After these things Jesus went away beyond the sea of Galilee, [or] of Tiberias,
Chapter 6 opens with a simple travel note. Yet the move matters. Jesus leaves Jerusalem and crosses to the far side of a lake that carries two names. Why does John give no reason for the crossing, and why does he attach a Roman emperor's name to Israel's own lake?
John gives no reason for the journey. One writer lists the reasons the other Gospel accounts supply, and finds none of them here.
The scene changes completely from Jerusalem. We see the Lord in Galilee, at the part of the lake that takes its name from the city of Tiberias, and also from the province along its western side. A great crowd follow Him because of the signs He worked on the sick... We find none of the reasons given in Matthew, Mark and Luke. There is no beheading of John the Baptist, no return of the apostles from their mission, no need of rest after the work of teaching and other labours. Jesus fills the picture: all is in His hand. It is He Who takes the initiative.
The second name is not decoration. It tells us when John wrote, and who knew the lake by it.
The events in this chapter happened at the Sea of Galilee, the sea of Tiberias. John alone uses this name, evidence that he wrote after Jerusalem fell. By this name the lake had become known to the nations outside Israel.
The same name also says something painful about the state of the nation He came to.
But the sea of Galilee is also called Tiberias, after the Roman Emperor. The name is a reminder of Israel's humbling captivity and subjection to Rome. Great crowds follow Him, but not because they are concerned about His words. Curiosity about His miracles seems to be the motive.
The other Gospels supply a crowded background to this crossing.
Herod had now put John the Baptist to death... The Twelve, too, had returned from their mission, as both Mark and Luke tell us. To give them a little rest, for they could not even find time to eat, the Lord had said, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while"... John passes over all this without notice. He keeps only the bare fact that the Lord and His disciples went to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. But now we are to read of a sign, as he calls it — mentioned by all the Gospel writers, and the only miracle that all of them record.
The crossing is also a change of subject. Both chapters speak of life, but they present the Lord under different titles.
Chapter 5 presents Christ as the Son of God giving life to whom He will. Chapter 6 presents Christ as the Son of Man giving life to those who receive Him, and the Sustainer of the life that He gives.
Read with the chapters before it, this one meets a different kind of need.
The great theme of the chapter is Christ for the satisfaction of the hearts of His people... In chapter 4 Christ delivers from the power of sin; in chapter 5 He delivers from the bondage of law; and in chapter 6 He delivers from want.
Once on the far shore, three roles unfold in order — and the middle one He refuses.
First, Jesus blesses the people, in keeping with the promise of what Jehovah would do, given to them in Psalm 132, for He was Jehovah. On this, the people acknowledge Him to be "that Prophet," and want to make Him their King by force. But He refuses this now — He could not take the crown in that worldly way. Jesus leaves them, and goes up by Himself into a mountain. This pictured His position as Priest on high.
- Crossing. The Lord leaves Jerusalem and takes His place in Galilee. John gives no outward reason. In this Gospel Jesus Himself takes the initiative and fills the picture.
- Two names. The lake is Israel's Sea of Galilee and Rome's Sea of Tiberias. The second name was the one the nations outside Israel knew, and a reminder of Israel's subjection to Rome.
- Crowds. They follow because of the miracles He worked on the sick, not because they care for His words. Their interest is in the power, not the Person.
- Contrast. In chapter 5 the Son of God gives life to whom He will. From here the Son of Man gives life to those who receive Him, and sustains it.
- Consequence. The sign on the far shore is the one miracle all four Gospel writers record. The people own Him as the Prophet and try to crown Him by force. He refuses, and goes up the mountain alone.
and a great crowd followed him, because they saw the signs which he wrought upon the sick.
John 6 opens far from Jerusalem, at the lake in Galilee, with a crowd walking behind Jesus. They came because of what they had watched Him do for sick people. That raises the question the rest of the chapter presses: why do people follow Him?
John gives no reason for the journey across the water. One writer notes what this account leaves out, and what stands in its place:
The scene changes completely from Jerusalem. We see the Lord in Galilee, and in that part of the lake named after the city of Tiberias, as well as after the province on its western side. A great crowd follows Him because of the signs He worked on the sick... We find none of the motives mentioned in the other Gospel accounts. There is no beheading of John the Baptist, no return of the apostles from their mission, no need of rest after hard work in teaching. Jesus fills the picture: everything is in His hand.
The lake's second name carries its own history. The crowd's motive is thin:
The sea of Galilee is also called Tiberias, named after the Roman Emperor. That name is a reminder of Israel's humbling captivity and subjection to Rome. Great crowds follow Him, but not because they care about His words. Curiosity about His miracles seems to be the motive (v. 2).
The verse names what the crowd saw: works done on sick bodies. It does not say what they made of the One who did them.
A multitude followed Him. This was a kind of link between the Lord's service and the Jewish nation as a whole. Yet they were not necessarily Jews in the strict sense, though there were Jews among them. They followed Him, we may notice, because of the signs done on the sick. But they still did not, as before, really receive Jesus as the One come down from heaven, or the Sent One of God.
One writer pictures who was walking in that crowd:
The crowd was a large one and a mixed one, for there were sick people among them. Had we been present, we might have seen on many a face the marks of bodily suffering. Had we been able to lift the veil and read the heart, we would have noticed some who were burdened in spirit for their sick. They were anxiously hoping that the Lord's healing power would reach them.
This crowd follows Him, so the word "follow" needs testing. Later in the same chapter, the Lord tells them why they really came:
But there may be a merely formal following of Christ while the heart is cold and remains unacquainted with His person. In the sixth chapter of John we find a crowd of people following the Lord Jesus merely on selfish grounds. He has to tell them so: "Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves." It was not for what He was that they were seeking Him, but for mere earthly advantage.
The crowd's arrival sets up the one miracle recorded in all four Gospels. It is not an end in itself; it opens a subject.
Our Gospel now gives us the great miracle — or rather sign — common to all four. As always here, it introduces the discourse that follows: Christ, incarnate and in death, the food of eternal life for those who believe on His name.
Another writer maps the shape of the whole chapter:
The first part of the chapter (John 6:1-21) records two incidents. They picture the great theme of the Lord's discourse in the rest of it. In the first scene, Christ acts as a King providing bread from His royal bounty to sustain natural life. In the second scene, Christ appears in picture as Priest on high. He supports His own and sustains their spiritual life as they pass through a world where everything is against them.
