Jesus Tests Philip

Laetare Sunday

Exodus 16:2-21; Acts 2:41-47; John 6:1-15

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

Jesus is the One who gives you daily bread. Jesus gives the bread of His body upon the cross for your sins. Jesus multiplies bread for 5,000 and for Philip. 

Only John tells us about Philip. All four Gospels record this miracle. This is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels. But John alone mentions Philip. Jesus asks him a question. Apparently, He’s not asking all the disciples, just Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” (John 6:5). But it’s an odd question, right? They’re in the middle of nowhere. I imagine Philip looking around and thinking, “What does He mean where?” There aren’t too many bakeries in the desert. Even if they were in Jerusalem, who carries enough bread for 5,000 people? It’s an impossible problem. “Where are we to buy bread?” Jesus might just as well have asked Philip to walk on water, or have Philip ask a camel to go through the eye of a needle, tell the mountain to “move from here to there” (Matt. 17:20). It’s an impossible question. And yet, John specifically tells us, “[Jesus] said this to test him” (John 6:6).

Jesus is about the business of testing His people. He tests Abraham when He tells him to sacrifice his son (we’ll hear that next week). He tests the Israelites in the wilderness (Deut. 8:2). The Psalmist prays, “you, O God, have tested us; you have tried us as silver” (Ps. 66:10). God Himself speaks through Isaiah, “I have tried you in the furnace of affliction” (Is. 48:10). God tests His people, just as He tests you. 

That’s not something we like to hear. But at times, you’ve felt your faith tried as silver. You know that all things come from your Father’s hand; both the good and the bad are in His control. And as much as you don’t want to think about God giving you some trial you don’t like, it is nonetheless true that the Lord at times leads you into a deserted place, where you find yourself and others in need, and He asks, “Where are we to buy bread?” “How do we solve this one?” And He does that to test you. 

The question we need to answer is, Why? Why does Jesus do this? Why does He test His people? Well, let’s mention three wrong answers, and then we’ll look at the way Scripture addresses this question. First, the wrong answers. When Jesus tests Philip in our text, it’s not because Philip doesn’t have enough faith. 

We don’t know a lot about Philip. Matthew, Mark, and Luke only mention him in the list of Apostles. But John shows us his great faith. If you remember, it was Philip who brought Nathanael to Jesus. That’s when Nathanael replied, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (John 1:46). But Philip had said, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote. Jesus of Nazareth” (John 1:45). Somehow Philip knew Jesus to be the long-awaited Messiah, the One who parted the Red Sea and gave the Israelites manna in the wilderness. This is the God who provided for His people during times of famine, who increased the flour and oil for the widow of Zarephath, who fed Elijah with ravens. Philip already knew that Jesus is the One who opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing. 

So when our Lord asks this question, it’s not because Philip doesn’t have enough faith and needs to try harder. Which means, when you feel that God is testing you, it is not because you don’t have enough faith, Beloved. Do not think that if you believed more, if you were more faithful, or had a less sinful past, that you would be free of suffering. You can’t say that about Jesus. You can’t say He suffered on the cross for your sins because He didn’t believe enough. That’s not true for Him, and it’s not true for you. God does not test you because you don’t have enough faith.

Second wrong answer: Jesus doesn’t test Philip so that Philip would find a solution to the problem, as if he just needed some encouragement, or God wanted Philip to feel like he accomplished something, the way a child feels when completing a difficult puzzle. No.

This problem isn’t something Philip should even know how to solve. How could he have expected Jesus to multiply the loaves? How was he supposed to know that? There’s only one time in the Bible when someone assumes that Jesus can make bread appear, and that was satan. Meaning, we shouldn’t expect Philip to think Jesus would do this. What should Philip have said? “Hey, just make some bread appear, Jesus”? No. This was unsolvable.

And that seems to be what Philip is saying. Most of the time, we assume Philip was complaining when he answers Jesus. Andrew seems to be complaining. He points out the five loaves and two fish and cries, “but what are they for so many?” (John 6:9). So it’s possible that Philip is grumbling as well. But maybe Philip’s answer is good. After all, Jesus had just asked about money. “Where are we to buy bread?” (John 6:5). And so Philip addresses the question of money. “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little” (John 6:7). He’s essentially saying, “Money can’t solve this problem, Jesus.” He doesn’t pretend to know the answer, but he knows it’s not found in money.

