"Does God Care?' (John 6:1-15)

Welcome to the Reformed University Fellowship at UNCW Podcast! Each week, we will post the messages from our RUF Large Group meetings at UNCW. This year, we're examining the Gospel of John to learn about the words and work of Jesus. It's often said, "people don't care what you know until they know you care." Compassion, empathy and emotional intelligence are some of the top qualities people look for in a boss or leader. Before we're going to follow someone, we want to know that they are trustworthy, that they won't use their authority and influence for selfish ends. In this passage, John wants to show us that Jesus is utterly trustworthy and worthy of our following him. Because of all Jesus knows and all he can do, but also because of his bottomless compassion for needy people. Then, after encouraging us with a firsthand account of God's incredible generosity, John also wants to warn us against trying to shoehorn Jesus into our own vision of the good life. In other words, we need to follow Jesus, not try to make him follow us. QUOTES: “John's initial lesson in our text is surely this: In even realistically impossible situations, please give Jesus a little something, a little faith at least, a little credit for being able to do a great deal with the very little we have amidst "all these people." The Gospel Equation is 5 + 2 + X = 5000+. Jesus could have done (and, in fact, he will do) the following miracle with little or no faith from his disciples at all … Jesus is clearly saying to all listening disciples, as Andrew at least seems to sense, "Try me; give me whatever you have, even if it doesn't seem like very much or like enough to you." And though Andrew's little faith dies almost as soon as it is born ("Oh, but what are these things..?"), nevertheless, Jesus takes this even-less-than-mustard-seed-size faith and goes to work with it.” - F. Dale Bruner “Jesus is not discouraged, as we are, by what we have to offer. Indeed, if we will put it into his hands he will still 'give thanks' for it, a wonder in itself. Our instinct is to put ourselves down and demean what we have to give, particularly when measuring it against raw human need. But Christ is thankful for us! And if we will believe sufficiently in his gifting to trust him with our whole selves, he will take us, break us as need be (Mk. 6:41), and offer us to the Father as in his hands the miracle is repeated, the resource multiplied, and a multitude fed.” - Bruce Milne “The accounts of the ‘miracles’ in first-century Palestine are either lies, or legends, or history. And if all, or the most important, of them are lies or legends then the claim which Christianity has been making for the last two thousand years is simply false.” – C.S. Lewis, Miracles