- Scene — The chapter moves from Jerusalem to the lake in Galilee. John leaves out every background reason the other Gospels give, so Jesus alone fills the picture.
- Sign — The crowd saw signs worked on the sick. The feeding that follows is the one miracle all four Gospels record, and it opens the discourse on Christ as the food of eternal life.
- Crowd — This was a large, mixed company. Sick people walked in it, and others hoped His healing power would reach their own sick.
- Motive — Seeing the works is not the same as receiving the Worker. They followed the signs without receiving Him as the One sent from heaven.
- Test — Following can be outward only, while the heart stays cold. Christ told such a crowd that they sought Him for the loaves, not for what He is.
And Jesus went up into the mountain, and there sat with his disciples
Crowds are chasing Jesus because of the healings they have seen, and soon He will feed thousands of them. First, though, He climbs a mountain and sits down with His disciples — why?
The Lord has left Jerusalem behind, and the setting shifts to the lake in Galilee. One writer notes who is directing events here — not the disciples, and not the crowd.
The whole scene has changed from Jerusalem. We see the Lord in Galilee, by the part of the lake named after the city of Tiberias. It is named after the province on its western side too. A great crowd follows Him because of the signs He worked on the sick. The Lord withdraws to the high land, where He sits with His disciples, the Passover being then at hand. None of the reasons given in the other Gospel accounts appear here. We do not read of the beheading of John the Baptist, or of the apostles' return from their mission, or of the need for rest after their work. Jesus fills the picture: everything is in His hand. It is He who takes the initiative. … It pleased the Holy Spirit to give us Christ Himself alone as master of the situation, as always in this Gospel.
The crowd was following, but following is not the same as receiving Him. One writer ties His going up the mountain to that gap.
They followed Him, we may notice, because of the signs done on the sick. But they did not really receive Jesus as the One come down from heaven, or as the Sent One of God. Jesus therefore went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples.
The mountain is more than a location. One writer draws a lesson from the height itself.
Though He goes up into a mountain to be with His disciples apart, the crowds still follow Him there. The higher level here teaches us that grace comes from above: it is heavenly in character.
That He sat with them matters. His public work had a private side. What happened in it was not small.
The Lord Jesus had many and varied services for God among His chosen people. In the middle of them He kept times of retirement for Himself, when public activity stopped. Those times gave opportunity for private communion with His Father (Matthew 14:23; Mark 1:35; Luke 9:18; John 6:15). They also gave time with His friends and followers. On those second occasions the Heavenly Teacher shared especially sweet and choice communications with His own intimate circle. He had chosen them Himself "out of the world." … The Lord had matters for the eyes and ears of His own which were not for the crowd.
The place He chose had nothing in it. That bare hillside sets up an impossible need, a test for His own, and a lesson that lasts beyond that day.
We find a great crowd on a barren mountain in need of food. As far as human power went, it was impossible to meet this need. But the Lord is present and He will meet the need. Before doing so, however, He uses the difficulty to test the faith of His own disciples. Do they have faith to use the Lord's resources when, on their side, all hope is gone? God allows difficulties among His people that no one can overcome, and He does it to test us. We are told that He Himself knew what He would do. Those words assure us that no difficulty will ever arise, in our own path or among God's people, that He cannot solve.
- Followed — the crowd came for the signs He worked on the sick. They did not receive Him as the One sent from heaven.
- Withdrew — none of the other Gospels' reasons appear here. Jesus takes the initiative, and everything is in His hand.
- Above — the higher level teaches that grace comes from above. It is heavenly in character.
- Seated — sitting with the disciples marks a time apart. His own circle heard what the crowd never heard.
- Supplied — the mountain is barren and no human power can feed the crowd. The Lord tests His disciples, then meets the need Himself.
but the passover, the feast of the Jews, was near.
John breaks off the story of the crowds and the coming miracle to tell us the time of year. Passover was almost here. That short note carries real weight. It explains what the chapter will teach, and it shows what the nation had become.
Notice who owns the feast. The Old Testament law that set these days up used different words.
In John's gospel the feasts are always called "the feasts of the Jews" (John 2:13; John 6:4; John 7:2; John 11:55). In Leviticus 23 God calls them "the feasts of the LORD." That change of wording means something. The feasts had become mere forms. They were no longer times when loyal hearts gathered at God's centre, moved by a sense of His goodness. That sense had faded away, and the feasts had sunk into empty ritual. There was no longer anything in them for God.
The label cuts deep for one reason. The One the feast pointed to was there in person while they got ready for it.
It was all false, hollow and unreal — as much is unreal in the Christian world today. The One who was the sum and substance of everything was there: Jesus Himself, the Son of God, the reality behind all these pictures. In Him they were to find fulfilment. Yet He was unknown, unrecognised, unwanted, unwelcomed — worse still, He was hated. The Jews kept the feasts that pointed to Him while they worked for His death. So He goes outside.
John ties the miracle to the Passover season. The reason lies in the teaching that follows it.
John notes how near the Passover was, as he does again and again in this Gospel. Here there was also a reason for it. The teaching that follows, and the miracle He worked, both rest on eating and drinking as the sign of communion.
Chapter 5 had the Jewish way of healing. Chapter 6 comes to the Jewish Passover.
In chapter 5 we have the Jewish way of healing. Here comes the Jewish Passover, and His own sacrifice takes its place. He shows Himself to be the LORD of Psalm 132, who says, "I will satisfy her poor with bread." He does exactly that here. They own Him as a prophet, and then they are about to take Him by force and make Him a king.
So the bread given that day was more than kindness to hungry people. One writer traces it back to its source.
The note that the Passover was near also surely hints at this: the blessings of grace come from what the Passover speaks of — the matchless sacrifice of Christ. Yet to the Jews it had become nothing more than their own feast.
Verse 4 and verse 53 belong together. The chapter shows Christ under two pictures at once.
In this passage from John's Gospel we have Christ above all as the Manna (verses 32-33, 48-50, and so on). We also have a reference to Him as the Passover Lamb (compare verse 4 with verse 53, and so on).
Chapters 5, 6 and 7 also follow Israel's own history in order: rescue, then desert food, then the land.
