John 6:1-15.
After this Jesus departed over the sea at the city of Tiberias in Galilee. And great multitudes followed him, because they saw the signs which he did on them that were sick. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and sat there with his disciples. Now Easter, the feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes, and beholding many people coming to him, said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat? (This he said to tempt him, for he knew well what he was about to do). Philip answered him, Two hundred pennies worth of bread is not enough for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Peter's brother Simonis, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what is this among so many? And Jesus said, Make the people lie down. And there was much grass in the place. There encamped about five thousand men. And Jesus took the loaves, and gave thanks, and gave to the disciples; and the disciples to them that were encamped; and to them also of the fishes, as much as he would. And when they were full, he said unto his disciples, Gather the fragments that remain, that nothing perish. So they gathered, and filled twelve baskets with fragments, of the five barley loaves that remained for those who had been fed. When the people saw the sign that Jesus had done, they said: This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him, that they might make him king, he departed again into the mountain by himself.
1 This is one of the gospels, where our dear Lord Christ teaches his Christians how to trust him, that he will not let them die of hunger, but by his blessing will provide them with all they need. Therefore this is such a sermon, which the miserly, who can think of nothing but their own profit, are not worthy to hear, much less to believe. For they do hear how the Lord here, through his
But they do not want to let it come to that, that he may also do it with them. For this reason, they are stingy, and they act as if Christ could not or would not do such miracles with them, but had to take care of himself, otherwise they would be missed. Christ has nothing to do with such people.
2 But to them that keep his word he comforteth here, not in word, but in work, to make them eat; that we should not doubt, nor think,
how we feed ourselves, but place our heart and trust in Christ. We will not lack such faith. For Christ will be with us, and will bring to us the wealth, though there be not more than five loaves, yet will he bless so that five thousand men, without wife and child, shall be filled, and there shall remain far more than there was at the beginning. For before there was scarcely half a basket of bread; yet there remain twelve baskets of fragments.
The sum of the teaching of today's gospel is this: We are to be devout, and follow the word of God diligently, as these people do here, and believe that God will see to it that we get food and find sustenance. As can be seen in the history here, even though they are not all devout, because there are still some right, devout hearts among them, and they think more about how they can get to the Word than about eating, that the Lord cares for them, and provides for them without their thoughts, so that they also have food. As if he wanted to say: My dear man, learn and seek first the kingdom of God, hear my word, believe in me, and do diligently what you are commanded to do in your state; if you do this, let me take care of the rest. If thou art not rich, if thou hast not many thousand shekels, I will provide enough for thee. For you cannot eat gold, silver, money or stone; it must be bread that grows out of the ground. Whether thou canst not get bread out of the ground, whether thou hast house, or farm, or field, or garden, believe, and follow me, and thou shalt have bread enough.
This is what we learn and see every day. A poor little student who is diligent and pious, God can make a great doctor out of him. A poor servant girl who is godly and faithfully serves her ruler, God provides her with a pious husband and gives her house and farm. One sees many such examples every day of how God helps poor people above Himself. On the other hand, those who do not fear God, do not heed His word, and are otherwise unfaithful and industrious, must remain poor beggars and cannot make a living all their lives.
(5) If a bad boy does not want to learn diligently, or otherwise be wicked, wanton and unfaithful, he should know that our Lord God will let him go, run away to war, be stabbed or shot, or become an executioner or otherwise an unworthy person. So a maid who does not want to be godly, to be chaste, to be obedient, or otherwise serve unfaithfully and diligently, God will let her fall into sin and disgrace, so that nothing will come of her for the rest of her life. Such is right and vainly deserved reward. Why are they not pious, and believe in Christ, and follow his word? then Christ would be with them, and say: Let me take care of you, how I lift you up, bring you to honor, and make you rich etc.
