John 6:1-5
 
John 6:1 (KJB)
After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
 
Jesus had just finished His testimony to those in Jerusalem. He affirmed His deity by healing the man at the pool and doing so on the Sabbath Day. There must have been some time between Jesus leaving Jerusalem and crossing over the Sea of Galilee. For the Sea of Galilee was about 70 miles or 113 km north of Jerusalem. The Sea of Tiberias was the Roman name given in honor of Caesar. In John 6 Jesus is going to give a discourse on being the Bread of Life. The misunderstanding of John 6 has given way to the ungodly belief called Transubstantiation which was used in the Middle Ages by the Roman Catholic Institution in the Inquisition. They taught that the priest had the ability to call down Christ from Heaven and turn the wafer and the wine into the actual flesh and blood of Christ. Those true believers who refused to kowtow to this heresy were murdered by torture and burning.
 
John 6:2 (KJB)
And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
 
When the people knew that Jesus was back in their area, a great multitude had followed Him, not because of salvation but because they saw the great miracles that He did. These people were probably getting ready to go to Jerusalem for the Passover and that is why they were already in a crowd. Many today in charismatic churches seek Jesus because they think that they are going to see great miracles and that is the wrong reason to follow Jesus.
 
John 6:3 (KJB)
And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
 
Jesus knew that there was going to be a great multitude which would be coming out to see Him but at this moment He was sitting and ministering to His disciples. There was very little rest or alone time with the Disciples as the ministry of Jesus began to increase. There were many hills which surrounded the Sea of Galilee and Jesus would make use of those hills since they would make a great area for teaching because of the way they were formed. Many hill formations make for good echo effect for speaking and that is why amphitheaters are built that way.
 
John 6:4 (KJB)
And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
 
This was the Passover which was one year before Jesus died so that would place it at 32 A.D. This was the third Passover our Lord celebrated on earth. Passover commemorated the deliverance of Israel from Egypt in 1447 B.C. Jesus would be crucified the next year during the Passover celebration where He would become our Passover Lamb. (1 Cor 5:7 KJV) Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
 
John 6:5 (KJB)
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?
 
Jesus saw the great multitude coming at Him and He knew what He was going to do in regards to the feeding of this multitude. Jesus often asked questions of His disciples to test their faith and to teach them great spiritual lessons. Philip had seen Jesus do many miracles and even brought his brother Nathanael to Him. Here Jesus is questioning Philip to see what his response would be, knowing that he witnessed the miracles of Jesus and probably the turning of water into wine. Jesus wanted to see if Philip was understanding who He was yet?

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