In chapter 5 you find them, so to speak, in Egypt, in slavery. In chapter 6 they are in the wilderness, with the manna among them. In chapter 7 they are in Canaan, keeping the feast of tabernacles… In chapter 6 Jesus points them back to the wilderness. Did they not have manna there? They did. He says, "I am the bread of life." I am the true manna. You must eat Me — you must have Me.
The verse exposes Israel, but that is not the end of the story. He kept teaching the very people who had emptied the feast of meaning.
A new scene opens here. It was the Passover. But Israel had treated God's mercy lightly, the very mercy that season celebrated. They still had to learn the lesson of Egypt and the wilderness. After they had provoked Him so often, the Lord in patient love would teach them even now.
- Ownership. Leviticus calls it a feast of the LORD. John calls it a feast of the Jews. The form survived, but nothing in it was left for God.
- Rejection. The Lamb the feast pictured stood among them, unwanted and hated. So He took His place outside the whole system.
- Substitution. His own sacrifice takes the place of the Jewish Passover, and the bread He gave that day flows from it.
- Nourishment. John sets the date beside the teaching. Christ is both the Passover Lamb and the true manna. Feed on Him; do not just admire Him.
- Patience. The feast had shrunk to an empty form. Even so, He went on teaching in patient love the people who made light of its mercy.
Jesus then, lifting up his eyes and seeing that a great crowd is coming to him, says to Philip, Whence shall we buy loaves that these may eat?
A hungry crowd follows Jesus in Galilee, and the disciples have no way to feed them. He opens with a question to one man. The next verse tells us He already had the answer.
One writer notes what John leaves out here, and who fills the picture instead.
The scene shifts completely away from Jerusalem. We see the Lord in Galilee... A great crowd follows Him because of the signs He worked on the sick. None of the reasons given in the other Gospel accounts appear here. There is no mention of the beheading of John the Baptist, no mention of the apostles' return from their mission, and no mention of the need for rest after teaching. Jesus fills the picture: all is in His hand. It is He who takes the initiative.
One writer asks what it was in that sight that moved Him.
What was it that moved Jesus when He lifted up His eyes and saw a great crowd coming to Him? Was it satisfaction with His success? Was that what filled the heart of the "good Shepherd," who had come to seek the lost sheep of the house of Israel? No. It was their need that made His heart yearn over them. First came their outward need, and He met that with five loaves and two fish. But what was this outward need compared with the spiritual need of those five thousand precious souls! Sadly, they themselves had very little sense of it, if any at all.
Some have argued that when Jesus asked a question, He asked because He did not know. One writer uses this passage to answer the claim.
We are told that when our Lord "asked for information, it was because He wanted it"... John 6:5-6 destroys this unworthy conclusion completely and plainly. There the Lord said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" And we read, "He said this to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do."... It needs no study of Socrates to know that someone may ask a question for the sake of the person he asks.
Each Gospel writer begins this story at a different point. One commentator reads that difference as a clue to how John presents Jesus.
In Matthew He had been busy healing the sick, a feature which marked Him out as the Christ, the Messiah of Israel. From Mark we learn that He had been teaching, for he brings Him before his readers as the Teacher, or Prophet... John was there himself, as one of the twelve apostles. Yet he leaves out all mention of what the Lord had been doing before the evening of that day drew in. He opens the account of the sign with the Lord's question to Philip... Presenting Him to his readers as a Divine Person, he notices His foreknowledge and His power.
The word "where" was the heart of the question. Philip never answered it — he changed the subject to money.
The Lord raises the question with Philip as to where to buy bread for the need of the crowd. It is a question to exercise not only Philip, but everyone. Where is there enough grace to meet the crying need of all mankind? But Philip fails the test: his faith did not simply rest on the greatness of his Lord, as it should have. He does not even consider "where" to buy, but only sees the poverty of their finances in this matter.
Andrew fared no better. The Lord waited for his answer before acting.
Still, He waits for the hopeless words of Andrew, who came from the same town as Philip. He would teach everyone now what His gracious power loves to do with the little and the despised, even for the greatest need... And where was Peter? Where was John, the disciple He loved? Nowhere in faith.
The question tested Philip. The reason behind it steadies every reader since.
Difficulties are allowed to arise among the people of God that no man can solve. They come to test us... But we are told that "He Himself knew what He would do." Those words are our assurance. No difficulty will ever arise in our own paths, or among the people of God, that He cannot solve. In the last and difficult days, teachers and leaders may fail us. But there is One to whom we can turn on the darkest day and in the face of the greatest difficulty. We can be certain that He knows what to do.
- He sees first. He lifts His eyes and takes the initiative. The whole scene is in His hand.
- He is moved by need. Not His own success, but their need — outward need first, and deeper still, spiritual.
- He asks to test. He asked for Philip's sake, not for information. Writers use this verse to answer the claim that Christ asked because He did not know.
- The test exposes us. Philip counted cash instead of counting on his Lord. Andrew, Peter and John were no better.
- He already knew. The foreknowledge that made the question a test makes it a comfort. No difficulty can arise that He has not already answered.
But this he said trying him, for he knew what he was going to do.
The Lord asks Philip where to buy bread for a huge crowd on a bare hillside. John tells us at once why: the question was a test. Jesus was not asking for advice.
No one there could meet the need. Before meeting it Himself, the Lord used it on His own disciples.
A great crowd stands on a barren mountain, in need of food. Human power could not possibly meet that need. But the Lord is there, and He will meet it. Before He does, He uses the difficulty to test the faith of His own disciples. Do they have faith to use the Lord's resources when, on their side, all hope is gone?
Other servants of God have to ask Him what to do. Here stands One who already knows, and who has the power to act.
Jesus Himself "knew what He would do." In such an emergency, the most you could say of other servants of God is this: they did not know what to do, so they looked to God for direction and got it. But here was One who knew what to do, and knew He had the power to do it. Before Andrew spoke of the boy with his small loaves and fish, He already knew about them. To hold such knowledge, and such power, that you know with absolute certainty what you will do — that belongs to God alone.
Some argue that when the Lord asked a question, He must have wanted information He lacked. This verse answers that.
Some say that when our Lord "asked for information, it was because He wanted it"… Turn to John 6:5-6, and that unworthy conclusion is completely and plainly destroyed… You do not need to study Socrates to know that a question can be asked for the sake of the person questioned.
The way John opens this miracle matches the Christ he presents.
