Quick Note – John 6:5-9 – “What Are They for so Many?”

John 6:5-9 – “5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”

In the early 1900s, a woman by the name of Gladys Aylward felt called by God to become a missionary to China.  Although she did her best to apply to work with the China Inland Mission, she was rejected and seen as unfit for missionary service due to her test scores, age, and maybe even stature (She was a short woman physically.).  Although she was rejected, she was determined to go and saved up money every month from her job to buy a train ticket to China.  Eventually, she arrived in China and began her work as a missionary.  With little money and little support, she began by telling Bible stories at an Inn being run by a fellow missionary.  Over the years, she also became a “foot inspector” for the Chinese government, making sure that the practice of foot binding was no longer continued.  During and after this time, she also continued to share the Gospel and began to care for orphans.  After twenty years of service, when she returned home, she was well-beloved by both the Chinese people she served as well as the church back home.¹  This woman has gained so much respect that her life was even featured in the 1958 movie The Inn of the Sixth Happiness which starred Ingrid Bergman.  Gladys Aylward is an inspiring example of a person that was seen by the world as nothing but was used by God to do something incredible.  Who knows how many people have been affected by the work that she did?  The person everyone thought was useless was used by God to bring His name countless glory.

Our passage today is an excerpt from John 6 that describes the miraculous “Feeding of the Five Thousand.”  To summarize, a huge crowd of people that numbered 5000 men not including women and children came out to a secluded place to meet Jesus.  After spending the day with Him listening to His teachings and watching Him perform miraculous healings, these people must have been exhausted and hungry.  Knowing this, Jesus asked His disciples to feed the people.  All His disciples could not believe what they had just heard come out of Jesus’ mouth.  How could they find enough bread to feed this many people?  According to Philip, even if they had two hundred denarii (two hundred days’ wages) worth of bread that wouldn’t be enough to feed all the people.  It was at this time that Andrew, another disciple, would tell Jesus that all they had was five barley loaves and two fish and “…What are they for so many?”  All the disciples were seeing was the impossible.  They saw what they had and felt inadequate.  They saw the small insignificant meal and could not imagine how it could be of any use.  Jesus then took the bread and the fish, prayed to God, and began to share the food.  In the end, the supply fed 5000 men not counting the women and children.  Jesus took what every one of His disciples thought was worthless and used it to bring His name great glory.

When we as disciples of Jesus Christ feel inadequate for God’s task for our lives at hand, when we feel like we are useless or pathetic and incapable of being used by Him, when we feel like we are too stained of sinners to bring God glory, we need to remember that God takes the foolish things of this world to shame the wise, the weak of this world to shame the strong (1 Corinthians 1:27).  We need to remember that God can take any one of us no matter how small, no matter how stained with past sins, no matter how unsmart, to bring Him glory.  God took 300 men with Gideon to conquer the Midianites.  God took David, the youngest of his family, to be one of the greatest kings of Israel.  God took Rahab, who used to be a prostitute, to be a descendant in the line of Jesus.  God took the things that the world saw as useless, as insignificant, as worthless and brought His name praise through them.  Let us never forget that God takes those who are humble and willing to be used by Him for His work; not just those things that the world has labeled worthy of success.  God took and used the small woman Gladys Aylward to care for many in China and to inspire missionaries today, and God can use you if you would just be willing to submit your life to Him.  I want to close today with a quote by Gladys Aylward:  “I wasn’t God’s first choice for what I’ve done for China. There was somebody else. I don’t know who it was — God’s first choice. It must have been a man — a wonderful man, a well-educated man. I don’t know what happened. Perhaps he died. Perhaps he wasn’t willing. And God looked down and saw Gladys Aylward.”¹

¹ “History of Mission:  Gladys Aylward.”  The Traveling Team. 2015. http://www.thetravelingteam.org/articles/gladys-aylward.