Today we are looking at two events which I believe are designed to be looked at as a couplet. I’m sure many of you have heard messages on both of these events; the feeding of the five thousand, and Jesus walking on the water, and in most cases I think they are presented independently of one another. But as someone observed, my job is to be a preacher, not a commentator. I am looking for Biblical principles which are presented in the text, and I’m trying to extract them and expound them. I’m not interested in giving a commentary on the text, per se. My goal is to preach the principles being taught by the text.

And so I see these two incidents in the Lord’s ministry as connected and the truths taught in them building upon one another. So I think that Mark intended them to be viewed concurrently. And I think that the Holy Spirit also intended for them to be studied together. One clue that this is so is found by the fact that at the beginning of each incident, the disciples get into a boat and travel to another side of the lake. In both accounts, Jesus orders His disciples to cross over to the other side of the sea. And I think that is significant, in that it shows a parallel of sorts that is instructive in helping us understand the spiritual principles being taught through both events.

Now as I said, there are two events; the feeding of the five thousand, and Jesus walking on water. And I would like to suggest that we could further classify those events by the title of the tutorial and the test of the gospel. That is how we learn when we go to school, is it not? The teacher teaches, and then there is a test. The purpose of the teaching is to instruct, and the purpose of the test is to gage your knowledge. And I think that is what the Lord is doing here; there is a day of teaching, and a night of testing. And testing by the way is not always so that there might be given a score. Testing in it’s Biblical format is often used to move the information from the head to the heart. From knowledge to faith. To come to trust that which you have believed. To prove that which you have learned. That is the purpose of testing.

When David was about to face Goliath and Saul wanted him to wear his armor, David said “I cannot wear this, for I have not tested it.” The idea was that he had not proven it. He had not exercised it, he had not practiced fighting in it. So it was of no real use to him. That is the purpose of our spiritual testing. God uses it to prove our faith, to strengthen our faith, and to give us confidence in our faith so that we might accomplish more as a result of our trust.

So let’s look first at the tutorial. Note the context; the disciples had just returned from being sent out in pairs throughout Galilee to prepare the way for the Lord. They had been given specific power and authority to preach, to heal and cast out demons. In vs 12 and 13 we see that they did just that. In the meantime Mark gives a side note about the death of John the Baptist which may have happened concurrently as they were afield doing the ministry of the gospel. Now in vs30 the disciples have returned, and they jubilantly report to Jesus all that they had done and taught.

Then Jesus says that they should come away with Him to a secluded place for a while, so that they might be refreshed. Mark says that they did not even have time to eat because of the crush of the multitudes. So they all got in a boat and crossed the lake in an attempt to escape the crowds. But the people saw them, perhaps figured out their course, and ran around the lake to get ahead of them so that the crowds met them on the other side. I can’t help but think that the Lord Jesus knew that would happen. And the reason that He allowed it to happen, or even orchestrated it in this way, was to make an opportunity for a greater ministry occasion. And even more of an opportunity for the disciples to learn, because they are now removed from familiar places, or their homes or friends to whom they could have relied upon to help them in the upcoming situation.

So in vs 34 it says “When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.” Listen, that is what Jesus came for. In John 9:4 Jesus is recorded as saying, ”We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.” Jesus knew His ministry in Galilee was coming to an end. So He has orchestrated a great ministry opportunity here in this secluded place, where not only is He able to spend all day teaching the multitudes, but is able to teach the disciples some important lessons as well.

And notice that is what Mark records; that Jesus taught the crowds many things. Other gospel writers include that He also performed healing. But Mark wants us to see the priority of teaching. Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” The word of Christ is the basis for faith, and faith is the means of knowing God and the things of God. Faith is the basis for acceptance with God. But faith must come by hearing the word of God. It must be grounded in the word of God. Faith not backed up with the promise of God is just wishful thinking. It has no relevance in spiritual matters. Faith must be grounded in the word. So Jesus spent the day teaching them many things, doctrine, principles of the kingdom of God. Listen, just because you sincerely believe something to be true does not make it true, unless it is the truth of God. Faith, in order to be valid, must be founded on the word of God.

