# Jesus' Authority over Scarcity

Sermon transcript from Cross Church Phoenix.
Series: Miracles of Jesus
Date: May 24, 2026
Watch: https://crosschurchcares.com/phoenix/episodes/jesus-authority-over-scarcity

## Summary

What does it mean for Jesus to have authority over our scarcity? Are we seeking Him for who He is or just for what He can provide? Discover the profound truth behind the miracle of the loaves and fish and how it points to our deepest spiritual needs. Let's dive in together!

## Transcript

0:01 · [music]

0:07 · >> But good morning Cross Church Phoenix.

0:09 · How are you?

0:12 · Damn.

0:13 · Yeah.

0:14 · I'm Pastor DJ. I'm the pastor here at

0:16 · Cross Church Phoenix. If I haven't met

0:18 · you before, welcome.

0:20 · Uh man, dude, this is awesome. Full

0:22 · house. Love it. This is great. All

0:24 · right. Well, if you would take your

0:26 · Bibles and open them to Matthew chapter

0:28 · 14. And if you don't have a Bible,

0:31 · uh there is one in the seat back in

0:33 · front of you

0:34 · or behind you if you're in the front

0:36 · row.

0:37 · You can make that your Bible. You can

0:39 · highlight it, mark it up, underline. Um

0:42 · that is your Bible. That is our gift to

0:44 · you. We will gladly replace it.

0:47 · Um make that your Bible.

0:49 · And as you're turning, it would help if

0:51 · the pastor did too here.

0:53 · Um as you're turning over there, I want

0:55 · to invite John and Emily up real quick.

0:58 · We're going to embarrass them about as

1:00 · much as we can

1:02 · because

1:04 · we

1:07 · have an announcement to make. And it's

1:09 · very sad.

1:10 · No, this is John and Emily. If you don't

1:12 · know John and Emily, everyone say hi

1:13 · John and Emily. Hi John and

1:16 · Um they have been faithfully serving

1:18 · Cross Church Phoenix for over 3 years

1:21 · now. They were here before I got here

1:22 · and they've been serving on the welcome

1:24 · team. You see them all the time out

1:26 · there under the canopy just welcoming

1:28 · people. Their job has been just find new

1:30 · people you haven't seen and track them

1:32 · down and show them around, make them

1:34 · feel at home.

1:35 · Well, they are leaving us. Can you

1:37 · believe that?

1:38 · This is their last Sunday.

1:41 · They are moving back home to Missouri.

1:43 · So, it's for a good reason, but um

1:46 · you know, I wanted to invite them up

1:47 · here. Thank you guys for all that you

1:49 · have done and your part in Cross Church

1:52 · Phoenix and

1:53 · our prayer. Pray for them as they find a

1:55 · new church. I told them, "Hey, you need

1:56 · to find a Bible-believing,

1:58 · Bible-preaching church." And make sure

2:00 · that that happens.

2:01 · Uh and they will bless wherever you end

2:04 · up, I'm sure. But I want to pray for

2:06 · them as well as we send them off to the

2:09 · next chapter of their life and and thank

2:11 · them. So,

2:12 · let's If you would, if you don't mind

2:13 · extending your arms out, we will

2:15 · we'll pray for John and Emily. Father,

2:18 · we thank you for John and Emily. We pray

2:21 · for

2:22 · uh

2:23 · just guidance and protection, safe

2:26 · travels as they

2:28 · move onto the next chapter in their

2:30 · life, Lord. We thank you for just such a

2:34 · blessing that they've been to Cross

2:35 · Church Phoenix, a blessing to me

2:37 · coming here, Lord. It's been wonderful

2:39 · to have them.

2:41 · And we're going to miss them, but we

2:42 · know that you have called and led them

2:45 · elsewhere and we pray your blessings

2:48 · upon them in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank

2:50 · you guys. You can sit down. Yeah. So,

2:53 · bother them about as much as you can

2:55 · before they go.

2:57 · Try to get them to stay. So, just tell

2:59 · them how badly you're going to miss

3:00 · them. Start weeping,

3:02 · you know, all that stuff and see if you

3:04 · can convince them to stay cuz I

3:05 · couldn't. So,

3:06 · but thank you, John and Emily. Well, I

3:08 · hope that you're at Matthew 14 by now.

3:12 · And I also wanted to say a quick word

3:15 · and express my gratitude and thanks

3:18 · to those of you who may have family

3:19 · members, friends who have paid the

3:22 · ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms that

3:25 · we have in this country. This Memorial

3:28 · Day, if you have or know anyone who who

3:31 · gave their life serving in the armed

3:33 · forces,

3:34 · I want to extend my gratefulness and

3:37 · thankfulness

3:38 · to those

3:40 · of you who have family members or

3:42 · friends who've given their lives. We

3:44 · love you. We pray for your comfort and

3:46 · peace this Memorial Day weekend.

3:50 · Well, last week

3:52 · Pastor Jackie

3:54 · uh preached from Matthew chapter 12. And

3:57 · it was the healing of the man with the

3:59 · withered hand.

4:01 · The main controversy

4:04 · behind that miracle was not the healing

4:08 · itself.

4:10 · They actually would tell Jesus, if you

4:12 · read through the Gospels, the Pharisees

4:14 · would, who have an issue, take exception

4:16 · to Jesus. They would say,

4:18 · "Why don't you heal on another day?

