John 6:1–21

6:1–15 Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand. As we have seen elsewhere in John, this transition to a new section in the Gospel is marked by statements of time, “After this. . . . the Passover . . . was at hand” (vv. 1, 4); place, “the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. . . . on the mountain” (vv. 1, 3); and people involved, “Jesus. . . . a large crowd. . . . with his disciples” (vv. 1, 2, 3).

In chapter 5, Jesus was in Jerusalem interacting with his opponents, while the disciples of Jesus were last mentioned in 4:33. Now in chapter 6 Jesus is across Galilee with his disciples and a gathering crowd.

The gathering crowd poses a problem for Jesus to solve, a problem Jesus takes upon himself: “Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’” (v. 5).

We might ask why Jesus believes it is his responsibility to feed these people. He has not invited them, nor has he sought to gather a crowd, but when the people of Israel gather to the King of Israel, he proves himself to be their Shepherd (cf. Mark 6:34). Jesus assumes responsibility for these people because he is good, because he loves, because he came not to be served but to serve. No crowd is too big for Jesus to feed.

John lets his audience in on the secret: “He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do” (John 6:6). In view of this reality, we do well to ponder the question that Jesus asked Philip. If Jesus was fishing for a certain kind of answer from Philip, what kind of answer did he seek?

It would seem that Jesus here invites Philip to recall the way the Lord had made a table in the wilderness for his people (cf. Ps. 78:19). Jesus likely would have been very pleased had Philip responded that he did not know how the people would be fed, but surely God would be able to provide for his people in the wilderness just has he had done in the time of the exodus. Instead, “Philip answered him, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little’” (John 6:7). This is a big crowd, whose needs apparently surpass the resources at hand.

Another disciple, Andrew, comes to Jesus to report, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” (v. 9). These two statements seem to communicate hopeless effort. On the one hand, it seems Andrew is trying to help. On the other hand, he plainly sees the futility of the meager food in the face of massive need.

In response, Jesus gives instructions for the five thousand to be seated (v. 10; cf. Matt. 14:21), and the way John words his description of Jesus’ next actions seems intended to evoke a later occasion in which Jesus will break bread and give thanks: “Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated” (John 6:11). The phrase “when he had given thanks” is also found at the institution of the Lord’s Supper in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, as well as in Paul’s account in 1 Corinthians 11:24. Further, in John 6:53 Jesus refers to those who eat his flesh and drink his blood. John seems to mean for his audience to connect the provision Jesus makes for the five thousand with the provision he makes for all who trust him at the Lord’s Supper.

Notice how Jesus distributes the bread and fish: he gives the people “as much as they wanted” (v. 11). Those who go to God to get their needs met will not find him stingy. God will give as much as is wanted of what we need. This does not mean we will have everything we want according to sinful desire, but it does mean that God will meet the needs of his people. Christ is enough and more to satisfy forever and always.

As happened when Elisha fed what seemed like too little bread to too many men and yet they had some left (2 Kings 4:42–44), so here we read of the plenteous abundance of the provision Jesus made (John 6:12–13). The twelve baskets parallel the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles. Jesus will provide for all his people.

The people’s response to the sign in verse 14 indicates Jesus has convinced them he is the prophesied prophet like Moses of Deuteronomy 18:15–18. This response would seem to indicate that they recognize the correspondence between the manna from heaven under the ministry of Moses and the multiplied loaves from the hands of Jesus. They see in Jesus the prophet like Moses. Jesus realizes this, “perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king” (John 6:15). The crowds concluded that Jesus fulfilled what was spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:15–18, and Jesus knew this would prompt the crowd to identify him as the coming king from David’s line. Like Moses, David was a shepherd. Like Moses, David was a prophet. And the crowds seem prepared to recognize the prophet like Moses as the king like David.

In response to his perception of the crowd’s intentions, “Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself” (John 6:15). Moses had gone up Mount Sinai and remained alone on the mountain with God forty days and forty nights (Ex. 24:18); and like Moses, Jesus withdrew by himself to the mountain.

Jesus is the prophet like Moses. Jesus is the offspring of David. How do we know? Jesus is the feeder of the multitude, healer of the sick, Savior of the world, bringer of new birth by the Spirit, builder of the torn-down temple, maker of wine from water, and walker who treads the waves.

6:16–21 Jesus Walks on Water. In John 6:16–18 John once again tells us about time, “evening. . . . It was now dark” (vv. 16, 17); place, “the sea, . . . started across the sea to Capernaum. . . . The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing” (vv. 16, 17, 18); and people involved, “his disciples. . . . Jesus had not yet come to” (vv. 16, 17). These details set the scene for what Jesus does next.

The Sea of Galilee is about seven miles wide at its broadest, so if the disciples “had rowed about three or four miles” (v. 19) they were right in the middle of the lake. At that point, “they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened” (v. 19). Naturally! Job 9:8 says that God “alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea.” Who could walk on the sea? Water does not hold together under the weight of mortal man. It separates, and we sink when we step on it. Not so with Jesus.

In response to the fright of the disciples, Jesus “said to them, ‘It is I; do not be afraid’” (John 6:20). Those words “It is I” could just as well be rendered, “I Am.” And he is. Jesus has been announced as God (1:1), and he has asserted his equality with God (5:17; cf. 5:18). He does what only God could do by walking on water (6:19), and now he identifies himself as Yahweh, the one who appeared to Moses in the burning bush, by announcing God’s own covenantal name as his means of self-identification (cf. Mark 6:48; Ex. 34:6).

Jesus is the prophet like Moses (John 6:14). He is the son of David (v. 15). And he is the incarnation of Yahweh (v. 20). He has fed the five thousand in the wilderness with the Passover near, fulfilling the pattern of provision in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. Like Moses, he withdrew to the mountain alone. And just as Israel went through the Red Sea on dry land, Jesus has walked the waves of Galilee as one treads the turf of terra firma.

Psalm 107:25–30 speaks of a storm at sea (v. 25), in response to which God’s people call on his name (v. 28) and he calms the storm (v. 29). “Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven” (v. 30). Similarly, after the strong wind blew on the sea in John 6, we read, “Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going” (v. 21). From the middle of the lake to the shore of their destination, Jesus brought them to “their desired haven.”