John 6:1-7 (The Message)
6 1-4 After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee (some call it Tiberias). A huge crowd followed him, attracted by the miracles they had seen him do among the sick. When he got to the other side, he climbed a hill and sat down, surrounded by his disciples. It was nearly time for the Feast of Passover, kept annually by the Jews.
5-6 When Jesus looked out and saw that a large crowd had arrived, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread to feed these people?” He said this to stretch Philip’s faith. He already knew what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered, “Two hundred silver pieces wouldn’t be enough to buy bread for each person to get a piece.”
(commentary by Marion Adams from www.easyenglishinfo/bible-commentary)
Verses 1-7 Often Jesus went away from the crowds to be alone. He needed time to pray to his *Father. And sometimes, he went away from the crowds with his *disciples. He needed time to teach them important things. On this occasion, it seemed that he wanted to get away from the *Jewish leaders. They had accused him and he had answered them strongly. But it was not yet the time for him to die. So he and his *disciples went back across Lake *Galilee to the other side.
But the crowd saw where he was going. So the people followed him on the land. They went round the north shore of the lake.
It was nearly the *Passover. So, many *Jews were travelling to *Jerusalem. Probably, many of them had joined the crowd who were following Jesus. So, when they found him on the mountain, the original crowd had increased very much in size. John recorded that there were 5000 men there. But probably there were really many more people, because he did not include the women and children in this number.
The crowd had been travelling for a long time. Jesus knew that they were tired and hungry. He would need to do a *miracle in order to feed so many people. He knew that too. But he wanted to see if Philip knew this. So he asked him this question on purpose (verse 5). Philip had lived in Bethsaida, which was the nearest town. So Philip would know where to buy food.
Immediately, Philip tried to think of a practical solution to the problem. He estimated the cost. But he realised that they did not have enough money to buy food for everyone! One silver coin was the amount that a workman could earn in a day. So 200 coins was about 8 month’s wages for one man. This was a lot of money.
Jesus wanted to make Philip’s *faith stronger. Philip had tried to think of a practical solution to the problem. But he had not included God in his solution. Jesus’ disciples did not have the resources to feed so many people. But the lack of resources does not stop what God can do!
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