The miracle of manna in the wilderness is quietly one of greatest miracles of the Old Testament. We here are all very blessed. We live in a wealthy country where food is plentiful. How often does it happen that you go a day without anything to eat, just because there is no food? Don’t take that for granted. There are people all over the world who go hungry, even dying from starvation. And that would have been God’s people of Israel. They certainly thought that way, “Oh Moses, why did you bring us out into this wilderness where there is no food? We’re going to die here!” We look at them and say, “Oh, those whiny babies! Toughen up!” But then, there are times when I’ve gotten grumpy because I haven’t had a snack in a few hours.
But what did God do? It wasn’t the flashiest of miracles. It wasn’t like fire and brimstone falling on Sodom and Gomorrah or like Pharaoh’s army drowning in the Red Sea. It was miraculous bread that was on the ground, enough to feed the entire Israelite camp. It appeared every day of the week, sure and steady, except for the Sabbath day, and this miracle continued for 40 years while the people lived in a wilderness where they otherwise would have starved to death. They lived entirely because God in his grace was providing for his own for their needs.
Our Gospel for today echoes that time in the Old Testament. Jesus was out in the wilderness with a great crowd of Jewish people. They didn’t have any food. Jesus could have just sent them away, but instead, he took it on himself to provide for their needs. And by this he points us to something even bigger. From the beginning the Lord’s concern for his people is far more than that they have food for their stomachs. If he provides for us for this life, how much more will he provide for us for eternal life? Jesus provides his own for their needs.
Our Gospel for today comes from John chapter 6. This is the account we’re focusing on, though we can also learn about Jesus’ miracle of the feeding of the five thousand from Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It’s one of the few accounts that is recorded in all four Gospels.
This took place in a deserted area by the Sea of Galilee. Jesus and his disciples had been trying to get away from the crowds for some time alone, but the people saw which way Jesus was going as they sailed off on the lake and the crowds decided to run after him on foot. So by the time Jesus and his disciples got to the other side of the lake there was already a crowd there.
And Jesus, who is an ever-patient and ever-caring Lord, had compassion on the people and sat on a hillside to teach the people about the kingdom of God and heal the sick. The day started to get long though and as evening came the disciples started to have some questions about food. These people had a long way to walk to get home. There weren’t any towns or markets nearby. And there were a lot of people. The only thing to do, naturally, would be to send them all away so that they could go get something to eat.
Except, that’s not what Jesus did. John says,
When Jesus looked up and saw a huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” But Jesus was saying this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to have just a little.”
One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what is that for so many people?”
Jesus’ question was utterly baffling to Philip. Jesus asked where they could buy bread for all these people, and Philip immediately started doing the math. And in every way that he could think of, the math did not add up, not even close. A denarius was a day’s wage. In the US there are about 250 business days in a year, so you could say that Philip was thinking, “This will cost most of a year’s pay!” And these guys are students. They don’t have much money.
John includes a note about what Jesus was doing here, which I suppose we could guess at if John hadn’t told us, but still it’s a good reminder. “Jesus was saying this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.” This could almost be a comedy, with Philip and the other disciples getting completely flustered as they look at their hands and dig through the money bag and try to think of every possible solution, while Jesus just sits there calmly smiling. Had they forgotten who it was who was sitting right there? Philip, don’t you know who Jesus is? He’s the very Son of God, who holds all the power of God in the palm of his hand. He’s the one who set the stars in the sky, and who planted every kind of fruit tree in the Garden of Eden. He’s the one who fed all of Israel, far more than 5,000, with manna and quail and water from rocks in the desert wilderness not just once, but for forty years straight, never failing.
It is quite a comedy, isn’t it? Philip panicking and looking all around for a solution while the solution, the only true God, was sitting right there. Oh Philip, you look like a fool!
But then I suppose we can’t be too hard on Philip, can we? As much as we might shake our heads, don’t we act the same way? We see the challenges and troubles in our lives and we start to do the math. That’s our very first thought. How am I going to fix this? How am I going to solve this? How am I going to overcome all my problems by my own strength, my own power, my own wealth, my own cleverness? And we look all around us, high and low, at our hands, in our money bags, trying to wrack our brains for every possible solution, while Jesus is sitting there smiling and waiting. The God who created the heavens and the earth, who made you and gave you everything you have, ready to hear your prayers, ready to answer them.
And it might be a comedy if it wasn’t so terrible and sad. That’s your sinful nature at work, trying to solve everything on your own, trying to run as far away as possible so that you can say, “See, God, I don’t need you!”
Philip didn’t have the solution. Andrew didn’t either. All he could find was one boy who had five barley loaves and two fish. But Jesus knew what he was going to do. He told the disciples to have the people sit down. He gave thanks for that measly little lunch, and then started distributing it. And miraculously, it was enough. It was more than enough. Everyone there ate as much as he wanted, and when Jesus sent his disciples to gather the leftovers they collected twelve baskets full.
The lesson for us here is not that Jesus will always make your problems go away or that he will fill you with an abundance of physical goods that overflow even beyond what you were asking for. There are times when that might happen in your life. And when it does, you should certainly give thanks. Where else does your help come from than from the Lord? But the real lesson is that Jesus tests those he loves and that we should trust him because he provides for his own for their needs.
Jesus tested Philip and the other disciples and this wasn’t because he wasn’t sure what they would do. And you might say that they failed the test when they didn’t immediately look to him for help, but that’s really the right way of thinking of this either. A test from Jesus is a challenge that leads to a stronger faith. Jesus set this challenge before his disciples because he intended to use it to teach them to trust even more in him. And he does that for you too. You will face tests in this life. You’ll have worries and fears. You’ll wrestle with temptations. But Jesus can and does use these things for your good, to strengthen you, to teach you to trust ever more in him. Just watch and see. He provided manna in the wilderness. He provided food for the 5,000. He will provide for you as well.
After all, his goal for you is heaven. Why did he provide manna in the wilderness? Why test Philip? Why feed the 5,000? Because his desire for them and for you and for the whole world is his salvation. Most of the people didn’t understand that. That’s why they saw this great miracle and declared that he really is the promised Prophet, the one who would be like Moses, and they decided to make him their king, by force if necessary. What a great king he would be for this life! But that’s not why Jesus came. That wasn’t his purpose. He came for the cross, to suffer so that he could provide our starving souls with salvation. As great as this miracle is, and as great as the manna in the wilderness was, these miracles are small compared to the overflowing love of God that gave his Son as living bread from heaven.
Unlike the feeding of the 5,000, you get to be a part of that. Jesus is the bread of life for our faith. In that way, everyone who believes in him eats that bread and is filled. He’s the answer to our spiritual hunger, as God says through Isaiah, “Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good. Satisfy your appetite with rich food.”
Jesus also makes the reality of this promise concrete in his Supper, where by the power of his almighty word his body is present in, with, and under the bread, as holy food for the forgiveness of our sins.
The feeding of the five thousand, the manna in the wilderness—those are wonderful miracles. But even greater is that Jesus feeds you with the salvation that he won for you on the cross, with his sure promises, and with his gifts of righteousness. You who are hungry, eat and be filled! Amen.