Page 57 - Gospel of John_teachers lesson_cp 1-10_Neat

The assessments take into consideration the presence of the two small fish and five poverty
loaves of barley, while overlooking the presence of the son of God. The focus on insufficiency
often causes people to overlook the presence of sufficiency waiting to be accessed. The
solution to feeding the masses was not increasing the amount of fish and loaves; instead, the
disciples needed to increase their faith in the presence of the Messiah.
The conversation in scripture does not indicate that the disciples offered to contribute
personally to the remedy which suggests that they were also without food and as hungry as the
multitude of people they were challenged to serve.

John 6: 10- And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much
grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
John 6: 11- And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he
distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down;
and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
John 6: 12- When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the
fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
John 6: 13- Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve
baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over
and above unto them that had eaten.

Lesson Notes:

(John 6:10) – Instead of correcting the responses of the disciples the Teacher instructs them to
organize the men, heads of households, into seating areas. The wives, children, and other
family members were gathered to sit with the head of their family unit. Once the families were
ordered an estimation of households was numbered to be five thousand.

Arranging the mass into family units created a control system to track and deliver a solution
that fed each unit proportionally. Family portions were not equal because the need per family
unit was not equal. Family units were fed according to the total members in each household.
The needs within individual household varies requiring the measured provision to be
proportioned to satisfy the need. The measure needed by one person or household does not
establish the measure that will be given to another. God makes provision for all people
according to need and not according to equal measure.

Establishing order required every person to submit themselves to head of their house, trusting
them as they trusted the disciples assigned to them to distribute the ration that would feed all
the members of their house. Jethro offered a similar model to Moses in the wilderness, to
transform the burden of judging the needs of the multitude that left Egypt from a personal
assignment to a shared responsibility among unit leaders. The Hebrews were organized into
small groups with over-seers to teach the people and judge the needs of those assigned to
them. (Exodus 18:18-27)

56