This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of the “Lord’s Supper” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 30, 1994.

This is John chapter 6, beginning at verse 1. Let us give our attention to the Word of God. After these things, Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And the great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. and the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was not. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw the great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, When shall we buy bread that these may eat?

And this he said to prove him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them might take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many?

Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples and the disciples to them that were set down, and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto the disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

The communion services in 1994, at which I will officiate, will reflect on a single chapter, that chapter being John 6. There will be seven such services in this calendar year, and therefore seven messages of which this is the first, God willing. Now, you may be surprised by my choice of texts, noting that we are not dealing here with an account of the Lord’s Supper, that this is a portion of Scripture that records for us events that take place prior to the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.

But going even further, you who know the gospel of John quite well may note that the gospel of John may be a bad choice all around when dealing with the Lord’s Supper, since John’s gospel provides no record of the details of the meal itself on the eve of Christ’s crucifixion. You may want to look quickly at John 13 and scan that chapter. Here is where you would expect to find the description of the Last Supper in John’s Gospel. But you will note, as you look down through those verses, that nothing is mentioned here about the meal itself. None of the particulars are given to you as they are in the other Gospels.

Instead, you have much made of Christ’s action in washing his disciples’ feet. Why, you ask, does John fail to mention the specifics of that meal on the eve of Christ’s Is it because John has an anti-sacramental point of view? Is it because he rejects the Lord’s Supper, that it has no place in his theology, in his doctrine, that he is trying to read it out of the life of Christ and out of the life of the early Church? Well, of course, this is not John’s intention at all. John speaks by the Holy Spirit, the same Spirit that inspired the other Gospel writers, the ones who did not hesitate to record the particulars of that meal on the eve of Christ’s crucifixion.

The spirit by which John writes is that spirit by which all Scripture is inspired, inspired for the purpose of providing us with doctrine, with reproof, with correction, with training in righteousness, according to Paul in 2 Timothy 3.16. So John’s omission here is by the Holy Spirit, deliberative. It is for the purpose of giving us instruction. It is for the purpose of doctrine.

It is that there might be even some correction and reproof given to the church to which John writes. John’s intention then, at least in part, is this, that he might counter in that church to which he writes, the church of his day, and the Church in any day, for that matter, that overemphasis upon the sacrament, that overemphasis upon the supper, where the supper or the sacrament has become an end in itself, has become so much a concentration that the word and obedient loving, faithful response to that word are being lost from the consciousness of the Church. John is preaching as he tells the story of the life of Christ, and part of his intention while he tells the story of the life of Christ is to offer correction to the Church, a Church that now is in jeopardy, a Church that is moving into a mode of thought in which it overemphasizes the sacrament to the point that the sacrament displaces the Word, and faithful service to that Word. John’s gospel is a Protestant gospel, and I think you get my meaning. John, therefore, is not preeminently the evangelist for the sacraments. or even for a sacramental point of view, as is often thought. Rather, John is the evangelist for the Word, under which the sacraments themselves must be subsumed.

But not only is John the gospel writer who leaves things out where we would have expected them, he is also the gospel writer who puts things in where we did not expect them. In John’s gospel, therefore, the Holy Spirit is at work to force us to account for the omissions, such as the particulars with regard to the Last Supper. But that same spirit is at work to force us to account for the additions that we’ve brought. John 6. Now, obviously, John 6 does not describe the last supper. However, there is much in this chapter that reminds us about the Lord’s Supper, the Last Supper. Verse 4 is a tip-off.

It tells us that it was Passover season, that the Feast of the Jews was nigh. It would be a year later when Jesus traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate that last Passover feast with his disciples and to suffer his death upon a cross. The time period brings into view the circumstances concerning Christ’s death and even the supper that would mark that death.

But look now at verse 11, where John tells us, Jesus therefore took the loaves. Listen to the language. Jesus therefore took the loaves, and having given thanks, he distributed to those who were seated. Now, I want you to compare the language that you find there with what we find elsewhere in the gospel descriptions of the Last Supper, I want you to look at Mark chapter 14, verse 22, and listen to the words you find there, given us by Mark, describing the Last Supper. And while they were eating, writes Mark, Jesus took some bread, and after blessing it, broke it and gave it to his disciples. And he said, Take it, this is my body.”

Now it should be clear to all of us how similar these passages are. John 6 verse 11, Mark 14 verse 22. In each of these texts we have common actions. Note them. In both, Jesus takes bread. In both, Jesus prays. In both, Jesus breaks the bread. It is explicit in Mark’s verse. It is implied in John’s verse. It is also implied by verse 12 in John, because of the fragments that are taken up afterwards. And finally, in each of these accounts, Jesus distributes the bread. The two passages, then, are linked. The two incidents are linked. The multiplication of the loaves and fishes for the feeding of the 5,000 and the Last Supper itself are joined together. They are bound.

Now, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the so-called synoptic gospels, suggest this link by the ways in which they tell the story of the feeding of the 5,000. Let’s stick with Mark. Let’s look at Mark’s gospel, chapter 6, verse 41, where we are told, And Jesus took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed the food and broke the loaves, and kept giving them to his disciples. You will note that Matthew and Luke use similar language. Matthew 14, 19, Luke 9, verse 16.