John's gospel presents the Lord as a divine Person, the Word of God, and the Father's only Son. John himself was there all through the day, yet he says nothing about the Lord healing and teaching. He opens the story of the miracle with the Lord's question to Philip… John draws attention to the Lord's foreknowledge and His power. That fits perfectly with the way he presents Christ as the Eternal Son of the Father.
Philip did the arithmetic. Andrew pointed to a boy with five loaves and two fish. Neither of them looked to Christ.
John, however, is careful of His glory. He tells us at once that the question came from no uncertainty in the Lord's own mind. It was to test Philip: He knew what He was going to do. Still, He waits for the hopeless words of Andrew, who came from Philip's town… Andrew was Simon Peter's brother, and he saw the Messiah even before Peter did. Yet he could think of a little boy with five barley loaves and two fish, not of Jesus. And where was Peter? Where John, the disciple that He loved? Nowhere in faith.
Their failure was the point. The question taught the twelve disciples two things at once.
When emergencies arose, He sometimes asked them what to do. Not that He needed advice from anyone. He questioned them to teach them two things: first, how useless they were in themselves in matters like this, and second, how vast the resources were that their Master had at hand.
God still deals with His people this way.
God lets difficulties arise among His people that no one can overcome, to test us… But we are told that "He himself knew what He would do." Those words assure us that no difficulty will ever arise in our own path, or among the people of God, that He cannot solve. In the last and hardest days, teachers and leaders may fail us. But there is One we can turn to on the darkest day, in the greatest difficulty, sure that He knows what to do.
Often the answer arrives only as we obey.
He often tells us to take a step that involves real trial. In the very act of taking it, we not only see the reason for it, but also get strength to go on.
- He tests. The question to Philip was not a call for help. It was a test of faith, set up by a need no one there could meet.
- He knows. Jesus had no uncertainty. To know exactly what He will do, and to hold the power to do it, belongs to God alone.
- He is not ignorant. He asks a question for the sake of the person questioned, never because He lacks the answer.
- We fail. Philip counted money and Andrew counted loaves; neither counted on the One standing in front of them.
- He supplies. The test taught the twelve disciples their own helplessness and their Master's resources. So no difficulty can arise that He does not already know how to solve.
Philip answered him, Loaves for two hundred denarii are not sufficient for them, that each may have some little [portion].
The Lord has just asked Philip where they could buy bread for a hungry crowd. Philip answers with a price rather than with a look at the One asking. His reply is honest arithmetic — and that is the problem.
The Lord was not asking Philip for advice. He was testing him, and Philip answered by pricing the meal instead of weighing the Person in front of him.
The Lord raises the question with Philip as to where to buy bread for the need of the crowd. It is a question that tests not only Philip, but everyone. Where is there enough grace to meet the crying need of all mankind? But Philip fails the test: his faith did not simply depend on the greatness of his Lord, as it should have. He does not even consider "where" to buy, but only sees how little money they have (v. 7).
The failure was not in his maths. It was in what never crossed his mind.
Philip's reply proves that he thought such a thing impossible. "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough for them, that every one may take a little," he said. He had no thought of the power of his Master.
The figure is not random. It represents a serious amount of money — and still falls short.
As a test of faith, He asked Philip where they could find bread to feed so many. Philip replied that two hundred denarii — about eight months' wages for a labourer — would only be enough to give each one a little.
There is a second difficulty buried in the reply. Even that sum was beyond them, and there was nowhere to spend it anyway.
The question brought out Philip's sense that feeding them was impossible. "Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little" (7) — much less enough for a satisfying meal for everyone. And where in that deserted place could they buy so much bread? It is also unlikely that the apostles had that much money to spend. They often depended on others to supply their bodily needs (Luke 8:1-3).
It is worth noticing which disciple gave this answer. Philip was the careful, accurate one — and accuracy was not enough.
Does it not teach us for the hundredth time how little human accuracy and careful thought can do here? Such matters must be discerned spiritually. For we have evidence that Philip was exact and observant as a man, and perhaps we might add, as a believer. He was the one who so clearly described the marks of the Messiah to Nathanael. He was the one who was sure that two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for the hungry crowd. He was the one who urged Nathanael to come and see for himself the wonderful Person he had met.
Nor was Philip alone in this. Look at the whole group of disciples, and faith is missing across the board.
The Gospel writer is careful of His glory. He tells us at once that the question came from no uncertainty in Jesus' own mind. He asked it to test Philip: He knew what He was going to do... Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saw the Messiah even before his brother did. Yet he could think of a little boy with five barley loaves and two fishes, not of Jesus. And where was Peter? Where was John, the disciple whom He loved? Nowhere in faith.
Philip's best plan still ends in a scrap each. Compare that with how the chapter actually ends.
Philip can only think of the power of money to meet the case; though he has to admit that his plan would only provide the crowd with "a little". How different the Lord, who, when He acts, gives "as much as they would".
Philip's best plan ends with a scrap for each person. The Lord's way runs the other direction.
Philip's way would have been to provide enough bread for the meal, so that each might take "a little". The Lord's way was to provide far more than enough, so that everyone might have "as much as they wanted". We must not think the extra came from the Lord over-estimating the need. He increased the small supply by His almighty power, and He knew exactly how hungry the crowd was, because He knows all things.
Philip's miscalculation is preserved because the same test comes to every believer.
God allows difficulties to arise among His people that no human power can overcome. They come in order to test us... But we are told, "He himself knew what He would do." Those words assure us of this: no difficulty will ever arise in our own path, or among the people of God, that He cannot solve.
- Tested. The Lord's question was a probe of Philip's faith, not a search for advice — He already knew what He would do.
- Counted. Philip answered by counting money — eight months' wages for a labourer. They did not have it, and there was nowhere to spend it.
- Exposed. The most observant and precise disciple failed here. Human accuracy is no substitute for spiritual discernment.
- Measured. Philip's plan ended in "a little" for each person. The Lord's giving ended in "as much as they wanted" — and the surplus was no over-estimate.
- Repeated. The same test comes to us — difficulties beyond our power arise so we learn to turn to the One who always knows what to do.
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, says to him,
Philip has just answered by measuring the size of the need. Now a second voice speaks. John does not just say "a disciple" — he names Andrew, and ties him to a more famous brother.
Andrew was a fisherman by trade. One writer sees his old habits of attention still at work in this scene.