And notice that Jesus seeing the multitude had compassion on them, seeing them as sheep without a shepherd. So His first priority is to feed the sheep. He feeds the sheep with spiritual food. He teaches them the word of God. That is the pastor’s job, is it not? Pastor is a title which comes from the Greek word poimen, which means shepherd. That’s the same word Jesus uses here. And a shepherd’s job is to feed his sheep, to guard his sheep, and to pasture his sheep. The primary way that is done is to teach sound doctrine, and warn the flock of false prophets and false teaching. Everything else is secondary to that. So Jesus shows by example the way a shepherd is to show compassion. To teach the word, to feed the flock with spiritual food. And by the way, it’s a very dangerous thing to be a sheep without a shepherd. There is a great deceit prevailing in Christianity today that we can be independent, outside of a local flock and outside of the authority which God has given to His shepherds. But the fact is that a sheep outside of the flock and without a shepherd is ripe pickings for the ravenous wolves of the devil. (Eph.4:11, 2Tim.3:6)

So we see the preeminence of the spiritual need over the physical as illustrated in the incident which follows. First, Jesus feeds them spiritually. Even the disciple’s physical need for rest is put secondary to the spiritual needs of the crowds. Then, when it is late in the day, the disciples say to Jesus in vs 35, “This place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” There are no WaWa’s out in that part of the country. No supermarkets. So it’s going on towards evening, and the disciples are probably hungry too, so they know the crowd will be hungry and there is no where close by to get food.

But Jesus turns instead to the disciples and says in vs37, “You give them something to eat!” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?” And He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

Now I think that the temptation here is to make the same mistake that the disciples make in this incident. I think Jesus is attempting to illustrate a spiritual principle by physical means. It’s kind of like a parable; a parable uses an earthly illustration for spiritual purposes. I have said many times before, that every miracle in the gospels is presented to teach us a spiritual principle. And so I think we have to understand this as such. The point here is not just to teach that Jesus is able to take the gift of a little boy’s lunch and make it feed 5000. (John’s gospel tells us that it was a boy’s lunch). But the principle being taught here is that Jesus Himself is the Bread of Life. He is the manna which comes down out of heaven, which if you eat of it, you will have life everlasting, even spiritual life which is from God. That is the purpose. Jesus could make bread out of stones if He wanted. The point is not feeding the hungry. The point is that the disciples come to see Jesus as the Bread of Life, and that as they offer that food to the crowd then they receive spiritual life. That is the ministry that God has called His disciples to perform. Not just to feed the hungry at Thanksgiving. Or to operate a food pantry. But to offer the bread of life to every person.

Well, this is a very familiar story to all of you and Mark told it quite well. I need not embellish it. But let me hopefully add some spiritual insight into what was happening. As I have already said, Jesus is the Bread of Life. And Jesus wants to teach the disciples to administer that spiritual food. Thus He has the disciples bring to Jesus what they had. It wasn’t much. But it was enough, when coupled by faith in Christ. For those of us that are disciples, the Lord has given us enough knowledge to share with others what we have. I heard someone say the other day that the best witness of a Christian to the lost is just to tell what Jesus has done for you. “I once was blind, but now I see.” That may be all you know, but share that. You have a responsibility in the kingdom of God to share what God has given you so far. Not to wait until one day when you think you have finally got every question answered. Just share Jesus with those you come into contact with. He will take what you have and magnify it by His power.

Notice also, the disciples say we could never afford enough food to feed all these people. The fact is, spiritually speaking, Jesus has already purchased what we could never pay for. Salvation is a gift of God, purchased through the blood of Jesus Christ the Righteous. None of us could buy salvation by money or by good works. Only Jesus is able to purchase our redemption, and God grants it to us by grace on the basis of our faith in Christ.

Then look at the illustration further. The Lord performs this miracle to strengthen their faith. When there was only five loaves and two fish, and 5000 men, (Matthew says not including women and children, maybe 10,000+) He has the disciples make them sit down in rows of fifty. I used to be in the hotel restaurant business. And I used to have nightmares from time to time of a giant banquet hall where all these people kept filing in, and I was the only waiter. It was a real nightmare. I couldn’t keep up. I would wake up like Daniel from his vision; sweating and exhausted. I think that some of that might have been going on with the disciples. But Jesus is teaching them to obey even when there is no evidence. Tell everyone to sit down so that you can serve them dinner. But they know there is no food.

Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” That is what Jesus is illustrating here, the essence of faith. Faith is comprehending the spiritual, when there is little to go on. Faith is obedience to Christ, it is believing in His word, when it doesn’t always make sense.

So they go to Jesus, who first blesses the food. He gives thanks to God. Something we all ought to do. Yes, sometimes it may be a thoughtless ritual, but it’s a good ritual. Jesus then takes the bread and the fish and begins to break it and distribute it to each disciple. Someone has said that it was customary in those days to have a basket that you carried on your back similar to the way people carry a backpack today. So it’s possible that each disciple has his own basket which he brings to Jesus, and Jesus keeps breaking these loaves and fish in His hands until the basket is filled, and the disciple goes to the rows of people and starts passing it out.