(6) So that this gospel teaches us to believe in Christ, that he will preserve us and give us enough, if we are only devout, look at his word, and follow it with these people here, and dare and suffer something for it. For the work that the Lord is doing here is like a sermon, as if he wanted to speak: If thou art godly and pious, if my word is dear unto thee, I will feed thee, thou shalt not be forsaken, I will surely make something of thee. But if thou wilt not be godly, despise my word, or otherwise do wrong, and then thou remain a beggar; so be it unto thee, the fault is no man's but thine own. Or, though thou be made a beggar, thou shalt go to the devil, and thy goods shall not help thee. So that it shall be decided: He who despises the word of God. If anyone despises God's word and does not want to do what God says, God will not do what he would like and needs.
(7) This is what the Lord wants to teach us here, that with five loaves he will feed five thousand men who followed him in the wilderness, with their wives and children, of whom there may have been five thousand; they all have enough and there is still much left over. This does not mean to preach with words, as he does in Matt. 6:33, where he says, "Seek first the kingdom of God, and all the rest will be yours"; but with action. As if he wanted to say, "I am rich and can feed you well; only you see to it, be pious, keep to God's
Word and follow it: then let me see where you can find food. This is the doctrine of faith, as much as it is presented to us in today's miraculous work.
(8) But besides such teaching and comfort, there are two little things here which the evangelist has diligently tried to show: the first, that the Lord asks the disciples, and they show their discretion; the second, that he is called to take up the fragments, and does not want anything to go in vain.
(9) Now as for the disciples Philip and Andrew, it is easy to see what the cause is: although the Lord provokes us to faith through such wonderful blessings, yet such faith is not righteous in us. For we all lack, as the disciples lack here, to see only how much we need. But how much Christ can give with his blessing we do not want to see.
10 Philip estimates the number quite accurately. He says: One must have bread for two hundred pennies, if each one is to have only a little. Now a penny, which in Latin is called a denarius, is worth half a place, and eight such pennies or groschen make one florin of coin. If there had been five thousand men alone, and otherwise neither woman nor child, one would have been entitled to bread for three and a half heller. That is not too much for a hungry stomach, where one has nothing else. But there are also many women and children, as Matthew reports in chapter 14, who are not counted. So you see, Philip is not lacking in arithmetic, he finely estimates what he would have to have if he were to feed many people with bread in the desert. We can also make a fine calculation of what we need and must have for our household for a week, a quarter of a year, a whole year. But as soon as we see that the supply is not there, we become fainthearted and sad about it, and think that we must leave home, run away, or even die of hunger.
(11) It is the same with Andrew, who sees how the Lord would like to help the poor people, and therefore indicates that there is a small supply of five loaves and two fish.
But as soon as he thinks of such a large pile, of so many mouths and hungry bellies, such a supply is to him as if nothing were there. What is this, he says, among so much? He immediately abandons faith for the sake of the bill and thinks that the people cannot be helped.
(12) This is the common lack that we still feel today, not only for food, but also in all kinds of hardships and troubles, that we know how to make a fine calculation of what we need, as it would be necessary for us to be advised and helped. But if it does not arrive as soon as we would like, we have nothing more to gain from such a bill than displeasure and sadness. And it would be much better if we let God take care of it and did not think about what we need. Then there would only be a lack if the need were found; otherwise the need would not remain outside, and we would not be able to help with our worries. Therefore we must eat and gnaw before the time with our thoughts and plans, which are in vain and in vain. For we will never think ourselves rich nor worry. But we can think and worry ourselves sick, consumptive, mad and foolish, as can be seen in daily examples.
(13) Since our reason cannot do otherwise than to reckon exactly and to see what we need, and this is quite contrary to faith, the evangelist did not want to leave it unreported, so that we might learn from the disciples' example how such reckoning is so utterly false and vain, if we are otherwise Christians and have Christ with us. According to reason, Philip and Andrew think right, and it is impossible that a reasonable man could think differently or make a better calculation. But we Christians not only have reason, but also the word of God. Therefore, we should not only be able to calculate accurately, but also to believe with certainty. And where we do not know how to calculate, we should stick to the word and faith.
