Acting Through Our Doubt: John 6:1-15 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure

Focus Passage: John 6:1-15 (NASB)

¹ After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). ² A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. ³ Then Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. ⁴ Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. ⁵ Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, *This word is present tense in the Greek, but it has been translated as past tense to conform to modern usage.said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” ⁶ This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. ⁷ Philip answered Him, “Two hundred *The denarius was equivalent to a day’s wagesdenarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” ⁸ One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, *This word is present tense in the Greek, but it has been translated as past tense to conform to modern usage.said to Him, ⁹ “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” ¹⁰ Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. ¹¹ Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. ¹² When they were filled, He *This word is present tense in the Greek, but it has been translated as past tense to conform to modern usage.said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” ¹³ So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. ¹⁴ Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

¹⁵ So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.

Read John 6:1-15 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!

Of all the events in the gospels, probably the one that thrust Jesus into the spotlight more than any other was the time He fed a huge crowd with a young boy’s lunch. This event holds a very exclusive status as being an event that is included in all four gospels, and while Matthew, Mark, and Luke share many excellent details about this event, only the gospel of John goes into detail about where the food came from, and how it made it to Jesus.

After Jesus had challenged the disciples with an impossible for them task, we read an unlikely turn in the story. “One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ‘There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?’” (v. 8-9)

Even though Andrew brought the boy to Jesus, in how he introduces the boy to Jesus we can see plenty of doubt displayed: Andrew asks in the last portion of verse 9, “What are these for so many people?” This semi-rhetorical question doesn’t show much if any faith in what Jesus can do. But even while Andrew was doubtful, he still does something right – he brought the boy with his snack to Jesus.

While Andrew didn’t have any idea what would happen next, he knows that bringing this boy with his food as a gift for Jesus is the right thing to do. And so he leads the boy forward through the disciples as they are all grumbling among themselves about how to solve the problem of feeding this large crowd.

Eleven of the disciples are caught up in the problem, but only Andrew has something to offer, and only Andrew was observant enough to at least bring this boy through the group to allow him the chance to give his lunch to Jesus. Even though Andrew didn’t have much faith, the little faith he had, mixed with the boy’s gift was all that Jesus needed to perform one of the most famous miracles in His entire earthly ministry.

This miracle was only able to happen because a doubtful disciple chose to act and bring a boy with a snack to Jesus. Andrew acted even though he didn’t have much faith, and through this we learn that Jesus doesn’t need a lot of faith from us – just enough to inspire us to act!

This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!

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