Our Lord doesn’t expect Philip to find a solution. And neither does He expect that of you. Yet, that is the way you tend to live. You often think that you have all of these burdens and responsibilities and sufferings that you have to figure out, as if it’s all on your shoulders. You have to be strong. You have to help yourself. You have to find the answer. That’s wrong. Scripture never says that. Instead, God is constantly reminding you, “I will give you strength. I will help you” (Is. 41:10). He’s calling you to come to Him for rest (Matt. 11:28), to “wait upon the Lord” (Ps. 27:14), “The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent” (Ex. 14:14). God doesn’t expect you to fix everything. So His testing is not a way to motivate you to solve your problems. 

And yet, at the same time—and this is the third wrong answer—God is not trying to see if you’ll fail. Remember, God tempts no one (Jam. 1:13). He’s not driving you to sin. He’s not hoping you’ll fall into doubt or despair. But that’s often how we feel. In times of suffering, our faith seems weak. We have a trembling faith, smaller than a mustard seed. We wonder what to do. God doesn’t wonder what you’ll do when He tests you.

That’s how we think of tests. Teachers give tests to figure out what the student knows, to draw something out of the student. That’s not what Jesus is doing here. He’s not trying to get something out of Philip, or see if Philip’s a good enough Christian. He doesn’t need to find out what Philip will do, or what you will do.

So why? Why does Jesus test you? Why does He test Philip? It’s not to pull something out of Philip, but to give something to him.

James chapter 1 is helpful here. It’s a text we should return to often. “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds…” Notice, he doesn’t say despair. He doesn’t say moan and complain like the Israelites in the wilderness. He doesn’t tell you to fall apart. As unbelievable as it is, He says, in your trials and in your testing, “Count it all joy.” Why? “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-4). 

Philip was in a deserted place. He was hungry. He was given an impossible situation. He can’t solve this. But Jesus knows what He’s doing. Your Lord would have you look to Him. Money is not the solution to your problems. You think life would be easier if you just had a little more of it. But that’s not true. Having more time in your day is not the solution to your struggles. You think you could get more done if you just had a few more hours in the day. If only you could take the right medication, see the right doctor, find the right treatment, if you had more vacation, then you could finally feel rested. Wrong. 

Jesus is the One who provides for you. And He knows what He’s doing. Jesus is the One who opens His hand and satisfies the desires of every living thing. And, when you don’t feel that He’s satisfying your desires, you feel the trials of this life, then count it all joy, Beloved, “for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” Jesus would test Philip to give him something, so that he might endure. And the same is true for you.

When He gives you an impossible situation, some affliction or sorrow, and asks you, “Where are we to buy bread?”, you can complain and moan, and shake your fist at God. Or respond with Philip, “Money can’t solve this problem. Time can’t solve this problem. I can’t fix it,” and therefore look to the only One who can. 

For Jesus did not go to the cross because of your great faith. He didn’t take flesh, suffer and die, rise on the third day, because you passed the tests He gives you, because you’re always faithful. Rather, He would give you His faithfulness. He would impart to you His steadfastness and endurance. Sure, it doesn’t feel that way. When you’re tested and tried, it feels like your faith is weak, and trembling, and smaller than a mustard seed. But that doesn’t matter, because your faith does not rely on you. It relies on Christ. He’s the One who endures all suffering in your place. He’s the One who dies for the times you struggle to rely on Him. He dies for you. And there is no problem that is not met by His resurrection.

When He, yet even today, joins His Body and Blood to bread and wine, it is not because you are such a great Christian. This is for your weak faith. It’s for your trembling faith. Your faith that worries. Your faith that finds itself confused by trials and testing. Your Lord does not leave you in a deserted place to figure it out on your own. He drives you here, giving you bread, bread multiplied on the altars of His Church, that you might endure. That you might rely upon Him and count it all joy. 

In ☩ Jesus’ name. Amen. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Amen.