4:22 · Not the Sabbath day." The controversy

4:27 · behind that miracle was the fact that it

4:30 · was done on the Sabbath.

4:34 · That is very important.

4:37 · Remember

4:38 · the point of the miracles has never been

4:43 · the miracles in and of themselves.

4:46 · The miracles are great. It's cool to see

4:49 · the storm calm, uh or to see, I don't

4:52 · know, Jairus' daughter come back to

4:53 · life, or to see many of the other demons

4:56 · cast out, all these wonderful things.

4:58 · But all of them pointed to the bigger

5:01 · truth. The healing of the man's hand in

5:05 · Matthew chapter 12 comes right after

5:10 · Jesus makes a polarizing statement.

5:15 · He says, "The Son of Man," talking about

5:18 · himself, "is lord of what? The Sabbath."

5:25 · And then

5:27 · the healing of the man happens. Now,

5:29 · think about it for a second what that

5:30 · means.

5:32 · Jesus

5:33 · claimed to be lord,

5:37 · meaning have authority over

5:40 · one of the Ten Commandments.

5:44 · Only God has authority

5:48 · over any of the 10 Commandments or I

5:50 · should say all of them.

5:52 · He wrote it.

5:53 · Remember in Exodus when God gave Moses

5:56 · the 10 Commandments atop Mount Sinai, it

5:58 · says it was written with the finger of

6:02 · God.

6:03 · So if you say, "I am Lord I have when

6:06 · Jesus says I am Lord I have authority

6:08 · over the Sabbath." He's saying he's God.

6:11 · Oh, and then to show you

6:14 · the miracle

6:16 · is evidence of the truth that Jesus is

6:20 · Lord of the Sabbath and therefore God.

6:25 · So the healing pointed to a bigger

6:28 · truth. Well, now we find ourselves in

6:30 · chapter 14.

6:32 · And if you recall, if you if you were

6:34 · going if you were reading through it, I

6:36 · want to give you some context. We are

6:38 · skipping chapter 13 is full of parables

6:40 · which we will come to in our parable

6:42 · series.

6:44 · But

6:45 · Jesus speaks in parables in chapter 13,

6:47 · then we come to 14.

6:49 · And at the beginning of

6:51 · chapter 14 we learn that John the

6:53 · Baptist has been beheaded by Herod.

6:58 · John the Baptist stood for righteousness

7:03 · and surprise, surprise was hated and

7:07 · murdered for it.

7:09 · It's when Jesus hears the news about

7:12 · Herod

7:13 · and John [clears throat] the Baptist.

7:17 · John is beheaded and Herod

7:19 · thinks that now that Jesus' ministry and

7:22 · his population is is expanding, Herod

7:26 · thinks Jesus is John the Baptist

7:28 · reincarnated.

7:29 · And so it is at that that Jesus

7:33 · withdraws from the crowds only to be

7:36 · found by them once more.

7:39 · Well, let's pray. Father, we thank you

7:40 · for this morning.

7:42 · We thank you for your word.

7:45 · We pray that you would help us right

7:47 · now, God.

7:50 · Whatever's going on in our lives

7:53 · personally,

7:57 · that you would give us rest from it.

8:01 · That you would help us to not just be

8:03 · hearers of the word, but doers also. To

8:06 · see

8:07 · the truth of the text

8:09 · >> [clears throat]

8:10 · >> and to apply it to our lives. I pray

8:12 · that you give us eyes to see, ears to

8:14 · hear

8:15 · what the Spirit has to say to the church

8:17 · at Cross Church Phoenix in Jesus' name.

8:20 · Amen.

8:21 · Well, if you are able to, let's stand in

8:23 · honor of God's word. If you are unable

8:25 · to stand, that is to fine. If you would

8:27 · stand with us in spirit,

8:29 · we do this in reverence to God's word

8:31 · and you can do that seated as well. We

8:33 · are going to read Matthew 14:13-21.

8:38 · And it goes like this.

8:40 · When Jesus heard about it,

8:42 · John the Baptist and Herod, he withdrew

8:45 · from there by boat to a remote place to

8:48 · be alone.

8:50 · When the crowds heard this, they

8:51 · followed him on foot from the towns.

8:54 · When he went ashore, he saw a large

8:56 · crowd had

8:57 · had compassion on them and healed their

9:00 · sick.

9:01 · When evening came, the disciples

9:03 · approached him and said, "This place is

9:05 · deserted and it's already late. Send the

9:07 · crowds away so that they can go into the

9:10 · villages and buy food for themselves."

9:14 · "They don't need to go away."

9:16 · Jesus told them, "You give them

9:19 · something to eat." "But we only have

9:21 · five loaves and two fish here." They

9:24 · said to him,

9:26 · "Bring them here to me."

9:27 · He said. Then he commanded the crowds to

9:30 · sit down on the grass. He took the five

9:32 · loaves and the two fish and looking up

9:34 · to heaven, he blessed them.

9:37 · He broke the loaves and gave them to the

9:40 · disciples.

9:42 · And the disciples gave them to the

9:43 · crowds.

9:45 · Everyone ate and was satisfied.

9:48 · They picked up 12 baskets full of

9:49 · leftover pieces.

