The Feeding of the Five Thousand

Well, we are still in our series, "Christ the Son of God, Believe and Live," and we are transitioning into John chapter 6. So if you would, take your Bible and turn with me to John chapter 6. We are starting a new portion of scripture, really a new story, a new setting in the ministry of Jesus. I think we will start to see a pattern develop as we're following Christ in His earthly ministry, and we will see Him transition from place to place, people to people, and new story after new story, because I think we will see and we'll understand as we reflect that chapter 5 was a story in the ministry of Jesus.

Now we have finished Jesus' time there in Jerusalem, which did begin in the beginning of John chapter 5, starting in verse 1. Now you'll remember that Jesus did cause quite a stir when He healed that crippled man there on the Sabbath. Of course, He made matters worse with the religious establishment when He began to equate Himself with God. Jesus does this throughout His time there in Jerusalem, and remember, He even brought about on the scene witnesses to solidify His claim to deity. Now within chapter 5, we really need to remember verse 18. We don't have to turn there, but verse 18 says that the Jewish leadership sought to kill Jesus.

It weren't from persecution to seeking to kill Jesus. Now this was because what Jesus did and what Jesus taught really infuriated the Jewish leadership. They saw His claims to deity. They understood what He said, although they were not believing in their heart, and we see that Jesus had a pretty interesting time, but yet a fruitful time in teaching and preaching there in Jerusalem. Now as we get into John chapter 6, we will notice some similarities between chapter 5 and chapter 6. Let me show you a few. Jesus performs very public ministries in both chapters.

In both chapters, Jesus teaches that He is deity, and in both chapters we see people's rejection of Jesus. Now I want to show you something that I'm going to emphasize all through John chapter 6. We are going to examine people's reactions to Jesus, to Jesus' ministry, and to Jesus' message. And we're going to see that there are certain people within this chapter, John chapter 6, and we're going to notice their reaction and how they deal with who Jesus was and what Jesus taught. Now as I said earlier, we are starting a new story, a new setting in the ministry of Jesus. Now in the text that's before us, we see this indicated in verse 1.

Look with me at verse 1. We're not going to read all of the text just now, but I want to show you some things of introduction. Verse 1, "After these things," this shows us that there is a transition in Jesus' ministry. A new place or a new setting is coming about. Now we saw this previously in chapter 5 verse 1. After these things, meaning that after His ministry in Samaria, remember He went from Samaria to Jerusalem. When He went to Jerusalem, He went up to the temple complex there and He healed that man by the pool. So after these things indicates that transition.

And see, that might help you because in your study of this gospel, you might see that when you see this language, this shows you that Jesus is in transition. Now something else that you need to understand for your study. With John's gospel, this is not a tight chronological order. This is a general description of the sequence of events in the ministry of Jesus. There are other events that took place in Jesus' ministry between John chapter 5 and John chapter 6.

So if you take the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and you put them as a picture all together layer upon layer, you will begin to see a more holistic picture of the ministry of Jesus. There's just certain truth that John does not give us. Specifically, I'll give you some examples. In Matthew chapters 5 through 7 are between John chapters 5 and 6. Also Matthew chapter 13 is between John chapter 5 and 6. Also Luke chapter 6 verses 9 through 10 are between John 5 and 6. And in Mark chapter 3 on through to chapter 6 verse 30 are between John chapter 5 and chapter 6.

I'm not trying to confuse you, but I'm trying to show you that this little phrase after these things, it indicates a transition in Jesus' ministry, but this does not indicate a tight chronological order. There are certain things that the synoptics give us in between what John gives us. And we're going to refer to Mark and his gospel and his account of this feeding of the 5,000 as we study John. And I also want us to notice some specifics about this new setting. You will notice also in verse 1 it says, "After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Tiberius or the Sea of Galilee." Now what do we have here?

All the translations that we study use Sea of Galilee or Sea of Tiberius. Why two different names? Is this confusing to us? Let me give you a little explanation. The Sea of Galilee is a Greek name for this body of water. While the Sea of Tiberius came from a city that was built on the lake to honor the Roman Emperor Tiberius. And many of you have probably heard of this Emperor Tiberius. But this water was situated in the northern part of Israel. And this phrase on the other side, because what does it say? He went away on the other side. This phrase on the other side.