And I want to say that is a picture of effective evangelism. Yes, there is a great crowd there. But salvation is an individual thing whereby a disciple of Christ passes on that knowledge which leads to salvation to one individual after another. And notice that Jesus doesn’t set up a buffet and let everyone come up and help themselves. But the gospel is distributed piece by piece until everyone has had enough. There is a progressive nature to the gospel, where you believe and act upon the truth as you have received it, and then more is given.

Notice also Jesus instructs the disciples to take up what was left over. I almost choked on my ice cream the other night when I read a commentary which said this was done to illustrate that littering is a sin. That’s seriously what they said. Jesus was teaching not to be a litterbug. Well, to that I say humbug! No, we shouldn’t litter, but that is hardly the point. The point is that there were 12 disciples and after they fed everyone else, they had 12 baskets left over. In other words, each disciple had more than enough for his daily need, as well as some for the next day. God provides for our needs, as we are obedient to Him and put him first. Don’t take an inventory of your needs and then determine what you have left to give the Lord. But put the Lord’s work first and give liberally, and then you will find that you have more than enough for your own needs left over.

Now notice that immediately following this miracle Jesus sends the disciples away. Jesus sends them off in the boat again, this time to be tested and to prove some important lessons in the process. Jesus stays behind and deals with the crowd. Notice though that in vs45 Jesus sends them ahead of them. That means that He made it clear that He would meet them on the other side. Now that’s important, because the promises of the Lord are the foundation of our faith. The disciples should have remembered that when they were in the middle of the test. Jesus said He would meet them on the other side.

That’s where the church is today, is it not? We are in the boat, rowing for the other shore, and Jesus has promised to meet us there. The wind is contrary, the forces of this world seem to be against us, Jesus seems to be absent, and we are being tested, and our faith is being stretched day by day. I don’t know about you, but I told my wife the other day I sometimes feel like I am alone in a dark room, blindfolded, and trying to find the door. And I’m being tripped and punched, and kicked from all directions. That’s often the experience of my Christian life. Now maybe I shouldn’t confess that. I’m sure you don’t ever feel that way. God probably speaks to some of you face to face. But for me, I can tell you, I sympathize with these disciples. They were rowing for 6 hours or more on a dark night, the wind is fiercely against them so that they make practically no progress, and Jesus is no where around. They are cold, tired and probably never got a chance to eat their bucket lunch which they had to throw out because they needed the buckets to bail water.

Well, I’m getting ahead of myself. Jesus sends the disciples away on the boat ahead of Him, and He dismisses the crowd and goes up into the mountain to be alone in prayer. Now why would He dismiss the crowd? Well, John 6:15 tells us that it was because they wanted to take Jesus by force and make Him king. They wanted a king that would feed them, heal them, minister to their earthly needs. They were interested in the carnal but not the spiritual. And that is where so many are today in the church. They want a carnal Jesus. They want Jesus to heal them. They want Jesus to perform for them, to entertain them, to feed them, to prosper them. The church is interested in carnal, material, temporal things. And Jesus dismisses such people. He wants the disciples to learn the spiritual principles that He is teaching. And so He orchestrates a test, not to give them a failing grade, but to enlarge their faith, to enable their carnal eyes to see the spiritual truth and to live the spiritual life.

So the disciples start trying to be obedient, and what happens? A four or five mile journey turns into a night of frustration and fear. They are rowing against a contrary wind. I said a couple of weeks ago that I think that the devil has a certain degree of control of the wind. I would even go so far as to say that the devil has control over much of what happens in the natural realm on this earth. And I back that up with Ephesians 2:2 which says about us who have been saved but once were dead in our sins, “in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.” Notice that Paul calls him the prince of the power of the air, and that the world is set on it’s course by him. Satan orchestrates the world, that natural, carnal effects of this world to entrap and ensnare people in sin and rebellion against God. And he is given a lot of authority and dominion in this world. God is the Sovereign of all the Universe, but He has given dominion of this world to Satan for a time, and the human race when it fell into sin became enslaved to this world and it’s master.

Three times, in John 12, John 14 and John 16 Jesus refers to Satan as the ruler of this world. That’s pretty clear, isn’t it? And 1John 5:19 says, “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” Well, enough said. I think the contrary wind is of the devil. But I want you to know that God is able to take what is meant towards us as evil, and use it for good. Jesus is going to use the testing that the disciples are going through for God’s purposes, and His purposes are for good. Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

And how is that accomplished? Well, while the disciples are out there in the dark, toiling against the contrary violent wind and seemingly getting nowhere, the Lord Jesus is on the mountain watching them and praying for them. Vs46 “After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray. When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land. Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.”