Peter fished with a net and brought multitudes in with a sweep of the great waters, while Andrew fished with a line... The net-fisherman watches large things: the rise and fall of sea-tides, gales, and shoals. The line-fisherman keeps a careful watch for the little ripple, the slight dip of the float, the faintest pressure on the line. We see this quality in Andrew. When the multitude stood starving around them, and the rest of the disciples were in despair, it was Andrew who saw the boy standing with the bread basket, with the practical eye of one used to seeing small things and seizing small opportunities. He said, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish." Another would not have noticed a boy at all! And he had not only counted the loaves — he knew what they were made of!
The verse names Andrew by his tie to a better-known man. That is not a demotion. The two brothers worked in different ways, and one writer pictures the difference with a watch.
We see the hands of a watch doing their work out toward the world... But do they move themselves? No. Round at the back, hidden away and hard to find, is the fusee, a small wheel whose cogs move them... Simon Peter, like the hands of the watch, did his work mainly in public, and Andrew did his, like the fusee, in retirement. Simon Peter preached to the multitudes and brought thousands to Christ. But it was Andrew who gave the first push, by bringing Simon himself to Christ. It seemed a small individual service; but if we think of what Peter afterwards accomplished, we see that it had a vast result.
Andrew does one thing again and again in this Gospel. He fetched his brother; here he brings a boy's small meal.
If He is indispensable to us, He is also all-sufficient. We have no need to turn to any other source of supply. If this is the case with us, like Andrew, we shall always be found bringing something or someone to Jesus. With him it was first the sinner. Then the smallness of his own supply in the presence of a vast need. Then he came as the servant of the Lord who knew how to act in an emergency. Andrew brought them all alike to Jesus, because he had first proved how wonderfully Jesus could meet and answer every question in his soul.
The Lord did not act until Andrew had spoken. One writer weighs what that waiting was meant to teach.
He waits for the despairing words of Philip's fellow-townsman, Andrew, and would teach everyone now what His gracious power loves to do with the little and the despised, even for the greatest need. The brother of Simon Peter, who was even ahead of his brother in seeing the Messiah, could think of a little boy with five barley loaves and two fish, but not of Jesus. And where was Peter? Where was John, the disciple He loved? Nowhere, as far as faith goes. Truly no human being can boast in His presence.
The two disciples failed in opposite directions.
While Philip talks about how much they need, Andrew laments how very little they have. Neither of these disciples thinks of the Lord and the vast resources in Him that are at the disposal of faith.
Andrew faltered. But that is not the whole story of what he did.
The crowds were likely to faint from hunger, and Philip had no solution to the difficulty. Andrew brought the boy with the barley loaves and fish to Jesus. He seemed to falter, probably because the others looked at him with pity for his apparent foolishness. Yet he was the one who put the boy's supply of food within reach of the almighty, creative hands of the Lord.
- Noticed. Andrew spotted a boy with five barley loaves and two fish. Nobody else did. He was in the habit of watching small things.
- Brought. Every time Andrew appears, he is bringing something or someone to Jesus. He started with his own brother.
- Hidden. Peter worked in public, like the hands of a watch. Andrew worked out of sight, like the hidden wheel that moves them. That small service had a vast result.
- Faltered. He named the little supply, not the Lord's power. Philip named the size of the need. Both stopped short of the Person beside them.
- Placed. His faltering faith still did the one thing that counted. It put a child's meal within reach of the Lord's almighty hands.
There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes; but this, what is it for so many?
Thousands of people sit on a bare hillside with nothing to eat. The only food anyone can find is a boy's packed lunch. Andrew's report raises the question this miracle answers. Do we measure what we have against the need, or against the Lord?
Barley was the cheapest grain, and the fish were small. What Andrew found was not a hidden store but the poorest meal on the hill.
Barley loaves were the commonest kind of food. There were two small fish, and a lake full of fish lay not far away. How small a supply to share with that huge crowd! Philip's remark and Andrew's question both showed the same thing: only a miracle could provide a meal. Now they would see that the supply the boy had, so small to human thinking, was plenty — if only the Lord chose to use it. The loaves were not multiplied to ten times their number. The fish, small as John tells us they were, stayed just two the whole time. Yet those five loaves and two little fish did more than satisfy five thousand men, besides women and children. They also filled twelve baskets with the leftovers.
Philip had just done the arithmetic on what it would cost. Andrew now does the arithmetic on what is in hand. Both calculations leave out the same factor.
While Philip talks about how much they need, Andrew complains about how little they have. Neither of these disciples think of the Lord and the vast resources in Him that are at the disposal of faith.
They had also forgotten something their own Scriptures record: God had once fed a hundred men from one man's loaves.
Yet did they not know the Scriptures? Had they forgotten what Jehovah had done in the days of Elisha? Back then God multiplied the loaves of a man from Baal-shalisha, and a hundred men ate their fill (2 Kings 4:42-44). And a greater than Elisha was here — Jehovah Himself.
Commentators differ on how to read Andrew. Some hear only unbelief in his closing question. Others notice that he mentioned the loaves at all — which, on the face of it, was ridiculous.
Without faith, to mention so small a supply in the face of such vast need was absurd in the extreme. But Andrew had some knowledge of the Lord's power. Otherwise he would never have mentioned the small supply the boy had. He did spoil it a little by adding, "But what are they for so many?" We know the result. The Lord took that small supply and made it enough for every person in that vast crowd.
The food was small, and the hands holding it were weak. That is the kind of supply the Lord asks for.
They did not even have the small supply themselves. It was little, very little that they had, and it was in the hands of a little boy, one who was weak. How suggestive! It is so with ourselves and the little we have. Blessed are we indeed if we do know how little it is which is in our hands and how much is lacking. But do not let that turn into unbelief, thinking it is such a little bit that He cannot use it. Nothing is too small, nothing too little, if we bring it to Him; yes, He has chosen the weak things.
The boy who supplied the meal gets the least attention of anyone in the story.
Matthew, Mark and Luke do not even mention the boy, yet it was he who had the food that could feed the crowd under the Lord's hand. Let us be content to be thought little of, even perhaps overlooked altogether. But let us place what we have, however small, at the Lord's disposal. It is not the name and renown of the servant that matters — the lad is unnamed. What matters is having what the Lord can use to sustain His own.
Some commentators read the two items as a picture of Christ Himself.
The five barley loaves (no doubt small rolls) speak of Christ as the bread of life, in lowly humiliation and suffering. The two small fish remind us of His passing through the waters of judgment for our sake. The boy was willing to give his lunch for others. Grace is shown here in the way it can use the smallest willing sacrifice of love for Him, and multiply the blessing.
