Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

- John 6:1-15

 In recent readings, Jesus has been at the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem.  This is an eight-day autumn harvest festival, commemorating the time that Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai living in tents or "tabernacles."  It's also a feast of the coming Kingdom.  This festival takes place during the last year of Jesus' life; the leadership plots against Him.  He has been in dialogue and dispute with them at the festival.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus said, "He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God."  Then the Jews answered and said to Him, "Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?"  Jesus answered, "I do not have a demon; but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me.  And I do not seek My own glory; there is One who seeks and judges.  Most assuredly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he shall never see death."  Then the Jews said to Him, "Now we know that You have a demon!  Abraham is dead, and the prophets; and You say, 'If anyone keeps My word he shall never taste death.'  Are You greater than our father Abraham, who is dead?  And the prophets are dead.  Who do You make Yourself out to be?"  Jesus answered, "If I honor Myself, My honor is nothing.  It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God.  Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him.  And if I say, 'I do not know Him,' I shall be a liar like you; but I do know Him and keep His word.  Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad."  Then the Jews said to Him, "You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?"  Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."  Then they took up stones throw at Him; but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.   Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Today's reading actually takes place two chapters earlier than where we left off on Saturday, and we begin reading chapter 6 in this week's lectionary readings.  So "after these things" refers to events at the end of chapter 5, in which Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath by the Sheep Gate at the pool called Bethesda at the Feast of Weeks in Jerusalem.  For the final reading and commentary of chapter 5, see this reading.  In John chapter 1, we noted how the Gospel patterned itself after the events of creation in Genesis.  In chapter 6, we will observe that John parallels the story of the Passover and Exodus of Israel from Egypt.  My study bible notes that in the Exodus account (Exodus 11-17), God first performed His signs against Pharaoh, and then gave instructions on how to be saved at the time of Passover (Exodus 11:1-12:14).  Here, the multitudes follow Christ because of His signs, and this also takes place at Passover.

Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  My study bible tells us that Christ tests Philip here to increase his faith, because Philip needed help in understanding Him (14:8-10).  Two hundred denarii is equivalent to over six months' wages for a laborer at the time of Christ.  Andrew has greater faith than Philip.  He apparently knows that the prophet Elisha had multiplied bread for 100 men (2 Kings 4:42-44), and he offers the food brought by a lad.  But Andrew also lacks faith to some extent, questioning what five loaves alone can do the the number of people who are there.

Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.    The feeding of five thousand men (and more women and children), parallels the Exodus story of unleavened bread, which the Jews had with them as they were hastily drive out of Egypt and had brought no provisions for themselves (Exodus 12:39).  Jesus feeds the multitudes with earthly bread, because they've brought no provisions, having rushed out to see Him.  My study bible adds that although Jesus had performed greater signs than this, these crowds were so desirous of an earthly Messiah that they declare Jesus to be the expected Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) only when they are filled with earthly things (which Jesus will note later on in the chapter).  Because of this misunderstanding, Jesus departed from them.  

Why did the people want to make Jesus king?  We turn to His own words (in verse 26, later on in John), in which He tells the people, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled."  If Jesus tells them that, then surely His miraculous feeding in the wilderness is meant to give the people something much more than bread to feed them with -- and this will go on to become the theme of this chapter.  As happens so often with John, the people misunderstand.  It's not that they misunderstand through bad intention, but rather that they misunderstand because with Jesus, earthly realities are often metaphors for something deeper, richer, better that he's trying to teach us and trying to give us.  He wants us to look beyond an immediate kind of understanding or feeding and find the things that feed something deeper and more potent within us.  While people need food to live, to be given the "bread of heaven" is quite another thing indeed.  The true bread He is here to teach us about feeds us for an eternity.  It sees us through moments all of our lives.  It's not gone with one feeding, a brief moment of consumption, and its potency affects every single thing about our lives and our potentials for life.  And that's what He's here to give us.  It's a little strange to think about it, but being made king is a way to cheapen that gift, not to understand the tremendous greatness on offer here.  Jesus isn't just a worldly kind of king.  He's not in the world simply to make Israel a prosperous nation.  There is a far greater reality waiting to be opened, comprehended, tapped into.  That greater reality has lasted for 2,000 years so far, and shows no sign of being exhausted in terms of its impact, help, and creative flowering for each successive generation and all around the world.  It's in that deeper place that we must find Jesus' surpassing worth for each of us in our own lives and for the generations still to come.  We think about the world and what it needs.  It is important to feed and clothe those who are without, to shelter those who cannot provide for themselves.  But we should never lose sight of this mission to bring the "so much greater good" into the world.  It is inseparable from the love that teaches us who we are and calls us to who we can become.  This is the gift; let us not cheapen it under any circumstances.