In Search of the Authentic Jesus - John 6:1-20

2:05It's In Search of the Authentic Believer. And then the week after that, we're going to do In Search of the Authentic Christian. Now, don't get stumped on In Search of the Authentic Believer. That's next week. That word believer does not always refer to people who are saved, doesn't always refer to Christians. And you'll understand a little more about that as we make our way through John 6. We're going to do a three-week series on 70 verses. So bear with me. This is only a two-and-a-half-hour presentation. We should be all right. We should make it through just fine. You'll be comfortable. So brace yourselves. No, I'm just kidding. I won't take that much time, I promise. So I'm just going to read this. Enjoy as I read. If you want to follow along with John 6, verses 1 through 15, you'll see some things in there that are in your text. But I'm going to read from One Perfect Life on page 199. It starts out this way. And the apostles. When they had returned, they gathered to Jesus and told him all that they had done and what they had taught. After these things, Jesus said to them, Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest for a while. For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. Then he took them and went aside privately, so they departed over the sea to Galilee, or the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias, in a boat by themselves to a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. But the multitudes saw them departing and followed him because they saw signs which he had performed on those who were diseased. Many knew him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them.

3:49And Jesus, when he came out, went up to 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 saw the great multitude coming toward him. And he was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. And he received them, and he began to teach them many things about the kingdom of God, and he healed those who needed healing. And when the day was now far spent, it was in the evening, late in the evening, the twelve disciples came to him and said, This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the disciples. Away, or send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy some for themselves bread and lodge and get provisions, for they have had nothing to eat. But Jesus answered and said to them, They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat. And he said to Philip, Where shall we buy some bread, that these may eat?

4:57But this he said, to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Shall we go and buy a hundred denari worth of bread and give them something to eat? Two hundred deneri worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them would receive a little. But he said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see. One of the disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, There's a lad here with five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?

5:31And they said, We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all the people. For there were about five thousand men, and he said to them, Bring them to me, the bread and the fish. Then Jesus said to his disciples, Make the people sit down in groups of fifty. And they did so, and made them sit down in groups on the green grass, so they sat down in ranks of one hundreds and in fifties. Now there was much grass in that place. Then he took the five loaves. And the two bread, or the two fish, and looked up into heaven. And when he had given thanks, he broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples. And the disciples gave to those sitting down.

6:13And the two fish he divided amongst them. And they all ate as much as they wanted and were filled. So when they were filled, he said to his disciples, Gather up the fragrance, the fragments, the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost. Therefore, they gather them up and filled the twelve baskets full with the fragments of five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten. Now, those who had eaten were about 5,000 men, besides women and children. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, This is truly the prophet who has come into the world. Therefore, when Jesus perceived that what they were about to do and take them by force and make them king, immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, and he sent the multitude away. I will develop a little more the part where Jesus walks on water in a moment, but we'll deal with that from the book of John in chapter 6. But just to develop what's going on here a little bit, again, we're talking about in search for the authentic Jesus. There's a multitude of people that is coming to Jesus. And I would say during this Christmas season, the world seems to be coming increasingly confused about Jesus. Would you agree with that statement? You look around and you see what Christmas has become, and it looks nothing like what we read in the scriptures. What's going on? Well, those who don't know the authentic Jesus think that he's like some cosmic Santa Claus who just gives everybody everything they want, the good and the bad, the nice and the naughty alike, because, well, after all, we're a fair society, so the naughty ought to get something from Santa Claus, too. That would be the kind of Christmas that people would want, that people would think that we should be celebrating. Well, John 6 reminds me of the world's view of Santa Claus in a lot of ways. You see, Jesus repeatedly provides free health care. No insurance involved. They're just healed. He provides free food. And the people, they keep coming and coming and coming repeatedly. You don't see that so much in the text. Believe me, it's there. If you could read the Greek original manuscripts, you would see that it was repetitious. They would not stop coming. And they kept coming and coming and coming because he was feeding and healing. And he was giving the gospel message. Do you know the gospel message that he was giving to them? We know from Matthew chapter 4, verse 17, he was preaching to them repeatedly a message of repentance because. The kingdom of God was at hand, and so he repeated that message. He doesn't use the word of repentance in the Gospel of John. People object to that word in the Gospel of John because it's not there, so therefore, Jesus didn't preach it in the Gospel of John, but we know that he repeatedly preached it according to the testimony that we see in Matthew. So it would fit that he did there as well. And that word, repent, is a command. He commands them to repent. And so for us to say today it's not important to repent for salvation is not biblical. The signs that he performed, or he performs, tells the world that he's the Christ, the Son of the living God. But they don't want that message, these people in John 6. They only want his stuff. They want him to deliver health care and wealth care and food to the Christmas tree as they show up whenever they demand. And that's what we see in John 6. John 6 kicks off with Jesus preaching directly to at least 15 to 20,000 people.

