The Miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand men, in John 6:1-14, is the only miracle recorded by all four Gospels. It also is the most known of Jesus’ miracles. This miracle was performed by Jesus to be a physical type of the spiritual message concerning Jesus being “that Bread” which came down from Heaven. Jesus later explained, “I Am the Bread of Life.” Jesus set the stage for His message on the Bread of Life, in revealing that He is the Supply for the hungry.

Note the following aspects of this miracle in relation to Jesus, The Supply;

• The Supply is Not as the flesh views it; but as faith views it.
• The Supply is in what God has given us (Little is Much in the hands of God; without God, the supply will never be enough)
• The Supply is distributed by us (from Him, given to us – from us, given to the multitude)
• The Supply is more than Enough in Christ

The background of this miracle is that the great multitude had followed Jesus from one side of the Sea of Galilee to the other side, because they had witnessed the miracles of Jesus healing the diseased. When Jesus “saw the great company come unto him, He saith to Philip, Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat” (Jn. 6:5).

He was setting the stage to teach the Disciples:

• To prove to them they were walking by sight and not by faith;
• The Provision is in them (when empowered by Jesus; employed by Jesus; and executed by Jesus);
• The Proof is in the Results.

In this devotion, the outline will be:

To Prove Him (them): the problem being:

The Blindness of the Perception of the Supply in Jesus

Jesus set the stage to show Philip and Andrew their lack of perception of: Who He was; His Plan and of His Power; and that He was the Bread of Supply for sinners. The child of God must turn from the situation, and look to the God of the situation. In every event in the life of the child of God, the event must be viewed through the eyes of faith; for the honor and glory of God.

But, what do many Christians do today?

The answer: They look at the situation and allow their flesh to assess the situation; instead of looking to God for the answer, and the action to be taken (Prov. 3:5-6).

Therefore, the Problem is the view through the eyes of the flesh of the situation. This view is the opposite of faith. Faith is:

• Faith is the Gift in regeneration (Eph. 2:8-9)
• Faith is the God-given ability to discern spiritual matters (Heb. 11:1)
• Faith is not of personal origin; but of God origin; faith is Christ (Gal. 2:20)
• Faith is a must to please God (Heb. 11:6)

Then, the opposite of faith is walking by sight, wherein:

• Everything is viewed in the Power of the flesh (Rom. 7:14-24; 1 Jn. 2:15-16); which means that you are walking by sight and not by faith;
• No discernment of spiritual matters; (1 Cor. 2:10-14)
• No faith causes you to view everything man-ward and not God-ward. This causes you: (a) to doubt, which can bring on unbelief; fear; and even sickness; (b) To trust in the flesh’s reasoning; (c) To deny the Person and Power and the Promises of God to His children; and (d) missed opportunities.

The Apostle Philip and the Apostle Andrew were blinded to the Power of Jesus. Because of this blindness, Jesus set the stage to teach them, He is the Power and the Provision for the needy. Therefore, Jesus posed the following to Philip and to Andrew:

(John 6:5-6) “…he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?  (6)  And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.”

Note the blindness of Philip and of Andrew as revealed in their answers to Jesus:

(John 6:7) “Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.”

(John 6:8-9) (8) “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, (9) There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”

The two key words in their answers are, “little” and “so many.” What man has is never sufficient to meet the need of man. Philip’s focus was on little, and not on Christ and His Provision. Philip and Andrew were viewing the situation through the eyes of the flesh, and not through the eyes of faith.

This view is the same today with many Christians. Many look at the situation, “a great company”; and many look at the lack of supply to meet the need. (And in man, it is not enough.) Look at Moses as an example; (Ex. 4:1-16) Moses began to make excuses, “they will not believe me.” (God’s answer is in the three signs he gave Moses: rod to a serpent; hand to leprous; water to blood.) Then Moses said he was slow of speech; and God provided Aaron to speak for Moses. God always has a plan of supply to meet the need.

In our text, Andrew did the same thing; he looked at the “many” and then at the small supply of the lad. However, God is not in the “little” business; but, He is in the “enough” and “more than enough” business for His Children. God is in the “many” business. But to be a partaker of the “more than enough,” you must walk by faith; trusting, and believing God. (Heb. 11:6) “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

In summary, God was teaching Philip, Andrew, and us – don’t look at the situation by sight; but look to the Solution of the Situation, Jesus Christ, The Creator, the Controller, and the Consummator of all things. All things are Possible with God; but, not in man’s strength alone. It is in His Sufficiency that we will be Overcomers of all situations; whatever we face in life’s journey.

(2Co 3:5) “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God;”

(Php 4:13) “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

(2Co 12:9) “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” 

Jesus proved, or revealed, the Problem of Blindness of Perception of Philip and of Andrew (and even many of us today) in Philip’s and Andrew’s answers to Jesus. Their eyes were focused on what man has or doesn’t have to meet the situation; instead of focusing on viewing the Power of God and His Provision in Jesus Christ.