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<2017.12> The Words that I Speak to You Are Spirit, and They Are Life

45th International Bible Conference
July 29, 2013
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  John 6:63
Jesus Fed the Multitude of Five Thousand
As you read the Bible, you will notice that the issue of eating continues to appear, beginning with the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but the person who clashed the most distinctly with people over this matter of eating is Jesus. The Pharisees, the scribes and the teachers of law each applied their own human standards as they attacked Jesus, and the subject of eating also featured in these attacks. 
In John chapter 6 we read how Jesus fed the multitude and spoke about bread and, more specifically, the bread of life.This is related to the verse in which He said, “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life” (verse 63). As you read John chapter 6, please think carefully about Amos chapter 8 verse 11, where it says, “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lord God, ‘that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.’” We are now going to examine how Jesus dealt with the matter of the famine not of bread, and the thirst not for water but of hearing the words of the Lord.
We may feel uncomfortable when we hear about matters of eating, drinking and money as they appear in the Bible, but in John chapter 6 we can see that such matters related to the flesh are the problems closest to us. These problems are very closely related to our lives and our actions. Such problems are expressed in the Bible through the lips of Jesus Himself, and they are directly related to our spirits. 
The words that God spoke were not just words. The moment the words come from the mouth of God, they are transformed into actions and accomplished both physically and chemically. The words we speak just drift off into the air, but the words God speaks are not scattered without effect; they continue to be carried out. They have the power to accomplish and move forward. God’s word travels forward in a straight line towards its aim like the light of the sun as it travels towards the earth. 
When we hold a communion service, we pass round bread and eat it together, and we pass round wine and drink it together. If we carefully examine through the Bible the matters of consuming bread and wine or the matter of making a payment for something, we can see that we are not the ones who are taking the action here. When we pay our tithes or make a donation, this money is used by the people responsible for such matters and may be converted into bread or wine. There is, however, the matter of giving and receiving of food or property between individuals. We often consider the things happening within the fellowship as being equal to the exchanges of giving and receiving that take place in society. Yet, when we consider the following passage and the question that Jesus asked His disciples in a place where many people had gathered, we find His words deeply significant. 
Let’s read John chapter 6 from verse 1.
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,  John 6:1-5
The issue here is very closely and directly connected to the Jews. It says that Jesus went up on the mountain. In the Old Testament we find many references to mountains such as Mount Zion. It also says here that the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. The Passover was the day on which the Israelites offered up a lamb as a sacrifice. It was at this time that Jesus saw a multitude of people coming towards Him. It was the eyes of the Creator God that were looking at the multitude in that place. Here, when Jesus saw the multitude of people coming toward Him, He asked Philip a question. The Bible says that Jesus asked this question to test him, already knowing the answer Himself. 
“Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  John 6:5-6
This conversation is related to money. Jesus’ words hold a very deep meaning as He spoke here about buying bread. He asked, “Where shall we buy bread?” Buying involves giving money in return for some item. This is trading. 
Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”  John 6:7
Philip must have been very quick at calculating; he took a look at the multitude and answered Jesus that two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be sufficient to feed all these people. 
At this time, however, there was one person who did not take such calculations into consideration at all. This person was Andrew. 
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?”  John 6:8-9
Andrew told Jesus there was a boy there who had five barley loaves and two fish. Every time I read this, I wonder what he thought he was doing in bringing this boy to Jesus. Was he acting through faith? Or was it to see what Jesus would do? Yet Andrew said, “But what are they among so many?” He did make some calculation. In a way, this is man’s way of calculating. 
If God were to ask us how the many people running toward hell are to be saved, there would probably be many answers like these. “We need to gather a certain amount in tithes.” “We need to collect a certain amount in donations.” “We need to recite the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation a certain number of times.” “We need to offer a certain number of sacrifices.”
Yet, what did Jesus do at this time? I find this passage about the five loaves and two fish very interesting. When Jesus fed five thousand people, He did not ask them to stand in a line before Him.
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.  John 6:10
Jesus did not tell these people to line up in front of Him and beg, and neither did He tell them to ask Him for something. Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Just as Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28), He told these people to sit down. When I hear the words, “Make the people sit,” I think, “That’s right. There is nothing that I can do.” Every word that came from Jesus’ lips pierces our hearts. 
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.  John 6:11
Who did He distribute the food to? You need to read the Bible very carefully. It says, “He distributed them … to those sitting down.” This is a record of an actual incident that took place in the land of Israel two thousand years ago, an incident in which over five thousand people were fed. The words of the Bible are the voice of God the Holy Spirit who explains in detail here how Jesus supplied the food and the people ate what He gave them. We are listening carefully to this voice right now. 
The bread was being formed and the fish created even as Jesus distributed them to His disciples. Of course, this passage presents Jesus as God the Creator, but it also reveals God’s position, as the One who works actively in order to give, and man’s position as the one who receives and eats what is given. There is a world of difference between these two positions.
The matter that demands deep consideration here is where this act of giving started; with whom did it begin? The food was supplied unilaterally from the hands of Jesus to the people who were sitting down. The entire Old Testament is lined with incidents similar to this. The Israelites experienced such incidents several times within their history, beginning at the time of Abraham. 
So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”  John 6:12
At this time, these people had actually eaten and were full. This is not an expression in spiritual sense to indicate that their spirits were satisfied from listening to the word of God; they were actually physically full. If Jesus had only made enough food to fill the stomachs of the people sitting there and there had not been any fragments left over, man would probably have become extremely arrogant, especially those who are born again having listened to the word of God. Such people might even think, “That’s right, there are no words left over for those who are not saved to listen to.” Yet, this is not what the Bible is saying. Jesus said, “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.  John 6:13
A similar account is to be found in Mark chapter 8 where it says that the incident occurred in the wilderness. (see verses 1-9) Jesus said to His disciples, “I have compassion on the multitude … and if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way.” In Jesus’ words here, we can see how He cares for man. There were some people there who had come from far away. Even though we are Gentiles, who have lived our lives far away from God’s word, His laws and His promises, there are also words for us to listen to and be thankful for. On this occasion, Jesus fed four thousand people with seven loaves of bread and two fish. Also, this time it was not just ordinary baskets that were filled; it says seven large baskets were filled with the crumbs. These accounts are recorded in Matthew chapter 15. (see verses 32-38)
Food Pertaining to the Flesh and Food which Endures to Everlasting Life
In this way, through Jesus’ actions, the Bible introduces to us to the matters of eating food and being filled. Yet, going beyond the simple matter of eating and drinking, God is also showing us through these passages His plan for what He intends to accomplish for man. Jesus acted in this way to provide and explain the words, “Not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water”. He demonstrated through His actions. How do we come to this conclusion? It is because the prophets received God’s words and wrote them down. God said, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7). Here it says that God first reveals what He is going to do through His prophets and then He acts. 
After this event, people concluded that Jesus was a prophet. 
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 6:14-15
When Jesus was born, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2). When Herod heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. Now, the people who had received and eaten bread and fish free of charge wanted to make Jesus their king, but Jesus avoided these people and departed to the mountain. This was because the events recorded in the Old Testament had first to take place; He made this decision based on the words of the Old Testament. 
Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them. Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone—however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks—when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”  John 6:16-25
Here, too, we can see how the multitude behaved. They demonstrate to us what religious acts are. When God appeared in the garden of Eden after Adam had eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and called to Adam saying, “Where are you?” Adam had definitely used fig leaves to cover his nakedness, and yet he replied, “I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself” (see Genesis 3:
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