Commentary on the Gospel of John

                                   Chapter Six

                                                                                                                                      Verses 1-14

When Jesus multiplied the five loaves and two fishes and fed the multitude, He fed believers and unbelievers alike. Jesus actually fed far more than five thousand because only the men were counted. Matthew wrote that Jesus fed the whole multitude, not just the men. Matthew 14:13-21.

Jesus prayed over the food, and He had His disciples distribute the food to the multitude. His disciples, except for Judas Iscariot, were believers. Although Jesus' disciples had not come to full faith that He was their Messiah and Savior, Jesus nevertheless considered them to already be believers because He knew that they all, except for Judas Iscariot, would eventually come to full faith that He was the Son of God and their Savior.

Verse four states that the feast of the Passover was near to this date. Since the Passover celebrated the Israelites' liberation from slavery, then Jesus' feeding of the multitude should represent the liberation of the entire human race from slavery to sin and evil and that is why God mentioned the Passover. In addition, the future Church would preach God's Word to the whole world. This fact should mean that eventually the whole human race will partake of the spiritual food from God to either become saved by grace or with a lesser form of salvation. John 5:24; Revelation 5:11-14.

After the multitude had eaten, Jesus had His disciples take up twelve baskets of leftovers. Jesus told His disciples that He wanted none of the food to be lost. By His instructions, Jesus symbolically demonstrated that God can never lose anything He has ever created. Ecclesiastes 3:14; Psalm 111:7-8.

The multitude, being comprised of believers and unbelievers alike, symbolically represented the entire human race. Jesus demonstrated that God alone could supply the food necessary to keep humans physically alive. But in His next sermon to some of these same people, Jesus preached that physical food could also represent spiritual food. But even after Jesus had miraculously fed them, the unbelievers still believed that Jesus was only a prophet.

                                                                                                                                   Verses 15-21

Jesus performed His next miracle for His disciples alone, even for the unbeliever Judas Iscariot. Jesus' disciples represented His future Church. When Jesus walked on the water to save His disciples who were about to be destroyed by a storm, He demonstrated that He will always rescue His Church whenever it gets into trouble, even the unbelievers who adhere to His Church. Christ will allow His Church to suffer and be persecuted in order to test its faith, but He will never allow His Church to be destroyed. Christ will bring His Church through every storm, and He will cause His Church to arrive safely to its destination which is Heaven. But whenever Christ protects His Church, He will often also protect the unbelievers who adhere to His Church, but only in their earthly lives.