10:05We would say that's a mega church. That's a big congregation. 15, 20,000 people. Who wouldn't want to be a church involved in a church that size? Well, it wasn't really a church. It was a congregation. There were people coming and they wanted this stuff. And you know what? By chapter's end, he's not preaching to 20,000 people. You know how many people he's preaching to? Directly speaking to? 12. What happened to the 20,000? Stick around for a couple of weeks, and you'll watch what happens to them. They walked away from the gospel message, and they kept on walking, and Jesus says to them, What's your will in the matter, guys? You 12, you want to go away too?

10:49Hold on, and we'll get back to that in a couple of weeks and find out how they answered. Well, we've read a little bit of what's going on here, so I just want to remind us that there's some things that the Lord wants us to get out of this message today. And I think this would summarize verses 1 through 21. Here it is on the screen. You can see it for yourself. When searching for the authentic Jesus, you must come to him on his terms. Otherwise, you'll discover you found the wrong Jesus. You found maybe a Santa Claus who does wonderful things for you. And you have the wrong Jesus. And so that's what these 20,000 or so people in the crowd, minus 12 who didn't walk away at the end, heard. That's what we're talking about today. When searching for the authentic Jesus, you must come to him on his terms. Again, or you'll have the wrong one. And there's four scenes that take place in this particular section of scripture, 1 through 21. Four scenes that take place. Let's look at each one of them. And then we'll drill into each one individually. The authentic Jesus has compassion for the multitudes. He does. Don't let anybody say that Jesus doesn't have compassion for the multitudes. He had compassion for these people. We see that in verses 1 through 5, really throughout the entire section. Number 2, the authentic Jesus, he tests his disciples, and we see two tests. We see the first one in verses 6 through 13, and then again in 16 through 21. A third scene that is pictured in this text here is the authentic Jesus rejects the demands of false disciples. And fourth is really kind of like number two.

12:35It's the disciples get a second test. So let's look into this. What on earth are we talking about here? Let's do number one. Keep in mind John's purpose for the Gospel of John. And maybe many of you know this verse by heart already. John 20, verse 31, John 20, verse 31 gives us the purpose for this book. And here it is. These things, says John, the Gospel of John, are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. That's why he wrote this book. That's why we're reading chapter 6, and that's why what he does here is focusing the multitude on this particular reason. He's going to shell out some miracles. He's going to shell out some signs that authenticate who he is. John's focus is not laying out Jesus' comings. Goings in a sequential order, as we heard or as we read here in One Perfect Life, he didn't do a sequential order. So, as we look at the first words in John 6:1, after these things, you're going to see it's not a blow-by-blow account. It's not what just happened in verse 5 that he's talking about. Take a look at verse 1. He says, After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, or what they called back then the Sea of Tiberias. What's after these things? Well, what's interesting is when you dig into the text a little bit, chapter 5 and chapter 6 is several months apart, maybe six months apart.

14:11So, it doesn't point directly to chapter 5. In fact, what does it point to? We know that just prior to feeding the 5,000, King Herod had just beheaded Jesus' cousin, John the Baptist. So, when he writes after these things, the most immediate thing that we can find in the gospel is that John had just had his head chopped off. And the disciples came to Jesus and they told him what was going on. And Jesus says, Let's get in the boat, let's go to a secluded place, let's go to a place where we can be alone and we can reflect on John's life, celebrate his life, or whatever it is that they were going to do. They wanted to get away from the crowds, they were going to rest for a while.

