THE FOOD SUPPLY
[p. 197] THE FOOD SUPPLY
I have in mind to speak about food, and to point out that those who may shine in service for the Lord in other relations often fail, often come short in the way of supply of food for the Lord’s people. This ‘sign’ in John 6 introduces the subject of spiritual food in this gospel; it fits in here in the teaching of the book, and from it the Lord develops His teaching on this subject, dwelling as He does later on, on the kind of food that is essential to life — that we may have life, and that life may be sustained in us. It refers to the condition which the Lord took. In treating of the Supper in this connection the Lord speaks of His body as ‘food’, not as ‘flesh and blood’; He says, “Take, eat: this is my body” Matthew 26:26 The Spirit of God is careful and designing in the choice of words, and so when He quotes the Lord as using the word ‘body’ He means ‘body’; the Lord is not dealing with the condition of flesh and blood but with the vessel. He is referring to that which had been prepared for Him, in which He was to carry out the will of God, and He has in mind in referring to it thus as food, that those who eat should be vessels for the will of God. It is not only that those who eat are to be subject to the will of God, but we are to be vessels of it.
The one who is particularly called a vessel in Scripture, namely, Paul, began with that, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” Acts 9:6 So the Lord in speaking to Ananias says of him, “This [man] is an elect vessel to me” Acts 9:15 We understand this in one who was to disclose to us the mind of God as to the assembly; so in Matthew and Mark the Lord alludes to His body as food: “Take, eat” He says, “this is my body” Matthew 26:26 But He refers in this chapter not to that but to the condition He had taken in flesh and blood: “for my flesh is truly food and my blood is truly drink” (verse 55). “He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal” (verse 54). It is a question of the condition which the Lord took, or I should say more correctly, of that which He became here, for in John it is a divine Person become flesh. As a divine Person become flesh, He took up a condition which was laid down in death — perfectly sinless and holy, yet He laid it down in death. It was the expression of all the grace of heaven, but He laid it down; and it was that we might learn the end of it in ourselves, that the condition has been ended vicariously in Him.
The condition — manhood — is retained, for the Son of man ascends up where He was before. He laid down His life that He might take it again, but in another condition, not now flesh and blood, but in another condition in which we share, or have part, as eating the food furnished. Thus we see His condition in manhood is one thing; the eating of His body is another, and the taking of the Lord’s supper is food. He expressly says in Matthew, as also in Mark, we are to eat: “Take, eat: this is my body” Matthew 26:26; and to drink the cup, saying, “Drink ye all of it” Matthew 26:27; all Christians are appealed to in that way — no one should omit to drink of it. The Lord was to be here, on the one hand, as a vessel for the will of God, and on the other as an expression of the love of God; and so we have to eat and to drink. John is not dealing with the assembly as such, he is concerned about life, and so it has a very direct application now, because there is so little life in evidence among the people of God. This sign is to bring out that the Lord is taking account of the need that exists, and that whatever you or I do, He Himself knows what [p. 199] He will do. It is what He will do. “He himself knew what he would do”
Now what I would point out is that He changes His position radically before this subject is introduced. The chapter, as you observe, begins with, “After these things Jesus went away beyond the sea of Galilee, [or] of Tiberias” There can be no doubt about the location; we have the two names given by which that sea was known, and it is not simply that He went across the sea, but that He went away beyond it, and this happened after certain other things had occurred. These other things had taken place in Jerusalem; chapter 5. Jerusalem stood for the recognised religion of the day, the accredited religion of the world, and I would point out in this connection that the emphasis in John is laid on the Jews; the scribes and the leaders of the people are mentioned, too, but the emphasis in John is on the Jews as the opposers of Christ. In the synoptic gospels it is more the leaders of the Jews who had the responsibility. The Lord in Matthew 23 deals unsparingly with them, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” Matthew 23:13 There it is not a question of the Jews, but of the leaders of the Jews. There are corresponding leaders at the present time, and their teachings are leavening the mass.
John takes account of the masses; he contemplates light as having been presented to them — the most wonderful light, but they have rejected it. It was a reprobate condition; it is not simply prominent leaders, but a reprobate, apostate condition of the masses; and that we have to deal with now. The evil teaching, which in various forms has been current for well-nigh a century past, is no longer peculiar to certain leaders, it is permeating the masses. So that we find a condition in the masses that is opposed to Christ. Hence John begins with the light, “In him [p. 200] was life, and the life was the light of men” John 1:4. He is careful to add that John was not that light, and he goes on to say that the light shone in darkness; it was a condition, “and the darkness apprehended it not” John 1:5 The masses, as I said, are darkened, and the light is no longer permeating them; they resist it.
