The Gospel of John

The 4th Miracle; The Sign against Magic

Professor: Dr. R.J. Rushdoony

Subject: Conversations, Panels and Sermons

Lesson: 15- 70

Genre:

Track: 015

Dictation Name: RR197H15

Location/Venue:

Year:

Let us worship God. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after. That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to enquire in His temple. Wait on the Lord, be of good courage and He shall strengthen Thy heart. Wait I say, on the Lord. Let us pray.

Almighty God our Heavenly Father, we come to Thee knowing our need, knowing our blindness for we cannot see one step ahead. Knowing Thy vision for our down sitting and our uprising are all known to Thee and ordained by Thee. Give us grace to walk in faith in Thy guidance, in Thy determination and Thy sovereign merciful and gracious government. Grant oh Lord that we move from grace to grace, from strength to strength, from freedom to freedom in Christ. Knowing that in Him we are in all things more than conquerors. Bless us this morning as we give ourselves to the study of Thy word and by Thy spirit enable us to see wondrous things out of Thy word. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Our scripture is John 6:1-15. This is the 4th miracle; The Sign Against Magic. The Sign against Magic, John 6:1-15.

“After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.

2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

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.

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.

12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

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.

14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.”

This miracle, the first feeding of the five thousand, has an Old Testament precedent. Not of such magnitude but none the less a real one. In Second Kings 4:42-44 we have Elisha using twenty loaves of barley bread and some grain to feed one hundred men. We are told they did eat and leave thereof. This miracle was a forerunner of the fall of Samaria and Israel even as Christ’s two miraculous feedings preceded the judgment on Judea. The site was the seashore of Galilee known then also by the Roman name the Sea of Tiberius. It is an interesting fact that seas, mountains, countries and cities have often changed their names in history to satisfy the whims of their conquerors but God and His law never changes. The judgment for sin is death and the alternative to life is also death. The disciples had sailed across Galilee known also as [unknown] and [unknown] as well as Tiberius. According to Josephus the lake was sixteen by four and a half miles in size. It is now twelve and a half by seven miles. It was then and over the centuries a prolific source of fish. Jesus and the disciples took a boat to find refuge from the crowds by sailing to a remote coast of the sea but a great crowd followed them, apparently by land, eager to receive miraculous healing in some cases and in others to witness it. And so our Lord fed that multitude.

One commentator, Cook by name, in commentating on the signs cited by John lists them as follows: Jesus himself revealed as the master of quality when he turned water into wine. He is the master of space when he healed the son of the nobleman, He is the master of time when he instantly cures the cripple at the pool, He is the master of quantity when he provided the miraculous feeding of five thousand with so little. He is the master over natural law when he walks on water. He is the master of misfortune when He heals the man born blind and He is the master over death in resurrecting Lazarus. This is all true but there is much more to these signs than Cook points out. Our Lord here performs a great miracle. Matthew 14:21 tells us that the men numbered five thousand besides women and children. So the actual count could have been up to twenty five thousand and even more. The only available food was one boy’s lunch, five barley loaves and two small fish. Out of this our Lord fed all and five baskets were left over. The baskets no doubt came from the ship. The crowd came to a conclusion: this man is the great prophet foretold in Deuteronomy 18:15. Now that text speaks of the Messiah but the Hebrew commentators felt that these were to be two people, one the great prophet and then after the Messiah. They therefore sought to take Christ by force and compel Him to be king. Since Jesus was born a king it was at the least presumptuous for them to force Him into an office He already had.

If He were the Messiah as some already held He was already the king. Isaiah 9:6 heralded His kingship and deity, why then did the multitude seeing His divine powers not fall down before Him to worship Him and to obey Him? Why did they seek to force kingship on Him who was obviously King? To understand this we must understand the difference between true religion and magic. In our time as often before the vast difference is obscured or denied. The Westminster Shorter Catechism begins by defining true religion. Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Man must conform himself to the will and the word of God. He is not in charge, God is. It is God’s will that must be done, not mans. The center of all things is the triune God, not man. The prayer of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, as the innocent sin bearer was in Gethsemane Thy will be done. The prayer taught to us by our Lord declares Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. The difference is a very great one. It is man’s will versus God’s will. Our Lord here witnesses to His kingship, His power and its meaning. The multitude wanted specific miracles, our Lord offered instead a miraculous life in Him. The attitude of the crowd upon seeing the miraculous feeding was that this was a power we can use for Israel therefore let us make Him king. But scripture declares the Messiah to be God’s ordained king. According to Isaiah 9 for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called wonderful counselor, the mighty God the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