It indicates that Jesus was across from the city on the eastern side and it was comprised of barren hill country. So what do we see? In a nutshell we see Jesus, he leaves Jerusalem, he leaves this hostile Jewish crowd, these hostile Jewish leaders, and he goes north. And he goes north to the hillsides of the Sea of Galilee. And just as in chapter 5, Jesus does attract people. But we will see here in John 6 that Jesus attracts a large, vast crowd, a multitude of people. Now we're going to look at what I'm calling simply the feeding of the 5,000. We're going to look at verses 1 through 14.

And you see on the screens the truths that we're going to look at out of these verses. Verse 1 really gives us this new setting, this new story. It indicates this transition and it really sets the stage for what we are going to see in the rest of these verses. You will see that we will learn of the crowd and their fickle faith, the disciples and their faithlessness, the great miracle or the great sign. John uses this word sign. And then forth, the crowd and their physical faith. You will notice that we will deal with two different crowds and the disciples. We will look at different types of faith.

A fickle faith, a faithlessness out of the disciples, and then a physical faith. And there in the middle is the miracle. Let's look at the scripture together. I'm going to read starting in verse 1. After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee or Tiberias. And a great multitude was following him because they were seeing the signs or the miracles. John uses the word signs, which he was performing on those who were sick. And Jesus went up on the mountain and he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the Feast of the Jews was at hand.

Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes and seeing that a great multitude was coming to him. He said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread that these people may eat?" And this he was saying to test them for he himself knew what he was intending to do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive even a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother said to him, "There is a lad or a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?" And Jesus said, "How the people sit down?" And there was much grass in the place.

So the men sat down in number about five thousand. Jesus therefore took the loaves and having given thanks, he distributed to those who were seated. Likewise, also the fish as much as they wanted. And when they were filled, he said to his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost." And so they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.

And when therefore the people saw the sign which he had performed, they said, "This is of a truth, the prophet who is to come into the world." Now, what we're seeing here is we're seeing Jesus feeding the five thousand. And out of Jesus feeding this five thousand, we see a great work and a great revelation among these people. And that is including the disciples. Now I want us to notice truth number one, the crowd and their fickle faith. The crowd and their fickle faith.

Look at verse two, "And a great multitude," or crowd was following him, "because they were seeing the signs which he was performing on those who were sick." Now Mark chapter six, verses thirty-three through forty-four gives us this account from Mark's perspective. Mark says that the people saw Jesus and his disciples and they ran on foot and they got there ahead of Jesus. The other gospel seemed to say that Jesus was seeking a quiet place of rest, but the crowds even beat him there. But I want you to notice some truths out of this verse. First, notice the sides of the crowd. The New American Standard says it was a multitude.

Later we will see out of verse ten that there were five thousand men that were seated. This indicates a very, very large crowd. Some of the writers that I read say that this could have been in excess of ten thousand, possibly twenty thousand people. If you think about it, when there are men, there are women. And when there are men and women, there are children. So it's not hard to believe that there could have been in excess of ten to fifteen thousand people. That's what the text says. I want us to notice the size of the crowd. Then second, I want us to see the motivation of the crowd.

Go back to the text, and a great multitude was following him because they were seeing the signs which he was performing on those who were sick. Now the text says they followed him because they were seeing the miracles, the signs he performed on the sick. That was their motivation or their reason for following Jesus. Now it is interesting to note that this word "following" here, in its original construction denotes that they were not just following in this one time event, but they were general followers. In other words, these were familiar faces to Jesus. They had seen what he had been doing.

They had been following him, and they were following him again. So in this verse, we see the motivation behind some of those who were following Jesus. So at this new setting, on this secluded side of the Sea of Galilee, this vast crowd literally chases Jesus down. But I want us to see that this was a fickle crowd. I like what John MacArthur calls them. He calls them thrill seekers. And it is very important to see that these were not converted people. They were stirred in their emotions before they wanted before, and they wanted to be stirred again. They wanted a thrill.

They wanted a "wow." I have called these people for years because I have studied this text for years. I have called them the "wow me crowd." We see this teaching over in Matthew 13, verse 5, and in Jesus' explanation in verse 20. That is the parable of the seed, the soil, the sower. And in that parable, Jesus illustrates the different types of people who hear the gospel. And in verse 5, we see that there are those who hear the gospel, and they receive that gospel message that their hearts are like rocky soil. And then in the explanation, Jesus explains that they receive that in their emotions. They wither away and they fall away.