14:55But think about it: Jesus had just lost a family member. Not just to a last-minute kind of unexpected death, his head was cut off. This was his cousin. The men that were with him, who came to Jesus and said, his head has been severed off, were the same men that stood beside John the Baptist. When John the Baptist pointed out, he said, Look, behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. That's what they were thinking about John the Baptist. They introduced them to Jesus, or he introduced them to Jesus. You know, people mourn differently, don't they? They mourn differently for their lost loved ones. And you never want to say there's a wrong way to mourn and a right way to mourn, but let's look at how they mourned here. You know, some people wish to be alone, they don't want families and crowds around. They want to be alone. Others, they want lots of friends, lots of friends, they want lots of family members around nearby. And that was their intent here. They wanted to get away to someplace quiet to be alone amongst themselves. Still more want to just immediately get on with life and get back to work. Some people, they really have no choice in the matter, do they? They're busy people. They live busy lives. They have responsibilities. People around them have needs. They want to meet those needs and not run from them. We don't see them mourning because they're out tending to the needs of others. It's not to say that's the right way or the wrong way. It's just how people deal with death. That's how Jesus did it. He wanted to attend to the needs of others. We see in verse 1 that Jesus got into a boat and he went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, perhaps a seven-mile expedition on a little boat. We're not quite sure. Mark tells us that the disciples were also in that very same boat. They were always near Jesus. You see, a true disciple always wants to be near Jesus. Do you? When you wake up in the morning, do you want to be near Jesus? Your evenings before you go to bed, is your last thoughts with him? They wanted to be with him. They got in the boat and went with him. And while heading to the secluded place to rest and to mourn, glance down at verse 2. We see what happens there. We find this. A large crowd followed him because they saw the signs which he was performing on those who were sick.

17:23There's a reason that this crowd relentlessly followed Jesus. And I want you to see it's here. It's because they kept seeing these signs over and over again, repeatedly performed on the sick, one right after the other. That's no wonder the crowd was 20,000 people, 15,000, 20,000, whatever the number is. The world had never seen anything like this, right? Never. They'd never seen anything like this. And the people were in awe. They just saw that Jesus kept on healing and they kept on coming to him. Wouldn't you?

18:00Wouldn't you take your loved ones to him? Wouldn't you do everything you could to rush from the cities? Because that's what they did. All the cities were coming to him. Mark tells us that many people literally ran from the cities and arrived on the shoreline in a boat or in boats. So, what does John show us in verses 3 through 5? Let's just take a look at that. He says, Then Jesus went up to the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now, the Passover of the feast of the Jews was near. Therefore, Jesus, lifting up his eyes and seeing a large crowd, was coming to him. He lifted up his eyes. He sees this large crowd coming to him.

18:44Notice two things that we don't see in the text. Notice two things that John doesn't mention. We don't see any conversation about John the Baptist, no conversation about how horrible it is for the government to take his head. Although that might have happened, he doesn't record it. We see no mention of rest. The crowds are coming. His eyes are looking up, and he sees them. And he says they're like a sheep without a shepherd. There are four things that we see in this text, though. We do see four things, and John helps us to see them, but Mark and Luke help us even better. First, in verse 5, there's this great multitude, a great multitude that's coming to him. Luke tells us that Jesus sees them as a sheep without a shepherd. They're just meandering through the hills. Nobody's there to guide them. They're just walking wherever they need to walk because the religious leaders, well, they're not going to be wandering around the hills. They have no interest. And so they're sheep without a shepherd. And Jesus, he has compassion on them. Second, he welcomed them. We see that in Luke 9:11. And then he taught them about the kingdom of God. Wouldn't you like to have been there to hear what was he talking about, about the kingdom of God? We know from Matthew 4, 17 that he was talking about repentance, of course, because that was a part of the kingdom of God, maybe.

20:14So Luke 11 tells us he was talking about the kingdom of God, and he healed the sick, and he had compassion on them. We shouldn't miss the big picture here. There's a lot going on in this text. We see an authentic, compassionate shepherd caring for people. He feeds them God's word, and he doesn't want them to go away. He's concerned about their illnesses, and so he heals them. There's another big picture we mustn't see. This is a big picture that's not so much in the text, but it's there. The people are there. There's 12 disciples who are watching what Jesus is doing. They are watching him shepherd these people. They're watching him disciple these people. He cares about them. And so we need to think about that. That.

21:01This chapter, they're looking on and they're watching intently. Why? Because good shepherds teach their disciples to go out and do the same thing, and they will do the same thing later. So they're watching. Let's just hold on to that one. We're going to come back to it over the next two weeks. Jesus is teaching the 12 how to be good shepherds. Notice some of what the 12 saw Jesus doing. Even as they're physically spent, read exhausted.

21:32The 12 they see Jesus in action. Now, I want us to learn something here. What did they see? Here's what the 12 saw. They saw Jesus loving the people. They see that everything that Jesus does directs the people to know that Jesus is the Christ, and that through embracing the gospel message, they can have life in his name. Everything that Jesus does leads to that end alone. And the disciples are going to repeat this throughout the New Testament later on.