- Little. The only food was barley bread and two small fish. It was the cheapest meal on the hill, and the disciples did not even own it.
- Counted. Philip measured the need by money. Andrew measured it by supply. Neither measured it by the Lord standing in front of them.
- Offered. Nothing is too small for Him to use, if we bring it to Him — He has chosen the weak things.
- Unnamed. Only John mentions the boy, and even he leaves him nameless. What mattered was not his fame but what he handed over.
- Multiplied. God had fed a hundred men in Elisha's day, and a greater than Elisha stood here. The little became enough for every person in that crowd.
[And] Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place the men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand.
A hungry crowd waits, and there are only five barley loaves and two small fish. Jesus gives an order that ignores the shortage: seat the people.
The disciples had just finished counting what they did not have. Then Christ spoke, and the arithmetic stopped.
Five barley loaves, and two small fishes! That was all. Now came the word of command, "Make the men sit down." Nobody protested. No apostle ventured another word. Christ's word was enough. Matthew alone has preserved two sayings of the Lord at this time. One is, "They need not depart." In the other He tells them to bring the loaves and fishes to Him (Matt. 14:16-18). No doubt these encouraged the twelve disciples to expect some miraculous display of power. They made the company sit down on the green grass, for it was springtime, shortly before the Passover.
Sitting down is not a small stage direction. It is the posture of someone who has stopped contributing and is ready to receive.
To receive the blessing all are reduced to a common level and a state of inaction: they sit down, or recline (v. 10). Neither man's outstanding prominence nor his work has any place here. But the Lord Jesus shows His dependence on the Father by giving thanks. From this point on He multiplies the provision abundantly as He hands it out to the crowd (v. 11)... Nor was there any rationing: all could receive as much as they desired. There is no limit: we may have as much of Christ as we want.
Another writer links the command to sit with rest, and with the gospel invitation.
Food and rest must go together, and our Lord will have none take their food like the beasts, standing. His first command to the crowd He was about to feed was that they should sit down. What a foretaste of the gospel itself, which invites all who labour and are weary to come to Christ for rest.
The verse pauses to mention the grass. It is the touch of a Host who thinks about comfort, not only about food.
He is the Master of the feast. He is the Host. With His own particular grace He makes them eat. He puts all His guests at perfect ease. He gave a feast once before, and He seated His guests in rows of fifty on the green grass, so that none might be overlooked (Mark 6:39-40). The record says, "there was much grass in the place" (John 6:10). Christ always meets the soul with perfect tenderness and care. There is nothing lacking in it.
A crowd that size could have turned into a scramble. Instead He arranged the seating Himself.
The Lord would not permit any such confusion. He was preparing a table in the wilderness for these people from Galilee. He arranged the guests by a definite plan. He would have no haste, no disorder. He Himself knew what He would do. He commanded the gathered thousands to sit as at a table — not where they wished, but where and how He wished. He was the Lord of the feast, and He would say to one, Sit here, and to another, Sit there, as it pleased Him.
One word brought five thousand restless people to stillness. One writer reads this as a preview of what Christ will one day do for the whole earth.
The scene that follows is surely a foretaste of the blessing of the coming thousand-year kingdom. It shows the perfect rule of the Lord. It shows the power of One Person to calm the world's unrest and meet its desperate hunger. At His word five thousand men are in a moment set in perfect rest. He speaks the word, and at once we read, "The men sat down". So it will be in the day of the Lord. Then He "will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely" (Hosea 2:18).
- Command. He speaks before He supplies. The shortage of loaves did not delay His word to sit down, and no disciple argued back.
- Seated. Sitting levels everyone. Prominence and effort count for nothing, and nothing is rationed — we may have as much of Christ as we want.
- Grass. The grass was green and plentiful, for it was spring, just before the Passover. The Host gives comfort as well as food, tender in every detail.
- Order. He seated them where and how He chose, preparing a table in the wilderness with no haste and no confusion.
- Foretaste. One word set five thousand at rest — a small model of the day when He calms the world's unrest and satisfies its hunger.
And Jesus took the loaves, and having given thanks, distributed [them] to those that were set down; and in like manner of the small fishes as much as they would.
Five loaves. Thousands of hungry people, sitting down and waiting. This verse is the moment the food reaches them. Everything turns on who takes, who thanks, and who gives.
The loaves came from a boy's lunch, and they were nothing measured against the crowd. What changes them is whose hands they enter. One writer sets them beside an older account of God feeding a household from almost nothing.
When Christ's power brings the small resources of earth into contact with heaven's endless supply, very little goes a long way. In the prophet's day, God could use a widow with "a handful of flour in a jar" and "a little oil in a jug" to keep a household alive for a full year (1 Kings 17:15-16). So Christ can use a boy with five loaves and two small fish to feed five thousand men.
He could have multiplied bread without a word. Instead He thanks God first.
Every work of power done by the Son was for the glory of God, and to do His Father's will. Before He fed the crowd with loaves and fish, He gave thanks. That showed He was not acting independently of His Father, even though everything was in His hand.
Notice who He thanks. Later in the chapter, John looks back and names the place by the thanksgiving, not by the miracle.
We can see how important His public thanksgiving was from the way John later refers to the miracle: "the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks" (John 6:23). John stresses not the multiplying of the loaves, which we find so wonderful, but the Lord's giving of thanks at the start of the meal... But note that the Lord never blesses the bread itself (there is no "it" after the verb in the original in Matthew 26:26; compare Mark 14:22). The Lord Jesus, as the obedient man, blessed God the giver, not the lifeless food.
In the other Gospel accounts the disciples carry the food out to the crowd. John leaves that out, and one writer explains why.
He blessed and broke the bread. He put the broken bread first into the hands of the disciples, and once they had received it they gave it to the people. This is the divine order of ministry... (In John's Gospel He feeds the crowds with His own hands. The ministry of the disciples is not mentioned there, because John presents Him as the Divine One.)
The crowd brings nothing to this meal but hunger. They simply sit down, and no one gets a measured portion.
To receive the blessing, everyone is brought down to the same level and to a state of doing nothing: they sit down, or recline (v. 10). A man's standing counts for nothing here, and neither does his work... And there was no rationing: all could take as much as they wanted. There is no limit: we may have as much of Christ as we want.