They are not converted. Because one cannot follow Jesus, one cannot be converted only in their emotions. And what do we see? They wanted to be stirred. They wanted that thrill. They wanted a "wow." This was the "wow me crowd." They had a fickle faith, and I don't know if you realize it, but we have it today. And it is very prevalent in our culture. Listen, we have gospel singers that will come around and give us a "wow." We have big, famous preachers that will come around and give us a "wow." We have concerts. We have music performances that are supposed to be moving at Christmas and Easter. We have dramas and plays and lights and movies.

Why? Because in the church today, there are so many that they want to have their emotions stirred. They want a "wow." Now, I want to ask you a question. Are emotions wrong? No. Emotions are not wrong. But that can't be our motivation for following Jesus. If we try to suppress emotions, then we become mechanical. Emotions are a part of life. But that cannot be our number one motivation for following Jesus. And listen, I can give you example after example. I remember years ago, one of the churches I served on a Wednesday night, we had this concert with this famous person, and I'll never forget, sitting in the back.

He was up there singing, and the lights were bright. The music was loud, and he said, "Oh, I know all of you out there. Just love the Lord. You love Jesus." And I sat there with bitter tears rolling down my face, because I said to myself, "You do not know these people. Next Wednesday, they won't be here." And I remember looking at one lady over there. She happened to be to my left about halfway down. She was raising her hands, singing and seemingly worshiping. All along, she was leaving her husband. And that individual was selling a lie that if you follow in your emotions, you are a true follower.

I was talking to a student minister this week, and he was explaining to me how he had begun to see that a lot of these youth events are doing nothing more than stirring people and young people in their emotions. And that's what we have here. I'm sad to say there are a lot of churches, there are a lot of ministers, and there are a lot of ministries that all they do is enable people to follow Jesus just in their emotions. And all it does is produce a shallow, fickle faith. They want the next thrill, and it doesn't last. Let's move on. I want us to notice truth number two, the disciples and their faithlessness.

The disciples and their faithlessness. Look at verse three. We're going to go on down to verse nine. "Jesus, he went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews was at hand, Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes and seeing that the great multitude was coming, he said to Philip, 'Where are we to buy bread that these may eat?' And this he was saying to test him." To test him. What does it say? "For he himself knew what he was intending to do.

Philip answered him, and he said, 'Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them for anyone or everyone to receive a little.' One of his disciples, Andrew, that Simon Peters brother, said to him, 'There is a boy here, a lad, and he has five barley loaves of fish, but are these for so many people?'" Now what do we see? Jesus is revealing their faithlessness. Here we see the disciples and their reaction to the situation that is at hand. Now for Jesus, this situation did not sneak up on him. Jesus ordained this situation for the people and for the disciples.

And remember, the miracles, the signs, they were to point people to Christ, even the disciples. Now let's notice some things out of these verses. First notice that Jesus sits with his disciples. Look at verse 3, "Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat with his disciples." This shows us that Jesus was always wanting time with the disciples. Just as in chapter 3, verse 22, Jesus was in Judea spending time and he was teaching his disciples. Jesus here is teaching. He is working in their lives. And in every situation, Jesus is working in the lives of the disciples. Now they might be in the background, but Jesus is always working.

So he sits with his disciples. Second, Jesus reveals the problem. What does he say in verse 5? "Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes and seeing the great multitude coming and he asked Philip, where are we to buy bread that these may eat?" Jesus asked a question in revealing the problem. They had thousands of people and no food. And notice the setting. Remember the setting. There was nowhere to get food because they were across the sea from Tiberius. And what do we see? This is the great problem. Then third, Jesus tested them. Look at verse 6, "And this he was saying to test him." Jesus asked a question to test the disciples.

The New American reads test, the King James reads prove. Now Jesus, he was testing, he was proving them, but not in a negative sense. Now we know that the Lord does not tempt individuals, but a temptation is negative because it is a temptation to sin. But Jesus is not testing them in a negative sense, but Jesus was showing them what was in them. Have we not seen this before? Did not God test Abraham? He called Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. Oh God knew exactly what Abraham was going to do, but he was testing Abraham because Abraham did not know what Abraham was going to do. So this was a test for the disciples.

Then fourth, notice Philip's response. Philip answered and he said, "200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, even for everybody to get a little." Now Philip reveals his faithfulness by this response. If you do the math, this is what he's saying. Eight months of earnings for a common man won't buy enough bread for this crowd. That is what a 200 denarii was worth. He never even considered that Jesus could do anything in this situation. He just said, "Listen, it's not going to happen. Even eight months of wages for a common man won't even touch the situation." Fifth, notice Andrew's response.