14. for behold, what a Christian has for a master of food and a steward in the
Lord Christ. We cannot give any longer than we have. But John says of Christ: He gave of the bread and fishes, not as much as there was, but "as much as he would. Do not think that he alone did it at that time and will not do it again among his Christians. For as reported before, we see examples of this blessing every day: not only with food, that God gives and helps poor, meager, lowly people, who fear him and love and value his word, but also in all kinds of other needs, that he miraculously and unexpectedly provides counsel. For he is almighty and has promised us help and salvation.
15 Therefore, where we lack the account, it is up to us to keep to faith and prayer, and to take comfort in the fact that we have such a God, who not only can increase a small supply by His blessing, as He miraculously and unexpectedly increased flour and oil for the widow in Sarepta, but He can also make everything out of nothing. We should take note of this comfort and, as Christ says in Matthew 6, strive to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. The rest, what we need for our sustenance, we should leave to our Father in heaven, who will give it to His own, as the 127th Psalm v. 2. says, sleeping, that is, they should have the blessing, and yet not know how and where it comes from; as it also happened here. For it was such a miracle that the loaves and fishes grew visibly under the hands of the Lord Christ, when he broke one piece in two and gave the other part of himself, the same piece soon became one more. This is what the Lord wanted to put in our eyes and hearts, so that we would learn to trust Him and not only calculate according to what we see in front of us or have in store.
We see how miserable things are in the world now. The Turk does not celebrate, the longer the closer he comes to us. But we grow from day to day, the longer the more in disagreement and disloyalty against
each other, they decrease in people and money. The pope on the other side does not celebrate like that either; he is as hostile to our Gospel as the Turk is to Christianity. That is why there is no stopping him and his pile, always making one practice after another, how they could dampen the doctrine and re-establish the old idolatry. When a Christian sees such trafficking, the challenge is not absent; reason begins to calculate and to think about the matter diligently, as much as it can, seeking ways and means how to help the matter. But because such means are not at all suitable and the calculation does not want to be correct, it is impossible that a heart should not be saddened by it and almost despair, as if everything would have to fail and break. But because such a challenge does not remain outside (for flesh and blood cannot be otherwise than its kind), Christians should learn, where the account will fail, to hold to the word and begin to believe.
(17) But what does the Word say? Item, what shall we believe in such distress? Believe that Christ has overcome the world, and that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his congregation, Matt. 16:18; "The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears upon their prayer," Ps. 34:16; "Who is he that can hurt you, if ye do that which is good? Even though you suffer for righteousness, you are blessed," 1 Pet. 3:12-14; "The Lord knows how to deliver the godly from temptation, but to keep the unrighteous until the day of judgment, to torment them," 2 Pet. 2:9; as Peter shows in the same place with the example of the righteous Lot of Sodom.
18 Therefore, whoever takes God's word and promise before him and builds firmly on it, the account, even if it is lacking, will not be able to make him fainthearted or bring him to despair. For he sees a Lord above him who reigns in the midst of his enemies and takes pleasure in it, where they will not yield to his word and will not leave his Christians satisfied, so that he then proves his name and power on his enemies and pushes to the ground everything that rebels against him, as he did to Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Thus
By the help of the word one comes to the point that one can have hope, even though there is no hope. For reason, because it does not see help, must despair. But the word shows certain help, as long as we keep faithfully to the word, remain devout and call upon God. But whoever is godless, lives in sin and an evil conscience, and still wants to rely on God's promise, with which he comforts the pious, would be lying a fool.
(19) Now this is the defect of the disciples here, that they are able to reckon so well, but they will not believe nor see what Lord they have in Christ. Otherwise Philip would have said, "For two hundred pennies' worth of bread there is not enough for each of them to take but a little"; but praise God that we have you with us, my dear Lord Jesus; for through your blessing and help, though we have not a penny and are in the wilderness, yet we will have bread enough; for you can do an art that other men cannot do. Andrew would also have said, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish"; if I were to distribute it, it would hardly be enough for ten of them; but if it goes through your hand, all of them will have enough to eat, and will still remain. This the word by faith would have taught them. But because word and faith have disappeared through exact reckoning, it is evident that they have no confidence in the Lord to advise them. Therefore it is said: If you want to be a Christian and cannot leave your arithmetic, then take the word before you, hold firmly to it and learn to believe it; otherwise you cannot be helped.
