John 6:1-15
Today's Passage: John 6:1-15
Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”
Jesus, observing the crowd, knew that there were no food options nearby. If this had happened in Lexington, the correct answer would be Panera Bread—because that’s where we do all our meetings. But alas, they were on an isolated mountain.
The obvious answer to Jesus’ question was, nowhere. There’s nowhere to buy food, and even if they could, they didn’t have enough money. Philip basically said, “with over half a year’s wages, we would only have enough to give everyone only a bit.”
Most, if not all, reading this have heard this passage taught many times. The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the only miracles taught in all four Gospels. We might discuss the lessons of trying to solve our problems with human solutions—money and bakeries. Or, how Jesus can take our meager offerings and do substantially more than we could ask, think, or imagine. However, today, what strikes me about the passage is that Jesus asked a question before doing such a great thing.
Verse 6 doesn’t leave us hanging, John tells us, “Jesus said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.” Jesus knew what was about to happen in every sense of the word. However, he didn’t just do these things absent the disciples’ involvement. He brought them in to, not only the solution, but the problem. He made the problem their problem.
Many of live like the bomb disposal technician when asked about the stresses of diffusing a bomb who said, “It’s not [stressful]. I’m either right, or suddenly it’s not my problem anymore.” In his case, it’s a darkly humorous way of saying he won’t be around to pick up the pieces. For us, I think we’re often so persuaded by our own right-ness, our own solutions to everyone else’s problems, that if we’re not listened to, then it’s not our problem. And, for this reason, we don’t get involved in the first place.
While we certainly can’t base our entire thinking of charity, giving, and beating back the consequences of sin in our world, based on this passage alone, it is a good reminder that Jesus left perfection, took on flesh, all to make our problem his problem. So, if we want to be like him, if we want to fight sin, we need to go beyond our Christian bubbles and holy huddles and (at times) get messy.
Sometimes, Jesus highlights a problem, lays it at your feet, and you feel like, “I just can’t.” Jesus is like, “I know, but watch this.” The more I see God move and lives change, the more I’m convinced of the necessity to recognize our own inability to achieve anything lasting on our own. Thankfully, God isn’t disappointed when we come to the end of ourselves. That’s usually the starting point for greatness. Greatness may mean we’re fed, it may mean we go hungry, either way, we’ll see God move and know for sure that we didn’t do it on our own.
Written By: Tyler Short
Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?”
Jesus, observing the crowd, knew that there were no food options nearby. If this had happened in Lexington, the correct answer would be Panera Bread—because that’s where we do all our meetings. But alas, they were on an isolated mountain.
The obvious answer to Jesus’ question was, nowhere. There’s nowhere to buy food, and even if they could, they didn’t have enough money. Philip basically said, “with over half a year’s wages, we would only have enough to give everyone only a bit.”
Most, if not all, reading this have heard this passage taught many times. The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the only miracles taught in all four Gospels. We might discuss the lessons of trying to solve our problems with human solutions—money and bakeries. Or, how Jesus can take our meager offerings and do substantially more than we could ask, think, or imagine. However, today, what strikes me about the passage is that Jesus asked a question before doing such a great thing.
Verse 6 doesn’t leave us hanging, John tells us, “Jesus said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.” Jesus knew what was about to happen in every sense of the word. However, he didn’t just do these things absent the disciples’ involvement. He brought them in to, not only the solution, but the problem. He made the problem their problem.
Many of live like the bomb disposal technician when asked about the stresses of diffusing a bomb who said, “It’s not [stressful]. I’m either right, or suddenly it’s not my problem anymore.” In his case, it’s a darkly humorous way of saying he won’t be around to pick up the pieces. For us, I think we’re often so persuaded by our own right-ness, our own solutions to everyone else’s problems, that if we’re not listened to, then it’s not our problem. And, for this reason, we don’t get involved in the first place.
While we certainly can’t base our entire thinking of charity, giving, and beating back the consequences of sin in our world, based on this passage alone, it is a good reminder that Jesus left perfection, took on flesh, all to make our problem his problem. So, if we want to be like him, if we want to fight sin, we need to go beyond our Christian bubbles and holy huddles and (at times) get messy.
Sometimes, Jesus highlights a problem, lays it at your feet, and you feel like, “I just can’t.” Jesus is like, “I know, but watch this.” The more I see God move and lives change, the more I’m convinced of the necessity to recognize our own inability to achieve anything lasting on our own. Thankfully, God isn’t disappointed when we come to the end of ourselves. That’s usually the starting point for greatness. Greatness may mean we’re fed, it may mean we go hungry, either way, we’ll see God move and know for sure that we didn’t do it on our own.
Written By: Tyler Short
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