A Greater Moses

After he finished, he had the disciples collect the leftovers into baskets (vv. 12-13), so that none would be “wasted” or lost (v. 12). The concept comes up again later in the chapter. Jesus says, “This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day” (6:39; emphasis added). Jesus never wastes anything. Nothing of his will ever be lost. He’s showing the disciples his care and illustrating what it means that he will not lose any of those who belong to him. If Jesus cares enough to make sure none of the leftovers are lost, how much more will he make sure none of his people are lost? Just like Moses thousands of years earlier, Jesus cares for each one of his people. He provides the food they need in a way that shatters all human expectations.

After leading the nation of Israel out of the land of Egypt, Moses found himself in a terrible predicament. The Egyptian army led by a vengeful Pharaoh was approaching from the rear, and the Red Sea was cutting them off in the front. What should Moses do? If they didn’t keep moving, Pharaoh’s army would cut them down, but there was nowhere to go. God told Moses to stretch his staff out toward the sea. When Moses did, God divided the sea, and the people marched through on dry ground. Pharaoh’s army tried to follow, and the walls of water collapsed on them, drowning them and their horses.

Jesus sends the disciples across the sea without him (vv. 16-17). I’m not sure they knew how he would cross. It’s too far to swim—six miles across—but he sends them and they go. The sea starts to get choppy (v. 18). In fact, it’s so bad these experienced fishermen spend most of the night rowing and only make it halfway across (v. 19). Why is the water so choppy? Because a “high wind,” a powerful wind, was blowing. Do you know what God sent to part the Red Sea when the Israelite nation needed to cross?

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left. (Exod 14:21-22; emphasis added)

God caused a powerful wind to blow so that Moses could miraculously lead his people across the sea.

Jesus walks across the sea as effortlessly as if he were walking on dry ground (John 6:19). Can you imagine? That’s mind-boggling. Why’d he do it? Why not just meet them on the other side? Jesus walked to them on the water for the same reason he fed the five thousand: so they would witness his power and understand who he is.

When they see Jesus, they’re scared. They’re witnesses to deity. They’ve seen something that is far beyond what’s natural. They’re confronted with a being far more powerful than they can fathom. Here, in the midst of the storm, they don’t fear the storm. They fear the Maker of the storm. At this moment on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples were confronted with a power beyond their reckoning. They saw the power of God, and they were afraid. But what does Jesus say? “Don’t be afraid” (v. 20). There is a God with power our minds cannot fathom. He is just and will someday use his power to right all wrongs and judge all sin. Yet, through his Son, Jesus, he reaches out to each of us and says, “You don’t need to be afraid. If you believe in Jesus, if you receive him, there’s no need to fear.”

With these two acts, Jesus identifies himself as one like Moses: he feeds the people and crosses the sea, both in ways that require divine help. Some who see him make the connection (v. 14). They don’t call Jesus a prophet. They call him the Prophet. He’s a particular prophet the nation of Israel has been anticipating. All the way back in Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses wrote, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.” Jesus was making clear he was the prophet like Moses. The book of Deuteronomy ends with these words:

No prophet has arisen again in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face. He was unparalleled for all the signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do against the land of Egypt—to Pharaoh, to all his officials, and to all his land, and for all the mighty acts of power and terrifying deeds that Moses performed in the sight of all Israel. (Deut 34:10-12)

A special prophet would come who would do mighty signs and wonders just as Moses did. Century after century, Israel waited for the prophet like Moses, and here he is. They see the works of Jesus, and they recognize the fulfillment of Moses’s prophecy.

What was Moses’s greatest accomplishment? His defining legacy was leading the nation of Israel out of slavery in Egypt and bringing them to a new land, the land God promised them. Moses was the great liberator of Israel. When Jesus was born, Israel was in slavery again, not in Egypt but in their own land. The Romans had conquered Israel and made it part of the empire. When someone like Moses shows up, what do you think the Israelites want him to do? They want him to lead them out of slavery. They want to start a revolution and overthrow their foreign captors.

Here’s a crowd of five thousand Jewish men, chafing under Roman oppression. They recognize the second Moses, and they think, Finally! Finally we’ll be free from Rome. No longer will we be slaves in our own cities. Let’s make Jesus king and take back the kingdom(see John 6:15). Jesus thwarted their plans. He saw the revolution in their eyes, and he left. Was it fear? Was it doubt? Why leave? Because Jesus wasn’t worried about victory over Rome. He was after a greater victory. Jesus came to wage war against sin and suffering. He came to duel with death.

They wanted to make Jesus king, but before he would wear the crown of gold, he chose to wear a crown of thorns. Before he would sit on the throne, he would hang on a cross. The crucifixion would come before the coronation. Moses won a great victory, but it pales in comparison to the victory Jesus won when he rose from the grave, triumphant over death and hell.

Think about how you approach Jesus. The Israelites wanted to make Jesus their king by force (v. 15). So they did want Jesus, but they wanted him to be their puppet. They would follow Jesus as their king as long as he did what they wanted, as long as he overthrew Rome.

That is not Christianity. The Jesus of the Bible is no man’s puppet, but how often we come to him telling him what we want him to do. We bargain with him. We claim to follow him as long as he doesn’t say or do something we dislike. We want the kingdom without the King. We want the liberty without the liberator. We want all of the blessings Jesus can secure for us without actually having to obey and follow him.

If we want Jesus to fix all of our problems but we don’t want to have to follow Jesus, all we want is a puppet king. We want another Moses—someone to get us out of trouble and make our lives a little more comfortable. Jesus is so much more, so much greater.

The only way to come to Jesus is to lay down your expectations, put aside your requirements, let go of the strings, and follow him. When you do, you will find that not only is Jesus greater than Moses, but Jesus is far greater than anything you can ever imagine.