (though cf. notes on 21:9, 10, 13). Andrew’s point, of course, was that this tiny meal was ludicrously inadequate to the need. ikan bilis, sometime we see our children as such as well.
The ‘small fish’ (opsaria) were probably pickled fish to be eaten as a side dish with the small cakes (scarcely ‘loaves’) of barley bread (though cf. notes on 21:9, 10, 13). Andrew’s point, of course, was that this tiny meal was ludicrously inadequate to the need
Andrew’s contribution is to introduce a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish (v. 9). Only the Fourth Gospel specifies that these were barley loaves, the inexpensive bread of the poorer classes
Carson, D. A. (1991). The Gospel according to John (p. 270). Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans.
however, he at least did something better than Philip. that was he went to look for this boy, while Philip never thought of looking for the boy who has his limited resources. It was Andrew who brought that young boy to Jesus, and by bringing him made the miracle possible. No one ever knows what will come out of it when we bring someone to Jesus. If parents train up their children in the knowledge and the love and the fear of God, no one can say what mighty things those children may some day do for God and for others. If a Sunday School teacher brings a child to Christ, no one knows what that child may some day do for Christ and his Church.
There is a tale of an old German schoolmaster who, when he entered his class of boys in the morning, used to remove his cap and bow ceremoniously to them. One asked him why he did this. His answer was: ‘You never know what one of these boys may some day become.’ He was right—one of them was the founder of the Reformation, Martin Luther. Andrew did not know what he was doing when he brought that boy to Jesus that day, but he was providing material for a miracle. We never know what possibilities we are releasing when we bring someone to Jesus.
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Take Edward Kimball, for an example. Never heard of him? Rest assured – most people have never heard of him. Kimball was a Sunday school teacher who not only prayed for the hyper boys in his class but also sought to win each one to the Lord personally. He decided he would be intentional with every single last one of them. Surely he thought about throwing in the towel. If you have ever taught the Bible to young boys, you know that the experience can often be like herding cats. One young man, in particular, didn’t seem to understand what the gospel was about so Kimball went to the shoe store where he was stocking shelves and confronted him in the stock room with the importance of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That young man was Dwight L. Moody. In the stockroom on that Saturday, he believed the gospel and received Jesus Christ as his Savior. In his lifetime, Moody touched two continents for God, with thousands professing Christ through his ministry.
Third response: Jesus’ response (v10-11) - complete faith
“have the people sit down”
God is bigger than every problem and solution
completely understand God’s heart
see the boy and believe that God will use them.
gave thanks - for the boy? (v11)
our responses determine the outcome of what a child can contribute. if we do not believe them, then they cannot do anything great for God’s kingdom. If we trust them, equip them, enrich them, empower them, then their contribution is greater than what we could imagine.
Our responses
who has taught this boy so well that he was willing to give? that was his lunch prepared by his mum. it could most probably be his mother. The mother of this boy must have taught him well. The boy had not much to bring. Barley bread was the cheapest of all bread and was held in contempt. There is a regulation in the Mishnah about the offering that a woman who has committed adultery must bring. She must, of course, bring a trespass offering. With all offerings a food offering was made, and the food offering consisted of flour and wine and oil intermixed. Ordinarily the flour used was made of wheat; but it was laid down that, in the case of an offering for adultery, the flour could be barley flour, for barley is the food of animals, and the woman’s sin was the sin of an animal. Barley bread was the bread of the very poor.
The fishes would be no bigger than sardines. Pickled fish from Galilee were known all over the Roman Empire. In those days, fresh fish was an unheard-of luxury, for there was no means of transporting it any distance and keeping it in an eatable condition. Small sardine-like fish swarmed in the Sea of Galilee. They were caught and pickled and made into a kind of savoury. The boy had his little pickled fish to help the dry barley bread down.
because of what this boy has done, the need of hunger was met and abundance was experienced (v12-13)
because of what this boy has done, Jesus’ miracle is perfomed, Jesus’ name is known, Jesus’ glory is uplifted. (v14-15)
There was the boy. He had not much to offer, but in what he had Jesus found the materials of a miracle. There would have been one great deed fewer in history if that boy had withheld his loaves and fishes.
Jesus needs what we can bring him. It may not be much, but he needs it. It may well be that the world is denied miracle after miracle and triumph after triumph because we will not bring to Jesus what we have and what we are. If we would lay ourselves on the altar of his service, there is no saying what he could do with us and through us. We may be sorry and embarrassed that we have not more to bring—and rightly so; but that is no reason for failing to bring what we have. Little is always much in the hands of Christ.
THE RESPONSE OF THE CR
story: Temple Baptist Church in Philadelphia ( Hattie May Wiatt )
https://library.temple.edu/collections/scrc/hattie
Read more at Story : How Temple Baptist Church, Philadelphia Came Into Being http://www.turnbacktogod.com/story-how-temple-baptist-church-philadelphia-came-into-being/#ixzz5vzeNOput
Reflection and application
how do u see the children at home? What have you done to equip, to enrich, to empower them?
Young Christian martyr: https://epicpew.com/25-saints-younger/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_child_saints
Conclusion (v12-15)
this is a significant miracle. it is the only iracle recorded in all four gospel. through the miracles, Jesus teaches the crowd that he is the bread of life. The significance of the sign was expounded by the Lord in a long discourse (vv. 22–71). The miracle was spectacular, and it caused a peak in the people’s messianic expectations. it is also in this significant miracle that he chose the little kid to be his partner
Blum, E. A. (1985). John. In J. F. Walvoord & R. B. Zuck (Eds.), The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures (Vol. 2, p. 293). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.it is in this significant miracle that he chose the little kid to be his partner
our responses determine the outcome of what a child can contribute. if we do not believe them, then they cannot do anything great for God’s kingdom. If we trust them, equip them, enrich them, empower them, then their contribution is greater than what we could imagine.
Young Christian martyr: https://epicpew.com/25-saints-younger/
how do u see the children at home? What have you done to equip, to enrich, to empower them?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_child_saints
Young Christian martyr: https://epicpew.com/25-saints-younger/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_child_saints
Challenge: be the one who play a part in these children’s lives.
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
Unless the Lord builds the house,
the builders labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the guards stand watch in vain.
In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
Children are a heritage from the Lord,
offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their opponents in court.
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.