9:51 · Now, those who ate were about 5,000 men

9:54 · besides women and children. Amen.

9:57 · Thanks. You can be seated.

10:02 · If you have a handout this morning, if

10:04 · not they're in the back if you want one.

10:06 · If not, they'll be up here.

10:08 · You'll see the title of the sermon is

10:10 · Jesus authority over scarcity. Scarcity

10:14 · is a cool word, right? I like that word.

10:16 · It's fun to say, scarcity. And that is

10:18 · 100% true. Jesus has unlimited resources

10:25 · to meet the physical needs of the

10:28 · people. In this case, hunger.

10:32 · The hunger of thousands of people when

10:36 · there's little to no food.

10:39 · But at the same time and as we've been

10:43 · stressing throughout this miracle series

10:47 · is

10:48 · there's something bigger going on.

10:54 · So, I'm going to go in a slightly

10:55 · different direction this morning. I want

10:57 · you to see, yes, the miracle feeding the

10:59 · 5,000. 5,000 at minimum, right? Besides

11:03 · women and children. So, it's possible

11:05 · that there was upwards of 15 to 20,000

11:07 · people including women and children.

11:10 · They will be fed.

11:13 · But there's more going on.

11:16 · This miracle feeding the 5,000 is the

11:18 · only miracle aside from the

11:21 · resurrection, of course, that is

11:23 · documented

11:25 · in all four Gospels.

11:28 · Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all put

11:30 · this one in. And I believe that there's

11:33 · a very specific reason for it.

11:36 · Not just to show Jesus meeting physical

11:41 · needs, but foreshadowing

11:44 · Jesus provision of spiritual needs.

11:49 · So our main heading we're going to work

11:51 · under is this, previewing Christ

11:54 · provision at a picnic.

11:57 · That was my attempt to be alliterate.

11:59 · And not illiterate, um to alliterate.

12:03 · That's my attempt at alliteration. It's

12:04 · not good, but hey, previewing Christ

12:06 · provision at a picnic.

12:08 · The first thing I want us to see is

12:10 · simply the compassion of Jesus for his

12:13 · people, for the people. The compassion

12:16 · of Jesus for the people.

12:19 · If you look at a broad view of Jesus

12:21 · ministry,

12:23 · he spends extensive time with people,

12:28 · ministering to people, healing and

12:30 · teaching people, pouring himself out to

12:33 · them, and then you'll see this cycle

12:37 · where

12:38 · he'll withdraw

12:40 · from people, from the crowds, to spend

12:43 · time with the Father alone, and to spend

12:47 · time with his disciples in a more

12:49 · private setting.

12:51 · Well, verse 13 is one of those times

12:54 · where Jesus desires to be alone. One of

12:56 · the other gospels mention that he wants

12:59 · to He desires to be alone.

13:03 · His cousin, John the Baptist, was just

13:06 · murdered,

13:08 · and Jesus popularity had led Herod, as

13:11 · we mentioned, to believe that he's John

13:13 · the Baptist reincarnated, so he's going

13:17 · in back into some seclusion for a time.

13:21 · He's seeking to be alone, and yet lo and

13:24 · behold, what happens? The crowds follow

13:27 · and find him once more.

13:31 · Now, Jesus could have said, "Leave me

13:33 · alone.

13:34 · I'm tired of healing. I'm tired of

13:37 · teaching. I'm tired of dealing with

13:40 · y'all drama." Right?

13:42 · But, he doesn't.

13:45 · He has compassion on them.

13:48 · As he looks out to the crowds, Mark

13:50 · includes he says he says Jesus has

13:53 · compassion on them because they're like

13:56 · sheep without a shepherd.

14:00 · These are lost little sheep

14:02 · who don't know what they're doing or

14:03 · where they're going. Uh Luke mentions

14:06 · that alongside healing them, that he

14:09 · taught them about the kingdom of God.

14:13 · So, he's spending This is an all-day

14:15 · event.

14:16 · Hours are passing by. And though he

14:19 · wanted to be alone, instead of avoiding

14:21 · the crowds, he embraced them.

14:23 · And he had compassion on them.

14:27 · The word compassion means being moved in

14:30 · your inner being.

14:33 · You know, we talk about the heart,

14:35 · right? Like not a literal heart, but

14:36 · like your heart, right? Like if you say,

14:38 · "I love somebody with all my heart." Or

14:39 · I love I love basketball with all my

14:41 · heart. Or like he really that person

14:43 · plays with a lot of heart. Um we're

14:45 · talking about how like just like they're

14:47 · they're

14:48 · >> [laughter]

14:48 · >> they're they're passionate about it, you

14:49 · know, that kind of thing. Well, in the

14:51 · Bible,

14:53 · it is actually like your gut.

14:55 · Your bowels that is the seat of the

14:57 · emotions. And this word actually means

15:00 · that he has this inner

15:03 · um

15:04 · deep sympathy and compassion

15:07 · for these lost people. Not that he just

15:10 · simply feels sorry for them. Oh, it's

15:13 · sucks to be those guys, you know. No,

15:15 · no, it's more than that. It is a it is a

15:17 · deep compassion.

15:19 · They're like lost little sheep.

15:22 · Have you ever just wanted to be alone?

