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Miracles: The Problem, Part 1
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Jesus allows us to see the limits of our strength so that we may learn to depend on His strength. Jesus exposes our insufficiency and His sufficiency.
John 6:1-7 - 1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 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.”
What happens when everything you have is still not enough? Over the last six years, my daughters have built a collection of dolls— and yet, the longing for more never stops. Recently, one of them had a full meltdown over an American Girl doll in a cheerleading outfit. I took that as an opportunity to share what my life was like growing up in Pakistan, and how my sisters didn’t have even a single doll, let alone a brand-name doll. I did that because I don’t want my kids to develop a consumerist mindset.
The Problem
This isn’t just a childhood phase. It reveals something about the human heart. We tell ourselves that the next purchase, the next achievement, or the next milestone will finally bring contentment. But by and large, we remain dissatisfied because we are trying to feed our eternal soul with things made of plastic and cloth. People need to know that a finite world can never satisfy an infinite appetite. Unless we find what satisfies our souls, we will keep looking for more because we keep looking in the wrong places. This is not a modern problem.
Two thousand years ago, John 6 reveals that Jesus encountered a crowd with a similar problem. John 6 begins with the miracle of Jesus feeding five thousand men with five barley loaves and two fish. But as the story unfolds, we discover the miracle was a sign pointing to an eternal need that only Jesus can meet. Therefore, in John 6:35 Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life.” Over the next few weeks, we will explore what that really means as we learn how miracles reveal a great problem, God’s purpose, and gracious provision. Today, however, we begin with the problem in John 6:1-21.
The Big Idea
Our greatest problem is not our unmet needs, but our failure to recognize the One who can truly satisfy them— Jesus. That is true for us individually and as a church. The question is not simply whether Jesus can solve our day-to-day problems, but whether our troubles will cause us to see who Jesus truly is.
In John 6:1–21, Jesus exposes three sub-problems— faith, food, and focus— to prove that our insufficiency is never greater than His sufficiency.
The Problem of Faith (John 6:1-7)
John 6:1-2 reads, “1 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.” Still today, many follow Jesus because they want healing, and in His mercy, for His glory, Jesus heals them.
John 6:3-4 continues, “3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.” For those who are new to the Christian faith, Passover was a time when Israel remembered God’s deliverance from Egypt.
Then, in John 6:5-7, the core problem of faith unfolds in three distinct movements faith’s foundation, examination, and limitation.
First, Faith’s Foundation
John 6:5 tells us, “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?””
Notice that Jesus sees the need before anyone asks. He recognizes their physical hunger and raises the question no one else was thinking about. In Matthew 6:8, Jesus said, “for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.” We often imagine God cares only for our spiritual lives— our Sunday worship— not our Monday worries; our theology, not our grocery bills. But the gospel proclaims a personal God who cares for the whole person. He is all knowing, all caring powerful God.
Gospel Truth
The God who anchors your eternal destiny also cares for your daily needs. Is that the foundation of your faith?
Second, Faith’s Examination
John 6:6 says, “He [Jesus] said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.” Jesus isn’t asking Philip for information. He isn’t searching for a solution; He already knows what He will do.
It is like a math teacher writing a difficult problem on the board. The teacher knows the answer, but the purpose of the exercise is not to inform the teacher. It is to reveal what the student understands and where the student still needs to learn. The same is happening here. Jesus isn’t trying to learn what Philip knows— He is helping Philip discover what he lacks. He is exposing Philip’s self-reliance. It is not a test to prove his faith to Jesus, but to prove to himself what he is lacking in faith. He does the same thing to us to test the foundation of our faith.
Gospel Truth
Sometimes God allows us to face the impossible so we stop trusting our own strength.
Third, Faith’s Limitation
We continue reading in John 1:7, “Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”” Notice, Philip begins calculating. He sees the size of the crowd. He estimates the cost. He considers the available resources, and his conclusion is clear: there is no way they can feed everyone.
Is his assessment irrational? No. In ordinary human terms, he is right. Feeding thousands of people would require a tremendous amount of food, money, manpower, and organizational skill. Philip wasn't wrong about the cost, but his math had a fatal flaw: He counted the crowd, he counted the coins, but he forgot to consider Christ. Standing right next to the Bread of Life, he could see only what they lacked.
Gospel Truth
When we leave Christ out of our calculations, we make our problems look bigger than our God. So, whatever you are dealing with, no matter how big the task is, you should ask, “Is my God bigger than that? If He is not, then He cannot be the God of the Bible.
Jesus tests Philip, not because He needs to discover what Philip believes, but because Philip needs to discover what he, himself, believes. The test brings Philip face-to-face with the limitations of his own resources and understanding.
Sometimes Jesus allows us to see the limits of our strength so that we may learn to depend on His strength. Sometimes the Lord changes our circumstances. Sometimes He changes us in the middle of those circumstances, but sometimes He sustains us through a trial that does not quickly disappear. However, Jesus always uses our problems to expose our problem of faith: our insufficiency and His sufficiency.
