Seat the Crowd

Lesson #96

In this lesson we will focus on verses 5 – 10 found in the section defined by John 6:1 – 15: “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?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number” (John 6:5 – 10 ESV).

The private time Jesus wanted with his disciples isn’t going to happen because Jesus looks up and sees a large crowd coming toward him. Imagine being there with the disciples and seeing the crowd coming you realize that private time with Jesus is going to be replaced with the demands of those in the crowd. I can imagine Philip being the spokesman for the disciples asking Jesus to send them away, but instead Jesus creates a more intense environment by asking him where they might find food to feed all these people. Stop here and think for a minute. Why does Jesus want to feed all these people? Is it simply to meet their hunger or is there a purpose in performing another miracle? Creating bread to feed these people would be another demonstration of his power and would intensify the desire of the crowd for him to deliver them from the bondage of Rome. As Jesus meets their physical needs with bread he has the challenge to bring their understanding that he is the bread from heaven that they need. Keep this challenge in mind as we continue.

Philip realized that the two hundred denarii they had would not be enough to provide even a little bread for everyone. Andrew then indicates another resource. He says, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” He sure had that right; they could see no way out of this situation; what were they going to do?

Jesus steps up and tells Phillip to have the people sit down. This is like having the people come into a great banquet hall and take a seat at a table. Imagine a convention hall large enough with tables and chairs to seat about 5000 men plus their wives and several children each. If each family averaged six members in size that would be 30,000 people. Imagine how much food would be needed and how many to serve the food. Now that you have that western view in mind, remove the building, the tables and chairs and the servers leaving the mass of people setting on the grass wondering what is going to happen next. What do you think the disciples are thinking at this point? What impossible thing is Jesus going to ask of them next? Have you ever felt like God put you into a situation that you could see no way out? Think about our brothers and sisters under persecution facing the loss of everything for owning a Bible or simply being a Christian. Life has some real challenges and now before these disciples are maybe 30,000 or so people they need to get seated and bring to order. Please try to get your mind around that scene on the side of the mountain as you wait for the next lesson.

Prayer

Father, I realize how often you allow me to get into a situation where I don’t know what to do next. I can remember how that used to create terrible stress in my life as I tried to overcome the difficulty. I eventually began to realize that you were trying to get me to rely more and more on you and as I did I began to experience joy in place of stress. It is difficult for the flesh to stop and pray and wait for your direction and your provision. Truly there is spiritual growth and maturity with the passing of time and the presence of a struggle. Thank you for your patience as you work with me to teach me the lessons of life.