15:26 · But there's one more need to meet

15:30 · or one more person in need of

15:33 · compassion.

15:34 · One more person in need of your care.

15:39 · Remember Jesus, yes, he's fully God, but

15:41 · he's fully man. He experienced being

15:44 · tired. He experienced being hungry. He

15:47 · experienced being exhausted from meeting

15:49 · needs, too.

15:51 · But will we be like Christ and have

15:54 · compassion for people even when it's

15:56 · inconvenient?

15:59 · It can be inconvenient to have

16:02 · compassion sometimes, right? Doesn't fit

16:04 · into our schedule sometimes. But here we

16:07 · see Christ's compassion for the people.

16:11 · The second thing we see is the

16:13 · helplessness of the disciples

16:16 · to provide. The helplessness of the

16:18 · disciples.

16:21 · Now John's version of this miracle is

16:24 · fascinating. Don't make give me wrong,

16:25 · they're all awesome, right? But John's

16:27 · interesting.

16:29 · John says that Jesus is sitting with his

16:32 · disciples, he lifted up his eyes, saw

16:35 · the large crowd coming toward him,

16:40 · and he looks over at Philip,

16:42 · one of his disciples.

16:45 · And he turns to Philip and he says,

16:48 · "Where are we to buy bread so that these

16:51 · people might eat?"

16:53 · Don't you love that?

16:57 · And this is when the crowds are coming

16:59 · toward him.

17:01 · So before they even arrive, Jesus plants

17:05 · the thought into Philip's head. "Hey,

17:08 · bro.

17:10 · Where do you think we're going to feed

17:11 · all these people?"

17:15 · Keep in mind now all the disciples have

17:18 · witnessed to this point, right? Calming

17:20 · the storm, casting out demons, healing a

17:22 · paralytic, uh bringing Jairus' daughter

17:24 · from the dead, and who knows how many

17:27 · other miracles, right? And yet, yet, it

17:30 · never occurs to any of the disciples

17:34 · that Jesus can feed them if he wants to.

17:40 · In John, it says, "This he asked Philip

17:42 · to test him, for he, Jesus, knew what he

17:45 · was going to do." Jesus knows all along

17:49 · he's going to provide food for thousands

17:52 · of hungry people.

17:54 · But he says, "Hey, Philip,

17:56 · how do you think we're going to do this,

17:57 · man? There's a lot of people coming. You

17:59 · see all that?" If you saw 15,000

18:01 · people-ish coming towards you,

18:04 · how do you think we're going to feed all

18:05 · these?

18:06 · Check this out, right?

18:09 · But the disciples only consider what is

18:12 · physically possible, not what Jesus can

18:15 · do. Philip's response in John is

18:18 · basically, um "Lord, you know, we have

18:20 · 200 denarii,

18:22 · but that's not enough to buy food for

18:26 · everyone." Andrew is the one who comes

18:29 · up and says, "There's a boy here with

18:31 · the five loaves and the two fish, uh but

18:34 · that's nothing for so many people."

18:36 · Both of them are looking at only what is

18:39 · physically possible. If you look here in

18:42 · Matthew, it's all the disciples, right?

18:44 · Are saying, "Lord,

18:46 · send them away to go buy food for

18:49 · themselves." The word send, uh in verse

18:53 · 15, is also a command. So, the disciples

18:57 · aren't like suggesting, like, "Jesus,

18:58 · you might want to send them away." No,

19:01 · this is like, "Jesus, send them away.

19:02 · Like, it's getting late. Send them away

19:05 · so that they can get food for

19:06 · themselves."

19:09 · The disciples aren't asking Jesus to

19:11 · send them away. They're telling him to.

19:16 · And then Jesus turns it right on them.

19:18 · It's fascinating. He just turns it on

19:21 · them and says, "You give them something

19:24 · to eat." And the word give is a command

19:28 · in Greek. The disciples try to command

19:30 · Jesus. Jesus turns and commands the

19:32 · disciples. No, no, no, you give them

19:36 · something to eat.

19:40 · You feed them.

19:44 · Now remember, Jesus already got Philip's

19:46 · mind rolling.

19:48 · The rest of the disciples, everyone is

19:50 · considering every option but Jesus.

19:54 · Think about that.

19:56 · Every option but Jesus.

19:59 · And Jesus confronts them head-on about

20:02 · it.

20:04 · You do it.

20:07 · And the disciples know they're helpless

20:09 · on their own, right? They can't [music]

20:10 · do it. And that's the point. They can't.

20:14 · You think Jesus doesn't know that? Of

20:15 · course he does.

20:16 · They can't. The disciples know they

20:18 · don't have the provisions and they can't

20:22 · go buy them.

20:24 · So the underlying point is here you here

20:26 · is the disciples, you don't have it and

20:28 · you can't buy it.

20:31 · They're completely helpless, unable to

20:34 · do anything, and they have no control

20:36 · over the situation. So let me ask you

20:38 · this, what do you have left? If you put

20:40 · yourself in the sandals of the

20:41 · disciples, what do you have left?

20:44 · I'll tell you what you have left.

20:47 · Surrender

20:48 · to Christ's plan.

20:51 · That's what you have. You have obedience

20:54 · to what Jesus told you to do.

20:58 · Surrender in spite of your helplessness.