22:10Everything Jesus does drives them to that end. They can be healed and taught. But until they believe that Jesus is the Christ, they'll be separated from him for eternity. So that's why he taught them. Do you see what's happening here? Do we as a church really understand that the gospel is far more important than? Our buildings, than our programs, than our activities, the things that we do. Jesus saw that it was important to heal and to feed, and we see it's important to have nice buildings and to be a part of that, to use it as a tool to minister to people. But they're watching Jesus do the two greatest commandments. Do you remember what they are?

22:52That's it. Love God. Love your fellow man. He's loving God, and he's loving. He's showing his love for God by taking care of the people. Don't forget that this is a congregation that is probably over 20,000 people, and Jesus is preaching the gospel to them. It's all about shepherding. It's all about discipleship. He's teaching them. The other gospels tell us that it was late in the evening. It was very late in the evening. It was dark outside.

23:21And that the disciples directed Jesus to send them away. It's like, what? Disciples, what? He's got a captive audience. They're out in the middle of nowhere, and they're hearing the gospel. Why would they want to send them away? Well, to get something to eat. From the depths of this shepherd's heart, we see in verse 5, we see Jesus wanting to feed them. But there's a mounting crisis at hand. There's something that needs to be overcome. There's a mounting crisis. First, you've got thousands of people late at night in a secluded mountain in the middle of nowhere. We've got to give them food. Second, only a boy with a couple of small fish and five barley biscuits.

24:02It's like an anchovy pizza on barley biscuits without cheese. That's what they have, five of them. And they're not, don't think loaves, don't think big bread loaves. This is a little boy who probably had them in his pocket. You ever been in such a hurry that when you leave the house, you've forgotten to pack food or water? Maybe we don't worry about that so much because it's close by. This is not a world that has fast food nearby back then. You ever leave so fast, moms, you forget the diaper bag, purse, cell phone, wallet, you can't pay for stuff. You just get out in the world, and all of a sudden you have nothing that you need for the day. We're so consumed with life, with work, and food, and kids, and sports, and diaper bags, that we forget that God is the shepherd of our souls. Isn't that right?

24:51They left for a long walk into the wilderness. They didn't bring bottles of water and food. The multitude wanted to be with Jesus so much that they literally had no concern for their food, their diet that day. You ever want to be with the Lord so bad that nothing else matters? Nothing. That's what fasting is all about. You fast because you forget to eat. You're spending time with the Lord. You're so compassionate about who God is or so passionate about who He is, you spend time in His Word, and all of a sudden you look up and it. It's 8 o'clock at night and you haven't had anything to eat all day. That's what these people were doing. I don't do that, do you? I don't. They wanted to be with him. Well, this brings us to the second scene that pictures the authentic Jesus.

25:45The authentic Jesus tests his true disciples, and that's from 6 through 13. There's two tests here: first one and the second one is in 6, verses 16 through 21. So it's after all this compassion, all this teaching, all this healing that the disciples tell Jesus to send the people away to get something to eat. And while Jesus recognizes the importance of food, he doesn't send them away. Yes, Philip did grow up in the area. It's natural that Jesus would ask Philip where the nearest bread store is, right? Where are you going to go buy some bread, Philip? So he asks him that question. It makes sense. He grew up in the area. He would know. But that's not the reason Jesus asked Philip where the closest bakery is. Not at all. Verse 6 tells you, do you see it in verse 6? It tells you the reason that Jesus asks the bread question. The reason that Jesus asked Philip the bread question, you can see it there in verse 6. It's to what? It's to test him. It's to test him because Jesus knew what he was about to do.

26:54This word test has to do with a testing of faith, a testing of belief. Jesus wants to test his faith, his belief. Jesus was testing a true disciple's faith. Have you ever been tested in your faith? Rhetorical question. I know every one of you is raising your hands. Yes, I have. I know. You know what? This kind of test is the biggest no-brainer in world history. Really? Here's why. Philip kept following Jesus around the countryside and was constantly watching him repeatedly heal people.

