John 6:1-21 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.… (Children's Sermon): — You know what puzzle questions are; they are questions to make you wonder, and the more you wonder the more interested you become, and the more interested you grow the better you are likely to understand the answer when it comes. But is your teacher ever puzzled? No; he simply asks the question to prove you, to find out how much you know. It was for this purpose that Jesus put the question to Philip, viz., to find out what kind of a scholar he had become. I. WHAT WAS THE QUESTION? How to meet a difficulty. Philip worked it all out in mental arithmetic, First he made a rough guess as to the number of people. Then he remembered how much a little for each would cost. Then he worked out a sum in proportion. "If it cost so much for one, what will it cost for five thousand?" And the answer was two hundred pennyworth. II. WAS THE ANSWER RIGHT? No. 1. Because it only told what wouldn't be enough. 2. Because it wasn't a reply to the question that Jesus had asked. Jesus did not say, "How much money is required?" But "How are we to get bread?" If Philip had learned his lessons properly, he would simply have said, "Thou who canst raise the dead, Thou canst create bread." Conclusion: 1. Do not leave Jesus out of your calculations. 2. Look the question carefully, "Whence shall we?" Philip hadn't noticed that; but it makes matters much simpler, for if Jesus is going to help there won't be much difficulty. So Philip did what he could, brought a few loaves and fishes to Jesus. Then Jesus did what He could, blessed what Philip had brought, and the little became enough for the many. 3. Remember the power of that we in — (1) the government of your temper; (2) The great question, "What must I do to be saved." (J. R. Howatt.) Parallel Verses KJV: After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. |
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