21:02 · Jesus is telling me to feed them. I

21:04 · can't, but he keeps telling me to.

21:07 · I'm going to need his help. Exactly.

21:10 · Right? Exactly.

21:14 · And this leads me to

21:16 · point number three that I want to camp

21:17 · on, the provision of bread from the

21:20 · bread of life.

21:23 · The provision of bread from the bread of

21:26 · life. Look at verse 19.

21:30 · Who does Jesus give the bread to?

21:35 · The disciples.

21:37 · He's God. He's done many miracles.

21:41 · He could have just said,

21:43 · "Ta-da!" And bread and fish could be at

21:46 · the lap of everyone, right? He had them

21:48 · sit down on the grass in groups of 50

21:50 · and 100, the other gospels tell us.

21:52 · Jesus could have just made bread appear

21:54 · at the lap of everyone and said, "Ta-da!

21:56 · Eat. Let's all just have fun."

21:58 · But he doesn't do it that way. He's He's

22:01 · making bread out of nothing, and he's

22:03 · passing it to the disciples, "You give

22:06 · them something to eat."

22:08 · What was impossible a few minutes ago,

22:11 · they're doing

22:13 · now.

22:15 · Passing out bread. I love that Jesus

22:18 · includes them in the miracle.

22:23 · And bread and fish flow to thousands

22:27 · of people, right? The disciples Jesus is

22:30 · like,

22:32 · "You feed them." "We can't."

22:34 · "No, no, no, no, seriously,

22:35 · you feed them." As he just starts

22:37 · passing it out, right? It's awesome.

22:43 · They didn't know what Jesus was going to

22:45 · do.

22:46 · But Jesus challenged them to obedience

22:49 · in the face of their inability.

22:52 · See that?

22:56 · We've got a lot to learn, right? From

22:57 · the disciples' perspective, will we obey

23:00 · and trust Jesus even if we don't

23:03 · understand or know what he's going to

23:06 · do?

23:09 · Will we obey

23:11 · the New Testament commands Christ gives

23:13 · to us to be his witnesses and to make

23:16 · disciples of all nations, to spread the

23:18 · gospel, even if we don't see the end

23:20 · result? You don't need to. What if I

23:24 · share the gospel with my friend or

23:26 · family or co-worker and they reject it?

23:28 · You're called to obedience, not to know

23:32 · the outcome.

23:33 · Paul taught the same thing to the

23:35 · Corinthians. I planted and Apollos

23:38 · watered. Neither of them gave the growth

23:40 · to anything. God gives the growth.

23:43 · You may plant a hundred seeds and water

23:45 · a hundred seeds and only one of them

23:47 · grows. Congratulations, you didn't make

23:49 · it happen, God did. But you were

23:51 · obedient in sharing the gospel with

23:54 · those hundred people or pointing those

23:55 · hundred people to Christ each time that

23:57 · you did. That's obedience.

24:00 · You can't save anyone any more than the

24:02 · disciples can make bread.

24:05 · But you are called to share the gospel

24:08 · with them

24:09 · out of obedience to his command.

24:17 · Imagine what this was like for a second.

24:20 · Right? I'm guessing it would take hours

24:21 · to pass out bread and fish to this many

24:23 · people, right? You're not passing out

24:25 · bread and fish to 15,000 people in like

24:27 · 10 minutes.

24:29 · It's going to take a while.

24:30 · And every minute, every second, every

24:33 · piece of bread or every fish given would

24:36 · be a reminder to the disciples of the

24:39 · fact that what they couldn't possibly

24:42 · do, Jesus is doing.

24:44 · And so, he gives so much that they have

24:47 · 12 baskets left over, more than what

24:51 · they started with.

24:54 · And I I really I just tried to put

24:57 · myself in in Philip's shoes particularly

25:00 · this week. I was thinking like, what

25:01 · would it been like to be Philip?

25:04 · Philip is the first one that Jesus turns

25:06 · to, you know, and he's like, "Hey

25:08 · Philip, how are we going to feed all

25:10 · these people?" I don't know, we don't

25:12 · have enough money to. What do you want

25:13 · us to do, Lord? And then

25:16 · passing out bread and fish for an hour

25:18 · or two, maybe, who knows, and then you

25:21 · come back

25:22 · and there's a basket for you.

25:25 · Just a few hours ago

25:27 · Jesus was challenging you on how you're

25:29 · going to feed everyone.

25:31 · And a few hours later, you're walking

25:33 · away with a basket full of bread

25:34 · yourself.

25:37 · What a blessing.

25:40 · I want you to see something very

25:41 · important.

25:43 · Look at verse 19 again.

25:45 · And if you're an underliner or a

25:47 · highlighter, I would encourage you, you

25:49 · can if you want to highlight the words

25:50 · took, blessed, broke, and gave.

25:55 · Took, blessed, broke, and gave.

25:59 · Other translations might say taking and

26:01 · blessing, same difference.

26:03 · Here's what the writers are getting at.

26:05 · He took bread, blessed it, broke it, and

26:07 · gave it.

26:09 · Does that sound familiar to you?

26:13 · The formula is exactly the same in Mark

26:16 · and Luke and almost exactly the same in

26:18 · John. John says he distributed it, same

26:21 · difference.