27:33Philip's one-question exam. How would you like to have this, Aggies? A one-question exam, and it's a true or false, you got a 50% opportunity of getting it right. Here's what the question looks like, true or false. How would you do? Philip, since you have repeatedly observed Jesus healing the multitudes of people, he is, true or false, capable of providing the masses with bread. Philip, true or false? You got 50% chance here. Dr. Kuhl, you laugh, but you know what? You're Philip, my friend. You're Philip, my friend. I know what would happen out there. Think about it. True or false? Christian, insert your name here, true or false. Let's bring this closer to home. We weren't there, but let's bring it closer to home. Since Jesus provided bread for millions of people on the Exodus, do you think he can provide food for your family? Hmm. Since Jesus gave life to your loved ones, and he can sustain them through illness or take them home to be him, true or false, can he do that? Yes, he can. Husbands and wives, listen to this one. Since Jesus created marriage, true or false, husbands, you can love your wife as Christ loved the church. True. But wives, you can respect your husbands, true or false. Yes, you can, and Jesus will test you throughout your life, test you to pass those tests of faithfulness. True or false, when you see your health waning, bills mounting, people hurting, politicians failing, Christmas a few days away, and with very little resources to meet the need, Jesus has a test for you, true or false. You can trust him.

29:23I think we know the answer. We're all Philip. We might have failed the bread test. Well, Philip, did he pass or fail the test? Look at verse 7. Verse 7. Philip answers him. 200 denarii. Can you see him with his abacus? Moving little wooden things along. He didn't have calculators. 200 denarii isn't sufficient to feed them for everyone to receive a little. I love this. One researcher. By the way, 200 denarii. About eight months' worth of a common man's wages. One researcher concludes that 200 days of wages might feed, well, might produce 4,800 quarts of barley. Clearly, not enough to feed 20,000 people. Philip's rationalist. He says, Jesus, 200 days' worth of food or money isn't enough to feed just a little bit. Philip's statement, it wasn't an objection. He was emphatic. It's impossible, Jesus. You can't do it.

30:33Well, this exam had this one true or false question, and Philip and the other 11 struck an F with red ink on the paper. How do you think you would have responded? Well, verses 8 and 9. They found what seems to be the only forward planning hiker in the crowd. Do you see him? This little lad, little boy, maybe a young man, maybe not quite a teenager. There's a lad who had five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many? That's the question. What does this mean?

31:15A boy with two sardines and a handful of barley biscuits. Yum. Even then, Andrew admitted that it wasn't enough to feed 20,000 people. So then, in verse 10 and in the other Gospels, We note that Jesus continues to compassionately shepherd the lost. Notice how Jesus cares for the people. The other gospels tell us that Jesus directed the disciples to seat them in 50s, groups of 50s, and groups of 100s. Imagine the scene with me, if you will. Jesus is holding the bread. I don't know. He's probably got all five here, and I hope he has like a plastic glove to keep the sneaky fish smell off his hands. But he's holding the fish, he's holding the bread. The disciples are fiddling around with their abacus, trying to calculate how many crumbs each of the 20,000 are going to get. Mark tells us that Jesus gave the bread to the disciples, and they distributed the loaves to the multitude. But how much did each one of them receive? Do you see it in the text? Verses 11 and 12. I love this. Right there at the bottom of verse 12. As much as they wanted.

32:26Do you ever receive as much as you wanted? Thanksgiving just past. Christmas is coming. They were filled in verse 12. That's how much they got. They were filled. They were stuffed. I was sitting there looking over my notes before church this morning, and all of a sudden, Templeton the rat appears in my mind from Charlotte's Webb. If you haven't seen Charlotte's Webb, you need to go see that or read the book. Templeton's rat pops into my head. They were stuffed like Templeton the Rat. They had leftovers, and they were filling the baskets full of food.

33:00It was as Templeton the Rat might say, a veritable smorgasbord. That was good bread. They ate a lot. Look, creation is happening right in the disciples' hands. Bread is coming out of their hands right before their very eyes. Nobody planted a barley harvest. Nobody threw a net for fish. Jesus is the creator, and he's creating food right in the palms of their hands. Notice what happens in verses 12 and 13. You see it there. The Lord's supply is limitless. You can never, ever exhaust God's grace. There were leftovers. When you think you're maxed out or you maxed him out, the good shepherd keeps on giving. You keep watching him give, and he keeps giving, and there is no end to his grace. God's grace is even extended to unbelievers. And as we'll see later in this chapter, his grace isn't forever for the unbelievers. Don't miss this important truth. As the Lord tests you, he wants you to experience great joy in watching his faithfulness in your life. And sometimes you, we, I, we fail his tests. And he gives you more opportunities to pass them because he's a God of second chances. Only we need to recognize something. Sometimes subsequent tests that come, they're more difficult to pass. I would say maybe they're deadly. Maybe they're dangerous, and God asks us to trust him.