Application
Where in your life are you calculating the cost without considering Christ? If the need seems greater than your resources, have you considered that your problem might be the problem of faith? Could it be that God is testing your faith?
Next time, in John 6:8-21, we will see that when we are consumed by what we lack, we overlook who stands before us. Because the test of faith is not whether you can explain how God will solve your problems. It is whether you will trust Him even when you don’t see the solution.
Closing Thought
As I close, I want to share how God is stretching and testing my faith by shifting the focus from personal trust to corporate trust as a church because what is true for us individually is equally true for us as a local church. Just as I don’t want my kids to develop a consumeristic mindset, I don’t want us to become consumeristic church either.
However, it has to be done on an individual level first because a church is simply an assembly of individual believers— if we operate by calculation rather than faith in our personal lives, we will inevitably operate by calculation rather than faith as a congregation. Therefore, problem of faith is not just a personal struggle; it is a corporate milestone.
Five years ago, coming out of the uncertainty of the pandemic, God called us to be a diverse, Christ-centered community caring for every generation in every situation.
Look at what God has done! He didn’t just sustain us— He grew us. He stabilized and strengthened our numbers, matured our small groups, and continue to add more by sending new families through those doors every week. Just two weeks ago, we extended the right hand of fellowship to eight new members!
As I look toward the next five years, I find us standing at a crossroads as a church family. We can play it safe, retreat into survival mode, and simply maintain our existing ministries. Or we can confront the problem of faith and step out in faith to be a more evangelistic, disciple-making church that plants churches among the unreached, the unchurched, and the unredeemed in our region and beyond.
However, that will take a shift in mindsets and intentional investment in local missions and kingdom expansion. Just like Philip on that hillside, if we sit down and calculate the next five years through human eyes, our natural instinct will kick in. We will look at the price tag and say, “We don't have the money.” We will look at the labor and say, “We don't have the manpower.” We will look at the logistics and say, “We lack the organizational capacity.” If all we do is count our resources, our conclusion will be identical to Philip’s— it is impossible.
But praise God, we stand on the shoulders of faithful believers who didn’t say it’s impossible when they planted this church some 125 years ago. I believe God did not preserve us for 125 years just so we could maintain what we have and not advance.
Action Step
ACT.
Acknowledge our limitations without surrendering to despair. Let’s stop making decisions— in our homes and in this church— based solely on what we can see in our hands.
Call on Christ for all our needs without losing the Kingdom focus. Let’s bring our personal struggles, our family needs, and our church’s 5-year vision before the Lord in bold prayer.
Trust Him in the midst of testing of faith without questing His methods. Let’s stop asking, “What can we afford?” and start asking “What is God calling us to trust Him for?”
In preparation for our stewardship season and year-end giving in November and December, over the next few weeks, I will share practical steps on how each of us can tangibly invest in the five-year vision for our church.
However, a good question you can start asking the Lord now is, “How are You calling me to give my time, resources, and faith to see unreached, unredeemed, and unchurched lives transformed?”
Appeal
Let us stop managing our scarcity in our personal lives and let us advance together in faith for the glory of Christ.
Advancing in faith as a local church requires every one of us to advance in faith individually. We cannot step into God’s future for our church if we are paralyzed by Philip’s math in our homes.
When we place our inadequate resources into the hands of an all-sufficient Savior, the impossible becomes the place where God displays His glory. In Matthew 6:33, when Jesus said, “… seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you,” He promises that when He is our priority, our needs become His priority.
Inductive Bible Study: Observation, Interpretation, Application
Observation: What Does the Text Say?
Why was a large crowd following Jesus (John 6:1–2)? What had they witnessed?
What did Jesus notice about the crowd (John 6:5-6)? What question did He ask Philip?
How did Philip respond to Jesus’ question (John 6:7)? What does his answer reveal about the challenge they faced?
Interpretation: What Does the Text Mean?
Why did Jesus test Philip even though He already knew what He was going to do (John 6: 6)? What does this teach us about how God uses challenging circumstances to develop our faith?
What does Jesus’ awareness of the crowd’s hunger reveal about His concern for our physical and spiritual needs?
Philip calculated the cost of feeding the crowd but failed to consider Christ’s sufficiency. What does this reveal about the difference between human reasoning and faith?
Application: How Should This Change Us?
When you face a difficult situation, do you tend to focus first on the size of the problem or on the sufficiency of Christ? Share a recent example.
Is there an area of your life where you have exhausted your own resources and struggle to trust God? What would it look like to depend on Him in that situation?
Where are you calculating the cost without considering Christ? Take a moment to identify one specific challenge and pray for the faith to trust Jesus, even when you cannot yet see the solution.
As our church considers its vision for the next five years, including investing in missions and church planting, how can we move beyond focusing on our limitations and grow in faith and dependence on Christ?
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