John 6:1-21: The fourth and fifth signs – Jesus feeding 5000 and walking on water

Analysis

This passage relates to the fourth and fifth signs of Jesus that John focuses on in his gospel.

It is rather sad to read (in retrospect) that the reason the crowds were following Jesus was because of the signs and wonders that he did. From Mark 1:38 we know that Jesus came to preach the gospel and only showed the signs and wonders to back up his words and because of his compassion for the people. Sadly, the crowds are seeing it the other way around.

By both these signs Jesus tests the faith of his disciples and subsequently Jesus demonstrates to his disciples that they must renew their thinking of Him and think outside of their cultural box in order for them to perceive and receive the Messiah sent from God. Not the political messiah that the Jewish teachers taught.

It is clear from the feeding of the 5000 that the crowd still holds to the earthly messiah concept. This idea is reinforced by their reason for following him; his signs and wonders. One commentator (B. Coffman) says that the crowd saw that Jesus could feed them without resources (miraculously) and they thought that, as such, Jesus would be able to sustain an army against the Romans and drive them out! The crowd’s thinking was earthly, selfish and short sighted. No doubt that this false indoctrination stems directly from the incorrect teachings and misinterpreted scriptures taught by the Pharisees.

Jesus knew their hearts and subsequently withdrew in solitude to the mountain. Jesus was not an earthly king but an even greater heavenly king! It must have been frustrating for Jesus to explain the kingdom of heaven to the people and all they see is their selfish want for an earthly king.

Mark 6:45-56 and Matt 14:22-36 expands on Jesus walking on the water and also includes Peter walking on the water to Jesus. John the apostle focuses in his gospel on the sign that Jesus is master of the elements and of natural forces (e.g. gravity, compressible Newtonian fluids, etc.) and does not place emphasis here on the disciples.

Response

We have to ask ourselves this question daily: why am I following Jesus? Is it just for what He can do for me or is it because he is the awesome God worthy of worship ? A very prevalent teaching in the public sphere (TV and radio) is the teaching that Jesus wants to liberate me with earthly things to satisfy my selfish wants. No!

We serve a God who gives us exactly what we need when we need it. We worship God not to get stuff from Him but because He is worthy and the Holy God. We are in His service the same way Jesus stood in God’s service and perfectly executed the will of the Father. God did not execute Jesus’ will.

When we look to the world and all its suffering and all its poverty, it is easy to see Jesus as a tool to alleviate us from all of this. But that is not the Kingdom of God. God gives us anyway what we need when we seek His kingdom and glory first in our lives.