You find in John generally that individuals as such get blessing, corresponding to our own time, and so chapter 5 brings out what I have been saying. The Lord was in Jerusalem; God was lingering there providentially, notwithstanding the guilt of the city, as He is today in Christendom; He is lingering over the profession. The Lord appears in the midst of these things, and by His word He raises up an impotent man. In answer to Him the man says, “I have not a man, in order, when the water has been troubled, to cast me into the pool” John 5:7 In the midst of all that profession there was not a man, not one with sympathies according to God, one who would care for such a person as that. Doubtless there were many there of repute, Gamaliels and the like, but the impotent man says, “I have not a man ... to cast me into the pool” John 5:7 In the midst of all that, there was no one with the sympathy, the compassions of God to meet need, and so the Lord appears and He Himself meets the need, and heals the man. It is on the sabbath, and in so doing He interferes with the symbol of the current religion, and for this we are told the Jews persecuted Jesus because He had done these things on the sabbath day! Think of the condition among the masses — the Jews — that would persecute a man who did such a work as to say to a poor, impotent man who had lain there for thirty-eight years, “Take up thy couch and walk”! John 5:8 Think of the condition there that would lead the Jews to persecute Him!
As they converse with the Lord in their opposition He says to them, “My Father worketh hitherto and I work” chapter 5:17. What precious light! What a precious fact! And now they persecute Him not only because He relieved the poor man on the sabbath, but because He also said that God was His own Father, “making himself equal with God” John 5:18 There we see the work of God made the occasion of persecution; they sought to stone Him, to kill Him, because of it. Nevertheless in John 5 the Lord proceeds to point out the great question of life. They sought to stone Him, yet in presence of all that hatred and opposition the ministry went on. How marvellous!
Then after all these things He “went away beyond the sea of Galilee” He has turned His back now on the religious system. Are we prepared to follow Him out of the accredited religion of the world where He is persecuted to go with Him far away beyond the accredited area of religious pride into despised Galilee? There we shall find Him with the food, invested with all divine administrative authority. He goes up into a mountain, we are told, so that the picture may be complete. That is what He is doing today. He is on high and His disciples are with Him. What a place, beloved! Outside the leavened masses, of all the accredited religions of the world, to be in the place of reproach, but with Jesus on the mount! He sat down, for what He is doing today He is doing deliberately, and His disciples are with Him. What a position! How willingly one would change the most exalted position on earth to be found sitting with Jesus on the mount!
And then the crowd came, for whatever men may be saying or doing God is working. “My Father worketh hitherto and I work” John 5:17 The work of God goes on and will go on, but the position changes; it is no longer the place of reproach, but the place of moral elevation, and we are with the Lord who is conducting the work of God Himself. He knows what He is going to do. The crowd comes, and now He says,
“[p. 202] Whence shall we buy loaves that these may eat?” For this is the question that tests us. The position is clear, the privilege accorded us unmistakable, being with Him, but we are to be tested. He says to Philip, “Whence shall we buy loaves that these may eat?”
I want now to speak for a moment of Philip and Andrew, so that those of us here who have in some way served acceptably and effectively, may see how easily we may become defective in regard of food. Philip and Andrew are two servants intended for our object lesson in this sign. They appear most honourably in chapter 1; Andrew, you will remember, found Simon, for he was one of the two who heard John the baptist speak and who followed Jesus and abode with Him that day. He found his own brother and brought him to Jesus — a most admirable service; then we are told that Philip was found by the Lord Himself. He had a most honourable experience, the Lord Himself having found him, and then he finds Nathanael and brought him to Jesus; so that both these servants shone in service. But now what about this test? Whence shall we buy bread for these? We may move on in our path, we may have light and be serving effectively and the Lord be with us, but presently we come up against what seems to be an impossibility. What are we going to do now? The Lord will humble us. Unless we are humbled under His hand we shall get out of His hand and be useless. So His way is to humble us, and He knows how to do it; He does it here in proposing this test, “whence shall ... these eat?” What about this? What about this large number of hungry people? Whence shall we buy loaves for them? Well, Philip says on commercial lines, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may take a little. To his mind it was an impossible thing. He was exposed. He had been [p. 203] doing well, but now he is found wanting. Then Andrew joins in the conversation and says, There is a lad here with whom there is some possibility, but it is very small; he has five barley loaves and two small fishes. He too has missed it. Now this is most searching in the Lord’s service. Here are a number of people hungry and needy. How is their need to be met? Both of these men were of the city of Bethsaida, which was, I think, an evangelical place, and no doubt they could have preached eloquent sermons. They could have preached well to these people, but after having preached to them they would have sent them away without any food. It is one thing to preach well, but quite another to minister food. Food is a very essential thing; it is a very concrete thing. Philip, by his words, admits that from his point of view it is an impossibility to meet the need; Andrew is a little better he says, “There is a little boy here” Thank God for him! His name is not given; he was a little boy, but he had something. It shows that the unlikely one, the despised one, may have something, while the accredited one may be lacking. The lad had five barley loaves and two small fishes; that was what Andrew said.