This meal was also a claim about who He is, and about the kind of ruler He would be.
The Lord Jesus soon showed everyone that He was the God who gave the manna (Ex. 16). He was also the LORD of Psalm 132:15, who said: "I will abundantly bless her provisions; I will satisfy her poor with bread."... But before He did this staggering miracle, He gave public thanks for the food He was about to hand out (Matt. 14:19). What a wonderful combination of human dependence and divine power in one Person!... A ruler who gives would be a real gift to men worn down by taxes.
In John's Gospel a sign is not the end point. The loaves open a door.
John records only a few signs, and each one is a prelude to deep teaching about grace and truth from the Lord's own lips. So the feeding of the crowds with a few loaves and fish opens the way to His great teaching about Himself. He is the Living Bread come down from heaven, given to bring life to the world and to sustain the life of His own people (John 6).
- Taken — in His hands five loaves go further than five loaves ever could. What we bring is never too small.
- Thanked — He blessed God the giver, not the bread. John later names the place by that thanksgiving. The Son never acts apart from His Father.
- Given — John leaves the disciples out of the handing round. Every eye rests on the Divine One who feeds with His own hands.
- Filled — no rationing and no ranking. Everyone sat still and took as much as he wanted. There is no limit to how much of Christ we may have.
- Followed — the sign points past the meal. It points to the King who satisfies His poor with bread, and on to His words about being the Living Bread from heaven.
And when they had been filled, he says to his disciples, Gather together the fragments which are over and above, that nothing may be lost.
The crowd has eaten all it wanted, and then Jesus tells the disciples to collect the scraps. Commentators find in that order both plain thrift and a picture of how God treats what belongs to Him.
Translations render the word for the scraps in two ways.
John 6:12f. — "Fragments." Or "broken pieces," as the Revised Version has it. The command is unique to this Gospel.
All four Gospels mention the leftovers. John alone tells us whose idea it was.
The other fact was the gathering up of the fragments, so that nothing should be lost. From John we learn that this was by the Lord's express direction (6:12). He held almighty power, yet He allowed no waste. Here He sets an example of thrift before His people. The people were satisfied first, as the twelve baskets of fragments prove. In those baskets the disciples gathered enough for their own next meal.
The same voice that fed thousands without measure would not let a crumb lie on the ground. Both belong to the same character.
Of five thousand hungry people He could say, "Give them something to eat." And when they had eaten their fill, He could say, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." The generosity and the economy are both perfect, and neither gets in the way of the other... The same hand that opened wide to every form of human need closed against all waste. Nothing stingy and nothing extravagant marked the character of this perfect, heavenly Man.
Common sense might call the collecting pointless.
The foolish here might say, "Why gather up those scattered crumbs? Surely the One who has worked such a miracle can have no need of fragments." Yes, but we are not to waste God's creatures. The use of the loaves and fishes teaches us not to despise anything God has made. The gathering up of the fragments teaches us not to waste it. Let human need be generously met, but let not a single crumb be wasted.
The collecting was possible only because the supply outran the need. What was gathered exceeded what was first handed over.
Here is the miracle. The little was not only enough for all, but more was left over at the end than they had at the beginning. His blessing was not only on the little for all; He blessed it in such a way that from it came an abundant increase. It is no different now in the ministry of spiritual things. The more we give out, having received from Him, the greater the increase and possession for us in the end.
The point is not arithmetic but the limit of our capacity to exhaust Him.
He takes the very things that showed their weakness. He brings earth's weakness into contact with heaven's fullness. The result: the people were not only fed but filled, and twelve baskets full remained. His grace can meet our need, but our need will never exhaust His grace.
Writers read the number twelve in more than one way. One connects the baskets to the work waiting for the disciples.
In Scripture the number twelve often stands for God's rule carried out through people, as with the twelve disciples. We may apply this to what was then close at hand. The disciples were being made ready to go out into the world with a basket each, filled with the good things of God. Here they carried His bounty to the hungry crowd. That service was a fitting introduction to the great work they were called to do after He had gone on high.
Another looks forward to blessing still held in reserve.
When all were filled, there was to be no waste of what remained (v. 12). What we may not take in of Christ, God does value. But is there not also a hint here of blessing still reserved for all twelve tribes of Israel in a future day? The twelve baskets remaining may well speak of this.
The lesson goes beyond that hillside to everything God provides.
That nothing may be lost! The Lord would not have us lose His gifts through waste or neglect, just because we have plenty for the moment... It is not pleasing to God that we should neglect or squander His bounties. To waste is to despise, to lose, His gifts. Economy is not contrary to true generosity but consistent with it.
The same care for losing nothing comes up again later in the chapter — this time about people.
Now He declares the Father's will to be that the Son Himself should not lose one of those whom the Father had given Him. Death itself could not interfere with this, for He is superior to death... He will raise up every believer at the last day (v. 39). In Christ's death and resurrection the believer sees that his own eternal blessing is certain. Nothing can defeat it.
- Command — The order to collect the leftovers comes from Jesus Himself, and only John records it.
- Character — He gave without limit and wasted nothing. He was never stingy and never extravagant.
- Capacity — He fed the crowd full and twelve baskets still remained; our need never exhausts His grace.
- Commission — Writers see in the baskets the disciples made ready to carry His bounty out, and blessing kept back for Israel's twelve tribes.
- Certainty — Losing nothing covers more than bread. Of all the Father gives Him, He loses none, and raises them up at the last day.
They gathered [them] therefore together, and filled twelve hand-baskets full of fragments of the five barley loaves, which were over and above to those that had eaten.
The feeding of the crowd ends with a count, not an empty field. Everyone has eaten, and twelve baskets are still filled with what is left of five barley loaves. Why does John record the leftovers at all, and why did the Lord order them collected?
The baskets measure something the meal itself could not show. Five loaves fed thousands; the surplus proves the supply was never strained.
When Christ gives out the blessing, people receive as much as they want. Even so, when all are filled, there will still be something "over and above". Now the demand is greater than the supply. Then God's grace will fully meet man's need. But man's need will never exhaust God's grace.
The surplus turned the arithmetic around. What the boy handed over was less than what the disciples carried home.
The little was not only enough for all; more was left over at the end than they had at the start. His blessing did not just stretch the little to cover everyone. He blessed it in such a way that it produced a rich increase. It is not different now in the ministry of spiritual things. The more we give out, having received from Him, the greater the increase and possession for us in the end.