26:24 · Here's what's even

26:25 · more interesting.

26:27 · This is the exact same wording

26:30 · Jesus used when he institutes the Lord's

26:33 · Supper in the upper room with the

26:35 · disciples.

26:38 · When he was in the upper room with his

26:39 · disciples before he was arrested, Jesus

26:41 · takes the Passover and makes it about

26:45 · him.

26:46 · Matthew 26:26

26:49 · says, "Now, as they were eating, Jesus

26:52 · what? Took bread and after blessing it,

26:55 · broke it and gave it to the disciples

26:57 · and said, "Take, eat, this is my body."

27:01 · Mark 14:22.

27:03 · And as they were eating, he took bread.

27:06 · And after blessing it, which blessing

27:09 · and giving thanks to God is the same in

27:11 · scripture, he broke it and gave it to

27:13 · them and said, "Take, this is my body."

27:16 · Luke 22:19.

27:18 · And he took bread.

27:20 · What do you think he did with it? He

27:21 · gave thanks, he blessed it, he broke it

27:23 · and he gave it to them saying, "This is

27:24 · my body."

27:25 · Which is given for you, do this in

27:28 · remembrance of me. What does Paul write

27:30 · in 1 Corinthians?

27:32 · For I received from the Lord what I also

27:35 · delivered to you that the Lord Jesus on

27:37 · the night he was betrayed took bread.

27:39 · When he'd given thanks, he broke it and

27:41 · said, "This is my body which is what?

27:43 · For or given to you. Do this in

27:45 · remembrance of me."

27:48 · The this whole miracle

27:51 · where Jesus is providing physical

27:54 · sustenance to a crowd of thousands of

27:57 · people is a preview of his ultimate

28:00 · provision spiritually through his death

28:04 · and resurrection on the cross. His

28:06 · broken body, his blood shed for us, we

28:08 · have eternal life in Christ. And you

28:11 · say, "DJ, that sounds like a stretch."

28:15 · Tell that to Jesus.

28:17 · Because in John chapter 6, that's

28:19 · exactly where Jesus goes with this.

28:23 · In John chapter 6, which is the chapter

28:25 · on this feeding of the 5,000, [music]

28:28 · the next day.

28:30 · This isn't like 6 months later. The next

28:33 · day, the same crowds who ate and had

28:36 · their fill before, the same crowds are

28:39 · looking for Jesus and they find him.

28:43 · And Jesus looks at them and says, quote,

28:47 · "You are looking for me not because you

28:51 · saw the signs, but because you ate the

28:54 · loaves and were filled."

28:56 · In other words, you're looking for me

29:00 · not because you see the signs I'm doing

29:03 · that point to the fact that I'm the

29:05 · Messiah, the Christ, but because you got

29:07 · free bread yesterday.

29:11 · You're coming to me not because you love

29:14 · me, believe in me, and want me. You're

29:18 · coming to me for what you can get from

29:20 · me.

29:22 · Like Jesus is some kind of cosmic

29:24 · vending machine.

29:27 · I show up and he gives me free stuff,

29:29 · right?

29:31 · Jesus is confronting people who use him

29:35 · as a means to an end. That's what he's

29:38 · doing. Yes, he blessed them yesterday,

29:41 · but he knows they're following him for

29:43 · all the wrong reasons.

29:46 · They want Jesus not for who he is, but

29:49 · what they think they can get from him.

29:56 · Like you come and you show up and you

29:58 · listen to him teach you, might say a

30:00 · prayer, and then he's supposed to give

30:01 · you what you want.

30:03 · And Jesus rejects that kind of thinking.

30:09 · So then the people ask, this is all John

30:11 · 6, you can read it yourself. The people

30:13 · are like, okay, okay, okay, okay. What

30:15 · can we do then to perform the works of

30:17 · God?

30:18 · In other words,

30:19 · how can we do what you're doing?

30:22 · Um

30:23 · okay, um you know,

30:25 · what c- c- c- c- like how do I get God

30:29 · to grant me the ability to make bread um

30:32 · the way that you're doing it, you know,

30:34 · make bread and fish out of nothing? And

30:35 · Jesus says, "This is the work of God

30:38 · that you believe on him on the in the

30:41 · one who he has sent, believing me. The

30:44 · work of God is you believing in me, but

30:47 · they don't. And then they say, "Okay,

30:50 · well, what sign will you do that we may

30:53 · believe in you?" Hello!

30:56 · Did you forget yesterday?

31:02 · Cuz you see what they say is, "Well, you

31:03 · know, Jesus, um

31:05 · Moses gave our ancestors manna in the

31:09 · desert.

31:10 · What can you do?"

31:15 · I just gave you

31:17 · thousands of you bread and fish in a

31:18 · desert place. And so, what Jesus does is

31:21 · he confronts this head-on.

31:23 · Jesus hits them with the hard truth. He

31:27 · says, "Moses didn't give your ancestors

31:30 · bread from heaven, I did.

31:34 · I did.

31:36 · I am the bread of life. If you come to

31:38 · me, you won't hunger or thirst again."

31:42 · Because here's the bottom line. They ate

31:45 · bread made from God yesterday, probably

31:47 · the best bread ever, right? If God made

31:49 · it, it's got to be good bread. They ate

31:52 · the best bread and fish ever and are

31:54 · hungry again the next day.