34:35They have a much more dangerous test, trusting him. When you fail God's test for trust, the next opportunities, as I said, are often more difficult. True disciples, the true disciples, they failed this test. And Jesus will bring them a much more serious test in a few more verses as well. Boy, we need to look at another text before we get to that second test. The third scene. The authentic Jesus rejects the demands of false disciples. He rejects them. As mentioned a moment ago, God's grace is extended to unbelievers, but it's not forever. I would invite you to fix your eyes on chapter 6, verse 14. It says this. Therefore, when the people saw the sign which he had performed, they said, this is truly the prophet who has come into the world. They said.

35:33First, we see an unintended reception, an unintended reception. Then we see an unintended application. When they said that this is the prophet who's come into the world, first the unintended reception. Now, don't let this pass you by. This is important. Jesus' feeding of the multitude was not for their benefit. I'll say it again. It wasn't entirely for their benefit. Alone. It was for the purpose, it was to test true disciples to trust Jesus to miraculously feed them.

36:13So it's not just for them, it was for Philip. It was to test the disciples. Now for the unintended application of verse 14, the false disciples thought that Jesus was the prophet who was coming into the world. It seems to be a positive response, doesn't it? I mean, Jesus is a prophet. He's coming into the world. But their application of Jesus being the prophet from, and they had Deuteronomy 18 in mind, and I don't have time to develop all that, but it was a misguided application. They misunderstood what was going on, and we see they misunderstood what was going on because of Jesus's quick reaction. In verse 15, Jesus knew what they were about to do. They were about to seize him. They were about to seize him and by force make him king. Will you say Jesus is king? Well, yes, he is. But he's not the kind of king that they wanted him to be. You see, Jesus doesn't answer the prayer of an unbeliever like this.

37:08Politics 2,000 years ago. Much like today. The one who requires the least amount of effort from the most people and gives away the most free stuff wins. Right? Isn't that where our American politics is going? Look, don't tell me to do anything and give me all the stuff I want. You got my vote. Go away. They wanted Jesus to be king because they got free food and free health care. You see, for decades, they've lived under Roman occupation. And now they've recognized that they can make Jesus their political king, their commander-in-chief, and all their problems would be solved. Jesus is the bread of life. He says so in John chapter 6. 5,000 men could make Jesus their king to command an unstoppable guerrilla force against the unfriendly nations. Think about it. If Jesus could make food appear at a moment's notice in seconds, if he could heal people that quickly before a single skirmish on the warfield starts, what would happen? You see, armies, they need an effective supply chain, no doubt, to bring them food, to bring medical care to the front lines. Jesus could deliver in seconds what would take normally months to orchestrate. They want him to be their military king, and they were willing to take him by force to make that happen. He would be their genie, make magic things happen. In verse 15, we see Jesus rejecting the disciples, the false disciples, I should say. They wanted to make him king. So what did he do? What did he do? He went back to the secluded mountain. He wanted to be alone. And his true disciples obediently went to the sea. We see that in verse 16. Now, when it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea. They did that because he. Told them to do that.

39:04There's more to the story. We've already seen a little bit of this in John, excuse me, Mark chapter 6, but I want to highlight Mark. If you want to turn over and follow along in Mark 6:44, feel free. I'm just going to point out some things there. They're about to make him king. He rejects their request. He's making sure the disciples go away and he's sending the people away. Watch this. Immediately, I'll go back to verse 44 in Mark 6. There were 5,000 men who ate the loaves. We include women and children, probably 15,000 to 20,000. Verse 45, immediately Jesus made, read, forced his disciples to get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side to Bethesda, while he himself was sending the crowd away. What was he doing while they were getting in the boat?

39:53He was putting the people in the boat, and he was sending the people away simultaneously. He was sending the people who were like a sheep without a shepherd away. Why? Because they didn't like the gospel message. They wanted to make him a military ruler. He sends them away. Verse 46, after bidding them farewell, he left for the mountain to pray. And 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. About the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea, and he intended to pass them by.