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother said, "Here is a lad, a boy, and he has five barley loaves and two fish." But notice his question, "But what are these for so many people?" Philip simply gave an explanation as to why nothing could be done, but at least here we see that Andrew does try to do something. In Mark's account in chapter 3, verse 38, it says that Jesus told the disciples to go and to find food among the people. And it seems that Andrew is coming back with a report of their findings. Now it is interesting to see that this is a meal, but it was a very small and a meager and common meal.

The barley loaves were inexpensive bread and eaten by the poorest of the poor people, and the fishes here were seen as really a side dish. One writer that I read seems to laugh at calling these loaves "loves," indicating their insignificance, that they were really too small to be called a loaf. So this was a very insignificant small. He was really a poor person's meal. Now the disciples' spokesman, it seems that Philip and Andrew stepped up here as the spokesman. They reveal their faithlessness by their reaction to the situation. Philip just said, "This is not going to happen." I mean, it's just not going to happen.

Andrew, he said, "Here's what we have, but it's just not enough." So what do we see? They have a faithlessness. They do not see that the Lord Jesus can do anything in this situation. But had they not seen the other miracles? Had they not witnessed all that Jesus had done so far in His ministry? Yes. For you, for me, for us, I want to ask us a question. Are we faithless with some of the situations, the problems, the spiritual impossibilities that are before us? Do we really believe that God can work in like fashion today? Now, I'm not talking about bread and fish.

I'm talking about the spiritual problems that are before us, the spiritual problems in our own lives and families, the lostness that is around us, the territory that the strong man seems to have hold of. Are we faithless when we address and think about these situations? I'll give you a great example of one who was not faithless. I heard this this week in some of my personal study time. I was listening to a sermon, really kind of a talk by the old famed British evangelist, really a revivalist. His name was Leonard Ravenhill. He was commenting on Moses and his parents' predicament.

Remember, it was Pharaoh who was killing all of the Hebrew babies. Remember that story? And what did the Scripture say? It said that Moses' parents saw that he was no ordinary child. They took that little baby and they put that little baby in a basket and they put him afloat. And this famed British evangelist was talking about the faith that those parents demonstrated. And he went on to use this type of language. And he went on to say that faith, it reckons and it risks and it rests. Moses' parents, they reckon that God could take care of their son. They took a risk in trusting God to take care of their little baby boy.

And then they rested in Christ, rested on God. You see? Those disciples could not do that. But yet we saw earlier that that nobleman, did he not? He took a risk. He came and he reckoned that Jesus could heal his son. And then he risked by believing in that and he rested in that. That is a demonstration, an explanation of faith. None of the disciples came up and said, "Well, Jesus, I don't know how you're going to do it, but I believe you're going to do what needs to be done today." They were faithless. They were blind to the situation at hand. Let's move on. I want us to notice truth number three.

I want us to notice the great miracle or the great sign. We see this starting in verse 10. I want over to verse 13. Jesus said, "How the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down in number about 5,000. Jesus therefore took the loaves and having given thanks," some translations might say blessed. "He distributed to those who were seated. Likewise, also the fish as much as they wanted.

And when they were filled, he said to his disciples, 'Gather up the leftovers, the fragments that nothing may be lost.' And so they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with the fragments from the barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten." Now here we see in verse 10 that Jesus had them sit down. Now in Mark's account, we see that they were divided into groups of 50 and 100. So the picture here is of order and purpose. Jesus was orderly and he had a purpose in everything he was doing. Jesus had them sit with a purpose in mind while the disciples were mere participants in this situation, they were receiving instructions.

Although they had revealed their faithlessness, they were to see something much bigger. Now notice three things out of these verses. Notice Jesus blessed what was given. Look at verse 11. "Jesus therefore took the loaves and having given thanks." Now in the synoptic gospels it says that Jesus blessed the food. Now this was a common practice among the Jews. And we see this taught, we see this illustrated out of Deuteronomy chapter 8 verse 10. That verse says, and this is a commandment, "And you shall eat and be full and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you." What is he saying?

That is saying a blessing, a thankfulness over what God had given. So this was a common practice in the day among the Jewish people. So he blessed what was given. Then second notice, "The disciples distributed to all the people." Look at verse 11. "Jesus therefore took the loaves and having given thanks, he distributed to those who were seated." Likewise, the fish. Now it is interesting to note here about the multiplication. I never thought about this before, but in my study this week I noticed this in some different resources.