Men want a God they can control and the goal of magic is man’s freedom from God and nature and man’s total control over all things. Modern science is essentially related to magic and its goals. It is not long after World War Two that a prominent English scientist declared that the theme for the coming age would be a reversal of the statement of the shorter catechism. The chief end, he said, of God was to glorify man and to enjoy him forever so that if any God existed that should be his business. This is why very openly modern science is essentially related to magic. Because the goal of magic is to control God, man and nature. In theology man declares that man elects god to be god, Christ to be king, both are placed under man’s control and choice and man’s will is made the constitution of God’s government. There is therefore a very radical conflict between doctrines which declare the sovereignty of God and those affirming the sovereignty of man. Both may affirm Jesus Christ but for the one he is the Lord and Savior and the absolute predestinater over all things and for the other man chooses God. There is not much difference between the opinion of that scientist that the chief end of God should be to glorify man and to enjoy him forever if a god exists than those who say ‘just say yes to Jesus, he has a wonderful plan for your life and you’ll be happy from here on out’. Our Lord in John 15:16 declares:

“Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and ordained you that ye shall go and bring forth fruit that your fruit should remain. That whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name He may give it you.”

Sovereignty resides with God in both choosing us and giving to us. John 15:16 is one of the greatest statement our Lord makes to us because in so saying he tells us the government is upon my shoulders, I have chosen you. Stop worrying. I am the Lord, I have begun a good work in you, will complete it. True in the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world. Hence too we should always bear in mind that superb statement by our Lord to His disciples before His crucifixion. When he knew they would be filled with fear, filled with doubt and uncertainty He said unto them, peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto you, let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid. In this miracle we have very clearly the sign against magic. Man since the fall dreams of magic, to be his own god, lawmaker and determiner. He is going to be on the throne and God is going to serve him. Man wants to be the predestinator of all things and the modern state works towards precisely this goal, calling it total planning and control.

Simply another modern term for predestination and it says relax, we are going to be the everlasting arms underneath you. And God smashes that pretension of the state every time it has appeared. Only the everlasting arms of the Almighty undergird us. The modern state uses politics and the results of science to gain total control and it substitutes man’s decree of predestination for God. Modern politics is a belief in magic by their fiat word in Congress and in White House through executive orders they are going to solve the problems in the world. It was not too many years ago that President Lyndon B. Johnson, remember him? Declared a war on disease and poverty and implicitly against death! And things have not improved even every president since has continued that supposed war. Johnson is dead and Nixon is dead and the others will in due time go also. Their belief in magic as the true government for men and the universe is futility. But this is the dream of humanism both in the church and in politics. As against this age old desire and hope Jesus makes clear in this sign against magic that man cannot use God he must rather be willingly and joyfully used by God. Can you see now why judgment had to fall on that generation because they completely reversed the order of things. From God to man, from God’s power to magic and God judged them and will He not judge a generation that will not cease from the same belief in magic?

That man can by his fiat reorder reality, that man can bypass God and play God. Let us pray.

Oh Lord our God grant that men and nations repent before it is too late. In judgment remember mercy¸ send forth Thy light that men and nations might believe and be saved from their claims to magical powers, from their playing god. Make us instruments of Thy holy purpose, make us more than conquerors in Christ. In His name we pray, Amen.

Are there any questions now about our lesson? Yes?

[Question] Well it seems that the welfare state is man’s desire to have a continuous unending miracle that never stops.

[Rushdoony] Yes, very well put. I recall some years ago on the second occasion when I spoke to thirty, forty, members of the California state senate and a few assemblymen that they had no doubt that sooner or later there was going to be an economic collapse. They wanted to know how many years, how many months, that was away. Well maybe twenty years...and then they relaxed. They were not concerned after that, up to that point they were deeply concerned because they knew the facts financially better than I did. But having maybe twenty years they figured this gives us enough time to pass some other laws and other measures, to play God in other words and either postpone or obviate this coming disaster.

Well, the thesis of various people concerning the national debt has been similarly dismissed by people in the White House including the president and others in Congress. As long as they have enough time they go on playing God and sooner or later they are going to come up with the right abracadabra or hocus pocus and eliminate the problem. And of course it is not going to work out that way. Yes?

[Question]

[Rushdoony] Yes. That’s a good analogy, a very good one. Any other questions or comments? Well if not let us conclude with prayer.

Our Father we give thanks to Thee for Thy word. Teach us to walk by faith, to know that underneath all things are Thy everlasting arms and Thy purpose for us is all together righteous, holy and good. Make us to know in the midst of all of the turmoils and tribulations of this life and this world Thy peace which passes all understanding. Give us grace to take hands of our lives and to commit them into Thy keeping. And now go in peace, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost, bless you and keep you, guide and protect you, this day and always, Amen.