Jesus Meets Needs

Why do you follow Jesus?

I believe that is a very important question to ask.

It is a question that comes up in John chapter six.

Jesus and the twelve go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd follows Jesus. We are told in John 6:2 that they were following Jesus because of His healing of the sick.

Many people followed Jesus not for who He is but for what He does. They are focused on their perceived needs, their surface needs and don’t see the greater need that Jesus came to meet.

John 6:5-9
Lifting up His eyes then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward Him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

The needs are identified.

There are two needs here in this passage.

One is the very obvious of how to feed this large crowd of people.

We are told in verse 6 that Jesus knew what he was going to do. Jesus had a plan.

God always has a plan. Nothing ever catches Him by surprise. He is never shocked. He is never unprepared.

Jesus desires to meet our physical needs.
Jesus understands our physical needs because He had the same needs as He lived on earth.
Jesus got hungry.
Jesus got thirsty.
Jesus got tired.

In Matthew 25 Jesus tells that we as His followers are to meet the physical needs of people. Jesus indicates it is a huge determining factor as to who is a true follower of Him.

Jesus loves people and when people hurt, Jesus hurts. He loves us and provides for our physical needs and commands His church to do the same.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about being the hands and feet of Jesus to meet physical needs in the world.

So if Jesus already knew what He was going to do, why does He ask Philip where they could buy food for the people?

This brings us to the second need. - Faith

Jesus is testing Philip.

All good teachers test. They don’t test to try and get their students to fail. They test to see how much of what they have taught really made an impact.

Jesus was testing to see if Philip got it.
Jesus was testing to see if Philip understood who Jesus was.
Jesus was testing the depth of Philip’s faith in Him as Messiah, Lord, the Son of God.

Why Philip?

Philip seems to be a very analytical guy. In John 14, right after Jesus says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,” Philip says in John 14:8, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Philip seems to really struggle in the area of faith. He seems to be a person who needs to see it, touch it, hear it, smell it, and taste it before he can really believe it.

There is nothing wrong with being analytical. We need to make sure that our faith is in the real thing, not a lie or an illusion.

In fact, Paul compliments the people of Berea because they did search out the truth in what Paul was sharing with them. He says in Acts 17:11, “Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica, they received the word with eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.”

We need to make sure that what we are doing and how we are living is based on the truth of God.

But we also have to balance that with faith. Faith will always challenge us to go beyond what we can perceive with our physical senses. Faith will always also be based in Biblical truth.

What was Jesus looking for when He asked Philip that question?
Jesus was not looking for an analysis of the situation.
Jesus was not looking for Philip to come up with a food distribution plan.
Jesus was looking for Philip to give Him an answer based on Philip’s faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the Lord, the Son of God.

An answer that showed that Philip couldn’t feed these people, but he knew Jesus could and would.

Jesus had the plan.
He wanted Philip to acknowledge that He did have a plan.
He wanted Philip to ask what His plan was.
He wanted Philip to trust His plan.

Jesus then is approached by Andrew who brings him a boy with a lunch. The lunch is five barley loaves and two fish.

Andrew has no idea what Jesus could do with such a small amount of food, but he brings it to Jesus.

The contrast between Philip and Andrew is interesting.

Philip analyses the situation and, based on human logic, throws up his hands and says, “No way to do it.”

Andrew looks at the situation and brings Jesus what he found - a small lunch.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about trusting that Jesus knows what He is doing. It is about trusting His plan.

Jesus meets the needs.

John 6:10-13
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, He told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

Jesus takes the small lunch and presents it to the Father and the Father then multiples it, not just to barely feed five thousand men plus women plus children, but to let them eat till they were full. Then on top of that, to have twelve baskets of leftovers.

Jesus meets the physical needs of the people.
Jesus meets the faith needs of His disciples.

The people react.

John 6:14-15
When the people saw the sign that He had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountains by Himself.

I see two huge mistakes people make when it comes to how they view Jesus.

Many in the world view Jesus as a great prophet, teacher, or spiritual leader. Jesus is God. Anything short of acknowledging Jesus as God is too short and you miss the real impact of Jesus.

Many people in the church see Jesus as someone to get stuff from. They look to Jesus to give them wealth, health, success, and happiness. They miss the truth that we live in a temporary world. Jesus is at work to prepare us for our real home, our eternal home. When believers focus on the blessings of God instead of the presence of God, they, too, miss the real impact of Jesus.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about letting Jesus be Himself in and through our lives.

Trusting Jesus’ Plan to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls
                                           Joe