These two prominent men are seen standing out as found wanting, when tested. They appear again later on in chapter 12 when the Greeks come up to see Jesus. One tells the other about this wonderful thing — these Greeks, these renowned men, philosophers and orators, who have come up to see Jesus. Philip and Andrew are greatly interested, and they together tell Jesus. The matter was of especial importance to them. Sometimes we hear conversations about some notable person in the east of Europe who has received a tract and read it with interest. Thank God for that! But God is no respecter of persons, He is no more interested in the distinguished [p. 204] person of the east than in some insignificant person in this country; the former, like the latter, is only one of the millions of people on the earth whom God would save. The Greeks have come, Andrew and Philip say, and the Lord says, “Except the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, it abides alone” John 12:24. If the Greeks are to be saved it must be on the same ground as all others, on the ground of the death of Christ. He must fall into the ground and die, otherwise He will remain alone.
Well, so much for Philip and Andrew! Worthy men surely, and apostles, but the Holy Spirit would bring them as examples before us that we might understand how the work of God is actually carried on, how it is effectively carried on. In them as seen here we learn figuratively. But there is the little boy with five barley loaves and the two fishes. He has got that, he has them in possession. He had something positive. We are not to despise a day of small things; that was what Andrew was doing; but the Lord takes the five barley loaves and the two small fishes and blesses them and gives them to the crowd. Now I may mention here what many of you know, perhaps, that in the best manuscripts the food is not said in this gospel to be handed to the disciples to be distributed; it is given to the people directly by the Lord, and that is what is going on now. It is as if the Lord were saying to us that if we are not available, He will do the thing Himself, for it must be done and He can do it, and He is doing it. But He will not discard us altogether; for though we may not know how to get the food or to administer it, we can at any rate make the men sit down (verse 10); and that is an important service, though very simple. I apprehend that spiritually it refers to the setting out of divine principles in order that men may be regulated and set in position so as to receive directly from the hands of Christ.
[p. 205] The accredited religions of the world know nothing about things being received from Christ. The sacerdotal system means otherwise; it means that it comes indirectly, that I have to be ordained at the hands of certain persons, and that I become officially qualified to take from Christ and hand what I have received from Him to the people. This miracle is to set that aside. In the synoptic gospels there is the thought of receiving through the hands of men; I admit that, for the disciples elsewhere had this honour, but, as I said, it is not so here. What we may do is to make the men sit down. I apprehend that is about the most any of us are doing at the present time; it is a question of getting men into position where they can undisturbedly receive directly from Christ, and that is a great service. “Make the men sit down” There is nothing said here about companies, for John keeps the church out of view. Not that he would not love to bring it in, but his gospel is intended to humble us; it is intended to impress us with the poverty that exists — the want of life, of love, so as to bring out that the Lord is working and will work, and that He will take you up, if you can do anything. Possibly you can do this, you can make the men sit down, and He will give them the food.
“There was much grass in the place” (verse 10). Where did that come from? It did not come from the disciples; the grass comes from God; it is the evidence of life on the earth, the power of life subjectively. It is a sign of life, that life is there. At the creation it was dry land that appeared first, but then the grass grew on it; it was the ‘sign’ of life, that life was there. It does not say here they sat on the grass, as we read elsewhere, but that there was much grass there — a witness in the circumstances of the life-giving power of God. So they sat down and they ate of the barley loaves and the fishes, and they were [p. 206] sufficed. This is a wonderful picture as to how the Lord is caring for His people, and will care for them.
Then there is another service we may do, and that is to gather up the fragments. Those are the two things we are to do. In the other gospels they are not told to do that, but they do it; but in this gospel they are so wanting that the Lord has even to tell them to do it — to be careful about things so that nothing be lost. “Gather together the fragments which are over and above” He says, “that nothing may be lost” and they gathered up twelve baskets full. They were handbaskets, suggesting, I apprehend, that they were portable. In Matthew you have larger baskets where the four thousand were fed — seven of them — which refers to the Spirit, but handbaskets are portable ones, meaning that the Lord will give us the opportunity of administering if we are willing to take it up. It is a question of what we are willing to do, for the divine thought remains, and it is wonderfully preserved here — the divine thought of the administration of the twelve. There are the baskets, twelve of them; so that we see there is a service of love for twelve — the twelve denoting flexibility, that it is a number which in the hands of the Lord He can manipulate.
But how can He manipulate save as we are available in love? That is the point, I apprehend, of the twelve. The result of His work is that I am not only subject — humbled — but that I can be taken up and used at His pleasure. That is the idea in the twelve handbaskets. So the Lord can carry on the divine thought to the end, and He has those to His hand whom He can thus employ. The baskets are there if you are ready to use them. So that we may be enabled as in subjection and knit together in love to deal out food. One takes it to oneself; the Lord would end as He began, not so much with quantity as quality, and He is doing it, and this gospel is [p. 207] intended to bring it about. The ministry of John is to humble us, and in humbling us to edify us and build us up, so that we might be prepared to do a little to meet the current need. May the Lord bless His word to each of us.