40:28So the multitude tries to. Force him to be king. And immediately it triggers two immediate decisive actions. I'll be repetitious here. Jesus makes his disciples get into the boat. Why would he do that? Violence is about to break out. They're going to force him to be their king. He doesn't want to be their king. The second action he does is in 6:45. Jesus forces the twelve into the boat, and simultaneously he sends the well-fed, healed, shepherdless multitude away. All of a sudden, Jesus is on the beach by himself. The disciples are rowing, and the 20,000 are walking away. Why?

41:06He wasn't going to be their military commander. He's going to come back as a king, as a ruler, on his second coming, not this coming. Jesus had been teaching them the gospel of repentance, yet they walked away. They rejected the message. In John 6, the gospel is repeatedly rejected. The more they disregard the signs authenticating the message, the more they reject, or more he rejects their request for more free food. That may not make so much sense now, but next week it's going to come together. And then the week after that, it's really going to come together. Like so many social gospel activities of this day, the gospel is never heard and therefore never embraced. What passes for missions and ministry these days is mostly an offense to the gospel. Why? Because we're feeding the multitudes and we never tell them the truth about the scripture. We feel better about ourselves because we've made somebody's day a little bit more comfortable, a little bit more warm, but we've never shared the message of the saving gospel like Jesus did.

42:14God is offended if we never connect our so-called kind deeds with the gospel. As such, the focus of those you help is on you, not on Christ. Does that mean we don't help the poor? No, we help the poor because we saw Jesus doing that. He was feeding the multitudes. Yes, that's a good thing, but if you say, I'm going to do that, and maybe if I don't say anything, they'll come to Jesus. It's not what Jesus did.

42:39We've learned that the authentic Jesus rejects false disciples' demands. They refuse the message. God begins to remove his blessings from them, and he sends them away, sends them packing. But what about the true disciples? What does he do with them? He gives them another test, doesn't he? Another test to trust his word, which introduces our fourth scene, our fourth picture that pictures the authentic Jesus. The authentic Jesus, he tests his disciples again. We see that in verses 16 through 21.

43:18You recall the purpose for Jesus feeding the 5,000 was to test his disciples, particularly Philip, right? The one with the abacus. We ain't got enough money to feed them, Jesus. He wanted Philip to pass the trust test. But Philip and the rest of the disciples, they failed that test. So now Jesus gives them another opportunity to trust him. This time it's a life or death kind of testing. Maybe you felt that kind of testing before in your life. In John 6:16, the disciples obediently went to sea. We read these words. Now, when evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into the boat, they started off to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. And then, when they'd rowed about for three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea, drawing near to the boat, and they were frightened. And he said to them, It's I, do not be afraid. So they were willing to receive him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

44:26That brings us to verse 21. So we see here that as we compare the other Gospels, it appears the twelve had rowed for about nine hours. They'd labored for three or four miles, mostly in the dark, because it was late in the evening, right, when they left. Mark says, These professional fishermen were in the middle of the sea, and in John 6:17, the wind was blowing against them, and the sea was churning up. Can you see it billowing over the sides of the boat?

44:59We would say. They're in the middle of a test to trust God. True or false? True or false? They passed this trust test this time, or did they fail? Knowing what you already know from John 6, what would you tell them as the sea is billowing over the bow, over the stern? Would you remind them of Jesus' testimony in their lives? Would you remind them of the things that they'd been repeatedly seeing Jesus do as they're thinking they're going to die in this boat?

45:32They've just watched Jesus create food right in the palms of their hands. Can they trust Him to calm the storms of their life? Ladies and gentlemen, do you trust Him to calm the storms of your life 20 years from now, 30 years from now? Are you trusting Him? How would you encourage them in their exhaustion, in their sheer panic? Would you tell them that when they're so weary and afraid and on the brink of sinking into eternity? What would you tell them? Does your advice square with the advice you give your friends, your family, yourself, your neighbors, when they're in the middle of a heart-wrenching storm of life? Is your advice void of biblical truth?

46:23Or are you bringing a calming influence based on the authority of God's word when you advise others? Are you wanting to be better equipped with your counsel to tell people how to trust and tests like this? Do you want to know better be, how better to be equipped with scripture to tell your friends and family members how to deal with these? Some practical application. Late January, early February, I'm going to do an evening series on discipleship and on shepherding. And I want as many people to be here as possible because we're going to learn how to disciple others, learn how to shepherd other people. Everybody needs to be here. They need to be here to learn how to give biblical counsel when people are faced with tough times. Look at verse 19. Do you see it there? Do you see what they did? They rode for three or four miles. Matthew says that the wind was blowing against them. It was blowing opposite to them in an opposite direction. They were completely off course. They were out of control. And we read that they were terrified.