MacArthur points out that Jesus did not create a vast amount of food all at once, but continually as he broke the loaves and kept distributing it, it multiplied. The synoptic gospels tells us that the disciples, they distributed the food as Jesus directed. Now no doubt, there is no doubt that his involving them in this miracle was working in them as well. He is feeding the 5,000, working in them, and multiplying this bread and this fish as he is distributing it to the people. Then third notice, "They gathered what was left over." Isn't that what verse 12 says?

"They gathered up the left over fragments that none may be lost." Now simply put, Jesus supplied above and beyond what was needed for this situation. Now there is a reference here of the 12 baskets full. Some try to symbolize this. Really there is a more simplistic explanation. The disciples distributed and the disciples took the extras up. So if there were 12 disciples, there would have been 12 baskets full that would have been picked up. So Jesus ordered them to gather what was left. Now I want you to notice some things about this miracle. I want you to notice the depth and the breadth of the miracle.

First the depth was that every one ate and they ate until they were full. Now we don't know how many people there were. 5,000 men. Was it 10? 15? 18,000? We don't know. Even if it's just 5,000, that's still a large crowd. But we know it's more. But what we see is the depth of that miracle. Every one ate and every one ate until they were full. And then second, the breadth of the miracle. There were leftovers. This was truly a wonderful and obvious miracle. There was no one that could doubt what Jesus had done that day. Now an application for us. We must see that when Jesus does a work, he does it fully and completely.

I'm afraid what we see so many times in the life of the church are our works and the fruits of our works and not the works of God and the works of the Spirit and not the works of the power of the Gospel. What I'm trying to show you is when Jesus saves, he saves fully. When Jesus works in a family, he works fully. Now I'm not talking about perfection. But what we must see is when God moves in and the power and the work of the Spirit, those dry bones that we learned about in Ezekiel 37, they will rattle and they will come together and they will become living beings.

And I'm afraid what is drowned it out and pushed out the great works of the Spirit and the life of the church today is nothing more than our works and our ideas and our desires and they're all been void, the work of the Spirit. Let's move on. I want us to notice truth number four, the crowd and their physical faith. Look back with me at verse 14 and 15. This is after the miracle. When therefore the people saw that sign, which he had performed, they said, this is of a truth, the prophet who is to come into the world. Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him a king.

He withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone. Now just like in chapter two, we see that there is another type of people within this crowd. We have the crowd who wanted to be wowed. They wanted to thrill. Now we have a different kind of element in the crowd. Now unlike the crowd in verse two, these individuals here, they voiced what was in their hearts and they voiced it out loud in verse 14. Now notice a few things about this crowd in their physical faith. First I want you to notice the crowd's declaration. The crowd's declaration. What does it say? When therefore the people saw the sign which he had performed, they said.

And notice what they said. This is of a truth, the prophet who is to come into the world. Now all of the translations have this declaration is the same. This is a direct reference to the prophecies concerning the Messiah, specifically the prophecies from Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 15 through 19. I'll read you just verse 15 and notice the similarities. Notice what Moses says. The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your brothers. It is to him you shall listen.

It's no doubt these miracles in the wilderness would have reminded them of God providing through Moses manna for Israel in their wilderness, in their wanderings in the wilderness. This could have easily prompted them to remember the past and the prophecies concerning the Messiah. You see, they began to connect dots between what was before them and the prophecies and the works of Moses and what God did yesterday. So this is their declaration. Then second notice the crowd's intention. Verse 15, Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him a king. Now notice the language here in the New American.

Jesus perceiving. Jesus was perceiving that they wanted him for an earthly king. Jesus intuitively knew what was in their heart and knew what their intentions were. He was not fooled by their correct words. He knew what was in their hearts. Again, these people would have remembered what took place with Moses as he led the nation of Israel out of Egyptian slavery. These people wanted to be free from the rule of Rome, just like the ancient Israelites wanted to be free from Egypt. And Moses led Israel out of Egyptian slavery and they wanted to be free from the rule of Rome. These people just simply wanted to be free.

And this is the crowd that misunderstood the role of Christ and they wanted a physical king. Personally, for years, I have crawled this crowd, the crowd that just wanted Jesus to be something that he is not. Let's move on. Notice Jesus' reaction. Jesus' reaction. Jesus therefore perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him a king. What does it say? Withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone. Just knowing their intentions withdrew. He would not come to the crowds on their terms, but the crowds had to come to him on his terms. He knew what was in man.