(20) Where our dear Lord Christ is thus seen with us through his blessing, we are to pick up the pieces, as he calls the apostles here, and not let them perish. For just as our reason in its lack only wants to reckon and not to believe, so where the blessing of God is plentiful, the world cannot and will not properly take its place in it.
21. some misuse the blessing for abundance; as you can see, when it is a wine-filled year, everyone makes believe that God has given it so that they may have all the more
should drink and kill. But it does not have the opinion at all. One should diligently store up God's blessings and not waste them, but save them for future need. As Joseph taught the king in Egypt, he should use the seven good years to save himself and his country from famine during the seven bad years. Thus, if God gives a year's good fortune to this or another craft, so that the merchandise is good and goes well, such a blessing should be diligently saved, and one should not think that because of it he will consume all the more and let it grow. No, God's blessing should always be cherished and saved for a future need. But because one does not do this, but rather misuses God's blessing so shamefully for sins and disgraces, one drives God with such naughtiness that He must stop at Himself, and where there has been one good year, two or three evil years must follow. For how else can God resist the shameful evil world and the abominable abuse?
Some, however, abuse the blessing in the sense that they put it behind them and save when the years are good, so that they can profit from it, squeeze the poor, and increase the market as they wish. These are also morose, harmful people, who certainly do not (may not) show any mercy to God, unless they mend their ways; otherwise it is impossible that God should not be vehemently angry with them. For the Lord did not mean to say that he would take up the crumbs that were left over, so that you should be stingy with them, but that you might serve your neighbor's need with them, and help the poor people who are lacking all the more easily. So you will buy and gather grain, wine and other things at the proper time, when it becomes expensive, so that you may press other people with them and scrape and scrape them to your liking. Just as if God had given you a good year, that you might enjoy it alone, and atone for your shameful stinginess with other people's harm.
For this reason, God must also let His punishment go here. Whoever trusts in His word, we have heard, even though he lacks, God will be there with His blessing, so that
the little shall yield abundantly and still remain. Again, whoever scratches and scrapes and wants to misuse God's blessing for his stinginess, God punishes him, even if he has much, so that it will run out and he will be no different from the poorest beggar with all his abundance. As one sees and learns that miser and usurer are poor, miserable, well-suffering people. As sour as it gets for them until they achieve something, as sour, yes, much sourer it gets for them until they think how they can invest it again in the best way. If an accident happens, as it commonly does, that the grain on the ground comes alive, the wine in the cellar runs, or some other misfortune strikes, then they first have heartache, know not where to turn, gnaw and eat their own hearts out; not only can they not be happy with their enjoyment, but if it changes a little, they have all the misfortune, worry, toil, work and illness to pay for it.
(24) But who would not a thousand times rather have a little with peace and gladness of heart than much with such anxious restlessness, care and anxiety? Especially if you want to see how the devil is not far from such a place.
The grief of the poor is so great and so foolish when the grain or the wine fails that they go and kill themselves with grief or otherwise, that God gives food and drink to poor people. Then eternal sorrow follows such temporal sorrow. This is what you get when you misuse God's blessing for stinginess. It should not be wasted, but should be carefully and diligently saved, so that where there is a lack, we may help other poor and needy people all the more abundantly. For the fact that our Lord God gives more to one person than to another is not because we abuse it solely for our own preservation or pleasure, but so that we may all the more willingly help others who need it and save it up for them and for ourselves.
(25) Therefore, your love has a beautiful, comforting teaching, how we should look to our Lord Christ in adversity, keep His word, and wait for blessings from Him. May God grant His grace that we may become more and more godly from day to day, and may experience such blessings both in food and in all other hardships, through Jesus Christ our Lord, amen.