FOOD
JT In John 6 verse 1 the Lord left the Jews and went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, after the Jews had rejected Him and He had told them that they would receive the Antichrist, who would come in his own name (John 5: 43). Then it says in verse 2 that a great crowd followed him to the place of separation from the world. That is still the first right step for a believer today. We must be in earnest with our Christianity and separate ourselves from everything that the Lord has separated Himself from. “The whole world lies in the wicked one” (1 John 5: 19), and we can only overcome it if we keep entirely separate from it. We may think that in that case we shall have to stand alone; but that is not so, for as in John 6, so also today, a great crowd of believers from all lands and continents is following the Lord into a position of separation and rejection. However, believers that are separate from the world also need food. That is why the Lord asked Philip, “Whence shall we buy loaves that these may eat?” Thus the Lord desires to give us food for the inward man.
Ques. Why are the disciples mentioned in John 6?
JT In John 5: 21 the Son quickens whom He will. The disciples have nothing to do with that, and for that reason they are not even mentioned in John 5. But in John 6, where food is to be given to quickened believers, the Lord links the disciples with Him (John 6: 3).
He asked Philip where they were to buy bread to feed the multitude. Through that question Philip’s weak side came to light. If he had been spiritual, he would have said to the Lord, ‘Thou art the only One who can answer that question’. But instead of that he gave way to his natural inclination to calculate, and answered the Lord, “Loaves for two hundred denarii are not sufficient for them, that each may have some little portion”. He calculates like a businessman, but his estimate was wrong, because he had not taken the Lord into account. If we begin to calculate like businessmen, we have no confidence in the Lord.
Rem. Philip indicates how great the need was and how high the price of the needed loaves was, while Andrew points out how small the actually available supplies were.
JT Yes; Andrew says, “There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes; but this, what is it for so many?” That was not spiritual either, for if Andrew had had before him the glorious majesty of the person of the Son of God, who quickens the dead (John 5: 25), he too would have been a little boy in his own eyes. A boy is always little, but by using the expression “a little boy” Andrew meant that this boy and what he had were so insignificant that hardly any notice could be taken of him.
Ques. What is the meaning of the barley loaves?
JT Andrew meant by that that it was a less valuable kind of bread—barley bread is less nutritious than wheat bread. Andrew had a very low valuation of the little boy and what he had. Still, he knew that the boy had something. Andrew just thought the boy was of no use—that he could not be trusted, so to speak, to give an address or hold a reading with believers. Yet the Lord used what the little boy had to feed the great multitude.
Ques. The five barley loaves and the two fishes that the boy had showed that he had faith, did they not?
JT Yes—he had not brought all that just for himself. The little boy was a sharp rebuke to the apostles, who were great in their own eyes. I am sure they never forgot this incident. In chapter 1 Andrew and Philip were good soul-seekers or evangelists. Andrew led Simon Peter to Jesus, and Philip led Nathaniel. We may think that such distinguished evangelists cannot go wrong; but the Lord has to show every believer how weak he is without Him. Andrew and Philip failed completely when it was a question of giving food to believers. Yet the little boy had food that the Lord could distribute.
Ques. Was Paul a little boy like this?
JT Yes. In Acts 13, when Saul began his missionary activity, his name was changed to Paul, that is, “Little”; and when he unfolds the counsel of God in Ephesians, he calls himself “less than the least of all saints” (Ephesians 3: 8). That is the bent of mind of the little boy whom the Lord uses to feed great multitudes. A little boy is not seeking any public place among Christians, and he would not want to be the object of attention. Yet he has some food, which the Lord can distribute for the nourishment of His people. It is important to notice that in John 6: 11 the Lord Himself fed the multitude, while in the first three gospels He did it through His disciples.
Ques. What is the significance of that?
JT The Lord did not want any sort of official spirit to arise among the apostles; therefore in John 6 He kept them out of sight, as it were, in the distribution of food. In John 6 the disciples were only allowed to make the people sit down (verse 10) and to gather the fragments after the feeding (verse 13). But the distribution of the food was done by the Lord Himself. The Lord may have used me for the edification of believers; but I should attribute that to the Lord and not to myself. The Lord has done it, and no credit is due to me. We often assess ministering brothers at their own valuation of themselves, and, like Andrew, underestimate the little boys, whom the Lord nevertheless values very highly. We ought to pray much to the Lord that He would show us His valuation of everything.
Rem. The disciples had to gather the fragments that remained into hand-baskets.
JT Yes, the Lord got them to do that, and every fragment that they picked up condemned them, because they had thought the Lord was not able to feed the great multitude.
Ques. What is the meaning of the grass on which the people sat down?
JT The grass speaks of brotherly love which is found among Christians who have separated from the world. One can settle down on that, so to speak. “There was much grass in the place”. The Lord feeds His own where there is plenty of brotherly love.
Ques. What is the meaning of the fragments that remained over and above?
JT At the beginning of the church period, the Lord fed believers through the apostles and other spiritual men. The teaching of the apostles was received and kept in the hearts of believers in faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit. But before the apostles left this scene, everything was recorded in writing in the books of the New Testament. The twelve hand-baskets filled with the fragments that were over and above answer to that—baskets are receptacles in which food can be kept and carried away. In the New Testament writings, especially in the four gospels, the apostles preserved for us the food that the Lord had entrusted to them. For example, John in his gospel has gathered up precious fragments and left them for us. But we are not only to read the Scripture, but also to receive it into our hearts in faith, and seek to translate the thoughts into reality in the power of the Holy Spirit. In this way we can still get nourishment from the hand-baskets today. A further thought that is represented in the gathering together of the fragments that were over and above is that if the Lord gives us spiritual food in a reading of the word of God, then we should write down and spread the thoughts that He has given us, so that nothing may be lost. We should very much value all spiritual ministry that is written down or printed, though of course we must not put it on a level with the Word of God. May we receive all spiritual ministry in faith, and keep it in an honest and good heart, and so bring forth fruit with patience (Luke 8: 15).
Reading with J. Taylor
Quotshausen, Germany; May 1928, Translated from German EXTRACT
... Then the prophet says, “And I looked, and behold, sinews and flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them”. An observant servant discerns what is being effected in those he serves. You look at their faces. I do not think it is good to look much at the ceiling or walls of the building when you are preaching. You will not see spiritual results there! It is in living persons that you will see something to encourage you.
J. Taylor (Vol. 55, p.18)
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