47:34Listen to how Matthew describes the situation. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, it's a ghost. And they cried out in fear, but immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, Take courage. It is I. Do not be afraid. That's in Matthew 14. Take courage, did you know, is a command? It's an imperative. Be courageous is another. Command. Here's why Jesus, here's why Jesus says, literally what he says is this, I am. He says, I am, which is God's forever name. And then he commands them to not be afraid. Literally, he's saying when he says, I am, he says, I am being. Stop being afraid. That's what he literally said. I am being, stop being afraid. Boy, that must have been great comfort when you... When you wake up at 2 in the morning and you are distraught over whatever it is that you're facing, be near Jesus. Go to his word. You want to hear Jesus audibly speak to you? Open your Bible and read it out loud. You can hear him. He speaks to you that way. Do you see what's happening here? When the storms of life are at their worst, a command is take courage. Don't be afraid. Jesus is with you and he comforts you.

49:01Turning once again to Mark 6. Mark 6. I'm going to start in verse 50 here in a moment. But watch this. This is really rich. Fix your eyes on verse 50. For they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, take courage. It is I, don't be afraid. I am being. Stop being afraid. Verse 51. Then he got into the boat with them. And when the wind stopped, they were utterly astonished. I want to point out something that your English text doesn't show you so clearly. Why do you think they were astonished? Were they astonished because Jesus was walking on the water? Were they astonished because Peter jumped in and was walking with him? Yeah, you started sinking, but that would be astonishing enough, right? You know why they were astonished? And it's not so clear in your English text. I don't want to get too technical here. That word astonished is reflexive. It means it's in a middle voice in Greek, and it means they were astonished with themselves, not with what Jesus had done. Why would they be astonished in themselves? Watch this, verse 52, that word for means because. Because they had not gained insight from the incident of the loaves, but their heart was hardened. They were astonished because they didn't pass the test. They should have said, Jesus, we don't need to go to the store. You create bread. They were astonished that they got it wrong. They were astonished in themselves, not that Jesus was walking on the water. And their hearts were hardened.

50:42They were shocked at themselves because they hadn't learned from Philip's food test. They've been rowing for nine hours, and they're in the middle of the sea. Jesus calms the storm. He calms the men, and then he calms the sea. And then in a split second, they cover five and a half perhaps. Perhaps five and a half nautical miles, and they find themselves standing safe and sound on the shore. This time they pass the test. Now, their method for rejoicing over passing the test is seen in their utter disappointment in themselves for failing the test. God is a God of second chances. When we fail the test, He gives us other opportunities.

51:27He is being. Stop being afraid. We've learned some great things today. When searching for the authentic Jesus, you must come to Him on His terms. Otherwise, you'll discover you've found the wrong Jesus. You can see it on the screen here. These are the things we've considered: four scenes that picture the search for the authentic Jesus. The authentic Jesus has compassion for the multitudes, He healed them, He fed them, He taught them. Verses 6 through 6 through 13, the authentic Jesus, He tests His true disciples. He does it twice in verses 16 through 21. The authentic Jesus rejects the demands of false disciples. And if you doubt that, come back next week, come back the following week. He ain't done with them. He's going to try another way because they continue to follow Him, even though He told them to go away. So come back next week for the Search of the authentic believer.

52:34Now, how does he deal with those who are false believers? Come back next week and let's consider that. So, let's close in a word of prayer and just ask the Lord to move in our lives this week as we consider this message. Father, we're grateful. We are so grateful that you have compassion for this world, that you feed people, you care for people. Our hearts beat because you created that beat. Our mouths can chew food because you gave us our mouths. Our mouths can chew food because you give us food. Even those who reject you, Father, your grace is seen in our lives, and yet all these creature comforts that we experience mean nothing if we don't know the truth of the gospel of repent and believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we can have life in His name. Lord, would you guide us through this week as we consider the important truths that we see here as we interact with family and friends who are bent to the social gospel minus the gospel? Help us, Lord, to communicate this message in a way that draws people to you. Father, we pray for dear Susan this evening that as you work in her frail body, that you would bring healing to her mind, healing to her soul. But, Lord, more important than that, that she would be one who, even in the last. Days, weeks, or months of her life, she would be one who proclaims the grace of Christ to the ears of those who don't praise you so that they could. We thank you in Christ's name. Amen.