John 6:1-21
The crowds have followed the Lord Jesus. But, like many in Christendom, they are drawn more by His power than by His grace and moral perfections. But the one is inseparable from the others. These characteristics are seen together as the Lord Jesus demonstrates them once again in this account of the multiplying of the loaves. The little boy mentioned in v. 9 reminds us that however young we are we can do something for the Lord and for the good of others. He seems to have been the only one to think of bringing something to eat. In agreeing to put the little he had at the Lord’s disposal, he becomes the means of providing for the needs of 5,000 men. When the Lord wants to use us, let us never offer our youth or the insufficiency of our resources as an excuse; He will Himself know how to use them (Jeremiah 1:6-7).
After this miracle, the people want to take the Lord Jesus "to make him a king". But He cannot receive the kingdom from the hand of man (John 5:41) any more than from Satan’s hand (Matthew 4:8-10). God alone will make Him king (Psalms 2:6).
Finally in another scene also illuminated by His power and His grace, we see Him coming to meet His disciples on the stormy sea and calming their fears.