The verse names the loaves as barley. That detail matters.
Barley bread is the poorest of all foods — the food of the very poor. So it stood for poverty and weakness — the very lessons stressed all along... The boy had only five barley loaves of bread, yet these were enough in the Lord's hand to feed the crowd. So it is ever. Will we not learn the simple lesson? Weakness, helplessness, nothingness — in Christ's hands will win the day against all the power of the world.
The Lord who would not send the crowd away hungry also would not let one scrap go to waste. Both came from one perfect heart.
About five thousand hungry people He could say, "You give them something to eat." And when they were filled He could say, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." The generosity and the thrift are both perfect, and neither gets in the way of the other... The same hand that was wide open to every human need was shut tight against all waste. There was nothing stingy and nothing extravagant in the character of the perfect, the heavenly Man.
The number is not accidental, and commentators draw more than one lesson from it. One reading points to the twelve who carried them.
In Scripture the number twelve often stands for God's rule carried out through people, as with the twelve disciples... The disciples were being made ready to go out into the world, each with a basket filled with the good things of God. Here they carried His gifts to a hungry crowd. That service was a fitting start to the great work they were called to do after He had gone back to heaven.
Another reading looks past the disciples to the nation they came from — Israel's twelve tribes, still waiting on a promise.
When all were filled, nothing that remained was to go to waste (v. 12). What we fail to take in of Christ, God still values. But also, is there not a hint here of blessing still reserved for all twelve tribes of Israel in a future day? The twelve baskets remaining may well speak of this.
The leftovers say something about the host, not just about the meal.
This shows the wealth of the Lord of the feast, as well as His kindness... If we live on someone else's generosity, and have reason to fear that we have eaten what he needed himself, our enjoyment fades. That fear will creep in, and with good reason, and spoil our ease while we sit at his table. But when we know that behind the table set for us there are full stores in the house, such fears have no place. The thought of the wealth of the host, and of his love, sets us all at ease.
- Little — five barley loaves, the bread of the poorest, were nothing in themselves. In His hands they were enough. Weakness put into His hands wins the day.
- Filled — the crowd received as much as they wanted; grace meets need fully, and need never drains the supply.
- Left over — the baskets held more than the boy first gave. The same holds in spiritual things: the more we give out, the greater the increase.
- Gathered — the hand open to every hunger was shut against all waste. Generosity and thrift met in one perfect Man, and neither crowded out the other.
- Twelve — a basket each for the twelve who would later carry His gifts to the world. Some also see a hint of blessing still held in reserve for Israel's twelve tribes.
The men therefore, having seen the sign which Jesus had done, said, This is truly the prophet which is coming into the world.
A crowd has just been fed by a miracle of loaves and fish. The moment the meal ends, they announce who the Man who fed them must be. Their words are true. But what happens next shows that true words can still stop short.
The title the crowd uses was not invented on the spot. It reaches back to a promise God gave through Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15). The whole nation was waiting for that Prophet. People had already put the same question to John the Baptist.
"Are you the Prophet?" they ask John the Baptist, in a way that showed they were all expecting His coming. "And he answered, 'No'" (John 1:21). They then ask him why he baptised, if he was not "the Prophet" (v. 25). But he tells them, "Among you stands one you do not know." Later the Lord fed the five thousand in John 6, and there we read, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world" (v. 14). Through Moses God had spoken to them and fed them in the wilderness. So they would remember the promise of the Prophet, who would surpass Moses, and still be "like" him.
The parallel is exact: a prophet who comes from God to the people, meets their hunger, and takes them onward.
Struck by the miracle of feeding the five thousand, the people confess Christ as the Prophet foretold by Moses, who would, like Moses, come to the people from God to meet their needs and lead them into the promised blessing (Deuteronomy 18:15-19).
They had just seen "the sign that he had done." Their verdict rested on what they watched Him do, not on what they heard Him say.
John 6:14. — "The prophet." See Deuteronomy 18:15, and compare John 11:27 (Matthew 11:3; Luke 7:19) and John 12:13. There the testimony is that of His works (compare chapter 9), as in John 7:40 it is that of His teaching.
There was more in the loaves than a full stomach. The miracle said something about who was standing among the crowd.
This great sign showed that Jehovah was among them. He was the One who had fed His Israel with manna in the wilderness, and who promised to satisfy the poor with bread (Psalm 132:15). When they had seen the great sign, they acknowledged Him to be the promised Prophet who should come (Deuteronomy 18:15). They wanted to make Him King.
Their statement was true as far as it went. Others in this Gospel reached the same verdict about Him.
The power and the grace were His, and His alone. This was so obvious to the men who shared in His bounty that they connected it with heaven. They declared that He must be the Prophet who was to come into the world, as Moses had said. People reached that conclusion many times — see John 4:19; John 7:40; John 9:17. But to last, it had to be a stepping-stone to deeper conclusions. In John 4 it led to the conviction that He was the Christ; in John 9, to the conclusion that He was the Son of God.
What they wanted from Him showed the limit of their faith.
The people would have liked a king who gave them bread and fish every day. But they strongly disliked the word of His mouth that spoke to their consciences. They understood well enough when He told them to sit down on the grass. But they could understand nothing when He spoke of His death, which implied that they were lost.
Verse 15 shows what they did with their conclusion — and what He did with their offer.
The men who had seen the miracle of the loaves and fish cannot help confessing, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world" (John 6:14). Then Jesus saw that they would try to make Him king by force, and He "withdrew again to the mountain by Himself." So in this event we see the Lord Jesus taking His place on high after His prophetic mission here below. He refuses to take the kingdom from the hand of man, just as He had refused it earlier from the hand of Satan.
- Promise. Moses foretold a Prophet like himself (Deuteronomy 18:15). Israel was still waiting, and had already asked John the Baptist if he was the one.
- Sign. The crowd confesses Him for what He did. In John 7:40 others confess Him for what He taught.
- Fulfilment. Feeding the poor with bread was God's own pledge in Psalm 132:15, so the miracle marked out the One who was among them.
- Shortfall. Their words were true but unfinished. Elsewhere the same verdict led on to "the Christ" and "the Son of God." It had to go that far, or it would not last.
- Refusal. They tried to crown Him by force. He went up the mountain alone. He refused a kingdom from man's hand, as He had refused it from Satan's.