31:56 · Right?

31:58 · Physical sustenance, but they're hungry

32:00 · again.

32:03 · And Jesus is pointing them to himself

32:07 · and saying that you must eat of his

32:10 · flesh and drink his blood to have

32:12 · eternal life.

32:14 · Now, what he's talking about is

32:16 · believing in him and communing with him.

32:20 · They would know it doesn't it's not

32:22 · literal because the Old Testament

32:23 · forbade drinking blood. He They're not

32:26 · What Jesus is saying is that he is the

32:28 · source

32:30 · of spiritual sustenance that is far more

32:34 · needed than any physical sustenance.

32:38 · And when Jesus says he's the bread of

32:43 · life,

32:44 · everyone scatters.

32:47 · Right?

32:51 · Everyone starts leaving him

32:53 · when he starts saying hard things.

32:58 · He had thousands of followers yesterday.

33:01 · Jesus should have started First Baptist

33:03 · Church of Capernaum. He'd start with

33:05 · like 15,000 members.

33:08 · It'll be great.

33:11 · But he knows. Understand this that at no

33:14 · point was Jesus ever impressed with how

33:16 · many followers he had because he knew

33:19 · that when he dropped hard truths, many

33:21 · of them would walk away and they did.

33:25 · Free food?

33:26 · All kinds of people show up for that,

33:28 · right?

33:30 · Hard biblical truth?

33:32 · People leave.

33:36 · And that often happens in church, right?

33:41 · When all those people turn away, Jesus

33:43 · turns to the disciples and ask if

33:44 · they're leaving, too.

33:46 · And Peter, who puts his foot in his

33:48 · mouth often, didn't this time.

33:50 · Jesus says, or I'm sorry, Peter steps up

33:53 · and says those beautiful words, "Lord,

33:55 · to whom will we go? You have the words

33:58 · of eternal life."

34:01 · And then he says, "We have come to

34:04 · believe and know that you are the holy

34:08 · one of God."

34:09 · Remember what Jesus said earlier? "This

34:11 · is the work of God. Believe in me." And

34:14 · here's Peter, "We've come to believe and

34:17 · know you're the holy one of God, Jesus.

34:19 · Where else are we going to go? All these

34:21 · thousands of people just left you

34:23 · because you said you're the bread of

34:24 · life come down from heaven. We're

34:25 · sticking with you."

34:27 · And Jesus knew Judas didn't believe, but

34:30 · that's another sermon, right?

34:35 · This miracle is both a blessing and

34:36 · judgement. A blessing, a confirmation

34:39 · for the believer in Jesus.

34:42 · For those who believe in him.

34:45 · But this miracle is also judgement on

34:47 · those who reject Jesus Christ.

34:54 · This miracle previews Christ's spiritual

34:56 · provision on the cross where his body is

34:59 · broken and his blood is shed for us

35:02 · providing spiritual sustenance for all

35:06 · eternity.

35:10 · The question is this.

35:12 · If you're listening to my voice, you got

35:14 · to answer this right yourself.

35:16 · Do you just want bread from the bread of

35:19 · life?

35:21 · Or do you want the bread of life?

35:24 · There's a difference.

35:26 · Do you want Jesus for who he is? Do you

35:32 · love Christ because of who he is?

35:37 · Not cuz you want him to get rid of your

35:39 · headache.

35:40 · He might. We have blessings from God,

35:43 · right?

35:44 · We have blessings. We have roof over our

35:46 · heads and food in the pantry or drinks

35:48 · in your fridge and all that stuff.

35:48 · Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

35:52 · Yes.

35:54 · But come to Christ because you love him,

35:57 · not so that you can press a button and

35:59 · try to get a blessing out like he's a

36:01 · vending machine.

36:03 · Jesus is not a means to an end in your

36:06 · hand, a tool in your hand to use however

36:08 · you want. No, he's God and you come to

36:11 · him because of who he is.

36:15 · That's what this miracle's all about.

36:19 · And I want to invite the worship team up

36:21 · as we move on to our baptisms which is a

36:25 · glorious glorious, um, time of of

36:29 · showing this truth of those who are

36:30 · coming to Christ for who he is. So, I

36:33 · want to invite, uh, Beth

36:35 · McDonald, Scott Cunningham, Atreyu

36:37 · Reinhardt, and Araia

36:39 · uh, Johnson down here with me. If you

36:41 · guys just want to come up to the front

36:43 · here.

36:46 · Perfect.

36:48 · This is Beth. Everyone say, "Hi, Beth."

36:50 · Hi, Beth.

36:51 · Uh, Beth, let's see. Now, you first came

36:53 · to church what? A couple months ago now.

36:56 · She came in for the first time. She sat

36:58 · in the back. And I forget what sermon it

37:00 · was, but she come up to me afterwards.

37:03 · And she was just like, um, now's the

37:05 · time.

37:06 · What do I do? How do I do this? I want

37:09 · to receive Christ. I want to turn my

37:10 · life over to him. I don't know how.

37:13 · And we were able to pray right back

37:15 · there, right in the I said yes corner,

37:17 · uh, by the lamp over there, and pray to

37:20 · receive Christ, and

37:21 · and, uh, it's been wonderful since, and

37:23 · you've been meeting with Donna, and

37:25 · doing just some discipleship, growing in

37:27 · your walk with the Lord. What do you say

37:28 · we baptize you, Beth?