Folks, this ought to make you want to shout “Hallelujah!” When you are going through the trials of your life, when it’s dark, when you don’t seem to be making any headway, when you’re trying to be obedient to the Lord but it seems like the devil is winning, take courage, Jesus is on the mountain praying for you and watching you. Notice it is dark, they are miles out in the middle of the lake, it’s a storm out there, and yet Jesus on top of this mountain is watching them. Anyone want to deny the deity of Jesus Christ after reading that needs to go find another religion.

And I’m struck by the similarity here of another time of trial, when Jesus told Peter in Luke 22:31-32 “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” That passage illustrates again that Satan does have a little authority. He has a little power for a short time. But Christ is omniscient, omnipotent, and Satan is not. Christ is All Mighty God, the Creator, but Satan is a creature. Christ is the Eternal Righteous King over all, and Satan is merely the prince of the air. And Christ is praying for us that are His, that our faith may not fail even though we are sifted like wheat, even though the winds are contrary and we are not making much headway, even though it’s dark and we feel all alone – we are never alone. Christ is with us, watching us, praying for us, interceding on our behalf. And He is going to see to it that our trials do not sink us, but that they will only serve to strengthen us, so that we might strengthen our brethren. It only makes us stronger and more effective and complete. James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

I’m not a Greek scholar, but commentators tell me that in Matt. 16:24 the word for “battered” by the waves is actually “harassed.” That’s a good illustration of how the devil attacks us. He wants to discourage us, to distract us, to defeat us by harassment, by torturous circumstances, by unceasing toil to no avail. But Christ is watching us, and praying for us, and in His own timing, He will come to help us.

Notice that when Jesus comes walking on the water He looks like He is going to pass them by. First of all they think He is a ghost. They begin screaming in fear, frightened. They let superstition and fear almost deprive them of their deliverance. The point is that we must take care not to let trials so alarm us that we do not recognize the salvation that comes through Christ. Our tendency is to panic in trials, to respond to crisis in fear, in hysteria, forgetting the promises of God to be with us, to watch over us, and to meet us on the other side. God gives us trials to strengthen us, not to defeat us. To make us more useful, not to make us unusable. To complete us, not defeat us. So don’t give in to fear in trials, but remember the promises of God to be with us, to never leave us nor forsake us. Jesus said to the fearful disciples, “Take courage, it is I, don’t be afraid.” And His message to us is “Take courage, I am here, don’t be afraid.”

And when you have Jesus with you in your trial, then you will have peace. Vs 51 “Then He got into the boat with them, and the wind stopped; and they were utterly astonished.” Listen, when you have Jesus, it doesn’t mean that you won’t have any storms in your life, you won’t have any contrary circumstances in your life. It simply means that you will have Jesus with you in the storm. You will have Jesus with you in the contrary circumstances. And that is how we have peace. We have peace though the storm is raging around us, though the wind is contrary, though the darkness is fearful. We have peace because the Prince of Peace is in our boat, and He is our captain, and we are sailing where He told us to sail, and going where He told us to go. And He is Lord even of the storms.

We have an advantage that the disciples did not have. They did not have the end of the story. We do. We have the complete revelation, the complete scriptures. We know the end of the story and the story that never ends. But the disciples did not. Mark says that “they had not gained any insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened.” That means that they were still seeing things from a carnal perspective. They though the food was just food. They thought the miracle was cool, but it was just because they were hungry. They thought that Jesus walked on water because He was looking for a quicker way across the lake than walking around it. I don’t know, but I do know that they failed to understand the spiritual implications of much of the doctrines that Christ was teaching them. And it was because they were too focused on what they could see, as opposed to what they could not see.

And that was the problem with the multitudes that met them again on the shore. They see Him as the One who makes bread and fish, who feeds 10000 people, who heals the lame and the sick. They like the physical benefits of the gospel. They are attracted to the miracles, but they have no insight into the spiritual. They fail to understand the spiritual dimension of the bread of life, that comes down out of heaven.

John 6:33, 35-36 Jesus says, “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” … and Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. “But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.”

The question for you this morning is do you believe? Do you only believe in what you can see, what you can taste and feel and experience? Are you still carnal? Or will you believe in what you cannot see, that Jesus Christ is the bread of life which came down out of heaven, which was broken for me and for you on the cross, and if you believe in Him, and in His purchase of our redemption through His death, you will be granted His righteousness, that you might have life in His name? That is why He came, and that is what we are to proclaim. If you do not know Him, then come to Him. He will never cast you out. And if you know Him, then tell of Him, and share Him with the world, that the world may know how to be saved.