And we've already learned that in John chapter 2 verses 25 through 24 and 25. He knew men and he knew what was in men. And he would not have anything to do with this faulty view of the Messiah. So after this great miracle, we see this crowd that they wanted Jesus to be something he would never be. Again, these were unconverted, unrepentant peoples who said the right words, but their hearts were not changed. And we must understand. Listen close. We must understand that there are people all around us and they say the right words, but they simply want Jesus to be something he is not going to be. And you know what these people do?

They want Jesus to be their utility God. See you've got the wow me followers, the thrill seekers, and then you've got these. They want a physical king. They want a utility God. See Jesus withdrew. He had nothing to do with them. And we see this in many places in the quote unquote Christian world today, the health, wealth, and prosperity crowd fall into this category. They have the right words and they would profess him Jesus is Lord, but you know, they really want an American Jesus. They want a capitalism Jesus. Isn't that right? They want to have their cake and they want to eat it too.

They think Jesus has come to bless them, give them health, give them physical material possessions. You know, it's easy for us to identify that in our Baptist life, but what do we see in our Baptist life today? There are crowds of people in our churches and they want Jesus to be savior now and Lord later. You hear in our churches, there are many people who want Jesus to be savior now and Lord later. And they are trying to make Jesus be something that he never ever, ever will be. Do you know that that is a prevalent false doctrine that's preached and taught today? I've had my run ins with that.

I've run into some pretty famous and big preachers who preached that and stood up against it because you'll never find it in the text. Jesus only relates to people as Lord. Aren't we learning that in our study of the seven churches in the book of revelation, his supreme authority over the church? And so we see this. There are lots of people. They want Jesus to be a utility God and see what that mindset, what people want is they want to be saved from their sins and they want a home in heaven, but yet they want to live their life the way they want to live their life. Jesus always retreats from those types of people.

He retreats from those types of churches and he retreats from those types of ministers who propagate that false doctrine. See you see now as we transition into closing the message, I want to refer you to the title again. Remember the feeding of the 5,000, but you can really add to that title. The people's reaction. You know, on the front end, we might look at this story and we might see that it's really all about the miracle. It's all about the sign, but really when we study it and we start dividing the text, yes, there's the miracle. There's the sign. There's the great work that he did, but notice it's all about the people.

It's all about the crowds. It's all about the disciples. And see, remember what the signs were given for. The signs were to point people towards Christ. And in so doing, Jesus is revealing and exposing and showing who the people really were. And we see who they were by the reaction to the miracle at hand. And I think for us today in the life of Nola Baptist Church, it is imperative to see the different types of people and the crowds and the disciples and how they reacted. In an application for us, we must see that there are people who follow Christ for all of the wrong reasons. It's easy in our culture to follow Christ.

No persecutions, no troubles. It's really part of our culture, is it not? It's kind of expected in certain places, especially in certain families. But we must see that there are people who seemingly follow Christ and they follow for all the wrong reasons. And then every now and then in the life of the church, someone will come along and preach their word straight and true. They will be a true work of the church, begin to manifest itself. And what happens is when God begins to move and you begin to see the choices that those people make and the circumstances come into their life, they will reveal themselves for who they are. See?

But the problem a lot of people have in the life of the church is they just cannot understand that there are people who have the right words but they're still not converted. The problem for some people in the life of the church, they cannot understand how certain people can express all of the right emotions but still be unconverted. See? And also we must see the faithlessness of the disciples. I'm afraid that we can be faithless just like the disciples. And we need to pray that God would give us eyes to see the harvest among us.

We need to pray that God would give us the ability to see the potential that is within us and the potential of the church itself. As I close, I want to ask you a rhetorical question, not one to be answered, maybe in your heart. Who did the Lord Jesus entrust the work of the church to? Yes. And who is the Lord Jesus expecting to impact the world, the church? And what I'm showing you is we must be equipped to impact the world. And in so doing, we must have a faith to believe that Christ can do the impossible. With us, these things are impossible. With us, our lost loved ones will never be converted. With us, the church will never be built.

With us, the multitudes will never be reached. With us, we will never go around the world to touch people for Christ. But with Him working through us, we will have the faith to see and the ability to do the impossible. Lord, I pray that you would so work in our hearts to understand man, to understand man's reaction to the truth.