37:30 · All right. If you want to take your

37:31 · sandals off, you can, and just get

37:34 · All right.

37:40 · All right, Beth, just a couple questions

37:42 · for you. Is Jesus Christ your personal

37:44 · Lord and Savior? Yes. Do you believe

37:46 · that he died on the cross for your sins

37:48 · personally, and that he rose again on

37:50 · the third day, showing his power over

37:53 · sin and death, and that he has authority

37:55 · over your life? Yes.

37:57 · Well, upon your profession of faith, it

37:59 · is my honor to baptize you, my sister,

38:01 · in the name of the Father, and of the

38:03 · Son, and of the Holy Spirit. For we are

38:05 · buried with him by baptism into death,

38:08 · and raised to walk in newness of life.

38:11 · >> [applause]

38:15 · >> Be careful.

38:17 · >> [applause]

38:20 · >> All right. Oh, I got you.

38:25 · All right. We'll have Araya come. We'll

38:27 · do ladies first here, okay? So, Araya,

38:29 · everyone say hi, Araya. Hi, Araya.

38:32 · This is Araya and her fiance, Atreyu.

38:37 · They are getting married here in a

38:38 · couple months. We're doing some

38:39 · premarital counseling. Both of them I

38:42 · met with them they came to Christ a year

38:44 · and a half ago

38:46 · in Ohio, right? In Ohio. And we're never

38:49 · baptized. And so, they wanted to meet

38:51 · with me to discuss baptism. So, we we

38:53 · talked together about the gospel and

38:56 · about what baptism is, what it's not,

38:58 · and they said, "Yes, that is us. We

39:00 · believe in Christ and we want to do

39:02 · things God's way."

39:03 · So, we say yes and amen to that. Araya,

39:05 · do you believe is Jesus Christ your

39:07 · personal Lord and Savior?

39:08 · >> Yes, I do.

39:09 · Do you believe that he died on the cross

39:10 · for your sins personally and that he

39:12 · rose again on the third day showing his

39:14 · power over sin and death and that he has

39:16 · authority over your life?

39:18 · >> Yes. Well, upon your profession of

39:19 · faith, it's my honor to baptize you, my

39:21 · sister, in the name of the Father and of

39:23 · the Son and of the Holy Spirit. For we

39:26 · are buried with him

39:28 · by baptism under death and raised to

39:30 · walk in newness of life.

39:33 · >> [applause]

39:41 · >> Amen. And then, Atreyu, want to hop on

39:44 · in. The water's freezing cold, by the

39:46 · way. I'm just kidding. It's warm. It's

39:48 · warm. He's like he's like

39:50 · Oh, dang, bro. I'm out of here.

39:52 · All right.

39:55 · All right. Atreyu, same couple

39:58 · questions, brother. Is Jesus Christ your

39:59 · personal Lord and Savior?

40:01 · >> Yes. Do you believe that he died on the

40:02 · cross for your sins personally and that

40:05 · he rose again on the third day showing

40:06 · his power over sin and death and that he

40:08 · has authority over your life?

40:10 · >> Yes.

40:10 · Well, it's my privilege to baptize you,

40:13 · my brother, in the name of the Father

40:14 · and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

40:16 · For we are buried with him by baptism

40:18 · into death

40:20 · and raised to walk in newness of life.

40:23 · >> [applause]

40:33 · >> Amen.

40:34 · And this is Scott. Everyone say, "Hi,

40:37 · Scott."

40:38 · What's up, Scott? Um Scott is one that

40:41 · did want to to say a few words. Did you

40:43 · want to Um here you can I can do here.

40:46 · I just had a short thing to read. Uh

40:49 · Jesus Christ has saved me by his grace,

40:53 · has forgiven my sins, and called me to

40:55 · follow him.

40:58 · Today I am being baptized because I

41:01 · trust him with my

41:03 · I trust him as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

41:07 · All right, you want to go ahead?

41:08 · >> [applause]

41:13 · >> Scott and I had a a few meetings

41:15 · together which were absolutely

41:17 · wonderful. And uh Scott did not make the

41:20 · decision to follow Christ lightly. Uh he

41:23 · did a ton of his own research and his

41:25 · own um looking into the um

41:29 · trustworthiness of the gospels and of

41:31 · the resurrection. And uh I look forward

41:34 · to seeing what God does in your life,

41:35 · Scott. Is Jesus Christ your personal

41:36 · Lord and Savior? Yes, he is. Do you

41:39 · believe that he died on the cross for

41:40 · your sins personally and that he rose

41:42 · again on the third day to show his power

41:44 · over sin and death and that he has

41:46 · authority over your life? Yes, I do.

41:48 · Well, upon your profession of faith, it

41:50 · is my honor to baptize you, my brother,

41:52 · in the name of the Father and of the Son

41:54 · and of the Holy Spirit. For we're buried

41:56 · with him by baptism into death

41:58 · and raised to walk in newness of life.

42:01 · >> [applause]

42:10 · >> I got you. I got you.

42:12 · Uh you're good. There's an extra one

42:14 · here. All right, let's stand and sing

42:16 · our last song together.