But while the other three Gospels talk in this way, positing a link between the feeding of the 5,000 and the Last Supper, it is John alone in his Gospel who places the connection of these two events in clear view. What is behind the scenes is brought out into the clear light of day by John. He brings it out explicitly. for John is the one who goes on to tell us in some detail about the events of the next day. Verse 22 and following in that sixth chapter, he tells us about the events of that next day after the feeding of the five thousand.

He tells us how the multitudes track Jesus down in Capernaum at the synagogue, and how Jesus chides them about the level of their spirituality. “‘You seek me,’ he says, “‘because you ate the loaves, and you were filled.'” These words by Jesus lead them to an intense exchange between himself and the multitudes, with the multitudes increasingly becoming defensive and evidencing the fact that they simply are not getting it. They don’t understand, as Jesus speaks to them about the true bread, verse 32. As he speaks to them about the bread of life, verse 35. as he identifies himself as that bread of life, as the true bread, verses 41 and 48, and then goes on to relate his flesh and his blood with the bread, to the bread, in verses 52 and following.

What John then tells us as he records in detail the events of the next day, draws out the direct link between the feeding of the 5,000 and the Last Supper. With John’s gospel in hand, then, you are ready. I’ll be even bolder than that. You are forced by the Holy Spirit himself to re-read the story of the feeding of the 5,000, and to read it with new eyes. to see in that story more than you thought. Our difficulty, however, is not merely that we need to see in the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand more than we thought. Our difficulty is that we need to see in this miracle more than we have been ordinarily taught.

The connection spelled out for us by Jesus himself in these words from John’s Gospel, the connection between The feeding of the 5,000 and the Last Supper tells us that we are to read that miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 in light of the later event, in light of the Last Supper itself, and that the feeding of the 5,000 is to be read as a preview for the administration of the Lord’s Supper itself.

This means that the meaning of this miracle specifically relates to the Church. In the extraordinary meal of the sacrament in which we who are true believers graciously and gloriously partake, of Christ’s body and blood with all his benefits to our spiritual nourishment and growth and grace. That is the way in which the miracle is to be read and understood, the way in which it is to be appropriated. If we are committed to the principle that Scripture interprets Scripture, we are bound to move in this direction with regard to our interpretation of the miracle of the seething of the five stars.

Unfortunately, and even tragically, this is not how this miracle has been understood. It is particularly sad that many within the Reformed camp, that even some of the greatest expositors and exegetes have missed the point. You see, ordinarily this miracle has been classified as a nature miracle, the purpose of which is to prove that Jesus Christ is Lord of creation and that he has the power of God, being God himself, to multiply something where there was nothing previously. Even Calvin. saw this miracle along these lines.

It tells us that the story of the feeding of the 5,000 concerns the fact that Christ extends his office as shepherd to care for our bodies, our physical bodies. It is a miracle, the intent of which is to prove Christ’s lordship over creation and his power and ability to supply us our daily needs. In view, then, according to Calvin’s interpretation, is a common meal, not an extraordinary meal, a common meal. And in this vein, Calvin goes on to tell us that the prayer which Jesus offered on this occasion was a common prayer offered at mealtime. and is to be an example to us all that we are to sanctify our meals with prayer, with the saying of grace.

Now, indeed, Christ is the Lord of creation. He is God come in the flesh. He is able to bring all creation to the service of his people. He is able to take care of our daily needs, and yes, we are to pray. We are to pray at meals. And certainly we have ample example of that throughout the testimony of Scripture.

But to allow the feeding of the 5,000 to live at this level is to fall prey precisely to the kind of spirit that Jesus Christ labors against in the extended commentary that he offers on this miracle. And to focus one’s attention once more on natural bread. the bread of this world, and physical sustenance. Is that the tragedy of the Reformed faith? Is that the glitch in Calvinism? But try as we may, we can’t get our eyes off the world. We remain captivated by and dependent upon physical bread when Jesus Christ is telling us to direct our eyes elsewhere.

We end up then reading this miracle as if the bread of this creation and as if our full bellies were the point. when these things, according to Jesus himself, are not the point at all. In fact, we can say that just as John in his Gospel works so diligently to free the Church from an over-sacramentalism So he works equally hard to free the Church from a worldliness that persists in its concern for food that perishes.

John 6, verse 27. Come to the table. them.” The love of Christ. Come to the table, eat bread, drink wine, remembering that as the five thousand were fed by Christ, so you are fed by him for the filling of your souls. And that feeling, being with spiritual realities, even with Christ himself, whose sacrifice for your sins, testified in this sacrament, communicates to you life. Help us, O Lord, to understand the spiritual character of this sacrament. And Lord, lest we fear We ask you to put our fears down, that we would come and in this sacrament partake of Christ, and feed well upon spiritual food. We pray, our God, that we would not allow the sacrament itself to rise to a level above the Word, that we would see, O God, that in feeding upon our Saviour, in keeping with the appointment of this sacrament, we are feeding upon the Word and upon spiritual truth, as that truth is found in Him and in Heaven above. Hear us, O God. We come in Jesus’ name.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.