Scripture: John 6:1-15
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick.Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up,“Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there).Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
Consider:
My kids went quite thoroughly through the “question” phase of adolescent development. They’d ask all the normal questions like “why is the sky blue?” and “How do birds fly?” - the normal curiosity of a three year old.
As they got older, the questions have gotten harder… but they haven’t stop asking them. And when I don’t know the answer to something - or when I realize I’m not old enough to have this conversation - I’ve defaulted to saying, “Why do you ask such hard questions?”
Them: “Mom, what’s for dinner?”
Me: “I don’t know…. why do you ask such hard questions?”
That response is second only to the response I give when I want to avoid the question all together.
Them: “Mom, where do babies come from?”
Me: “I don’t know… Ask your father.”
Which is why I’m a little fascinated by Jesus’ extremely unhelpful response to the crowd of people coming towards them. He seems to panic a little bit when he sees the 5,000 families coming his direction, only to realize they are going to expect food from him. So he shoves the responsibility over onto to Philip. “Uh, Philip - What are you going to feed these people?”
I’ve got several questions, but the central one seems to be - Why is Philip responsible for feeding all these people?
Andrew catches on that they should be panicking and steals lunch from a kid and offers that - with no expectations it will do anything to feed the crowd. He just wants to look busy and appear to be solving the problem (that I still don’t think was a problem).
Have you ever found yourself asking Jesus why solving a particular problem was your responsibility? World hunger, peace, chronic homelessness, you name it and it seems like the ultimate responsibility for fixing those things lies with God. And yet, God keeps turning right back around and saying, “What are you going to do?”
God has given the church responsibility for “fixing” these problems. God opens the door (or the window) and points us in the right direction, but ultimately it is our responsibility to put our boots on the ground and do the work of making lunch for 3,000 people.
But maybe, don’t steal a kid’s lunch to do it.
Respond:
Today, I invite you to consider the ONE problem God has asked you to have a hand in solving. Then make a list or do some research to discover how you can start (or continue) to work towards the task God has given you to do.
Pray:
Lord, lead me to the specific work You have prepared for my hands. Grant me clarity to see the one problem I am called to help solve, and the courage to begin. As I research and plan, align my heart with Your purpose to serve others with love and persistence. Amen.
.
These posts will always be free, however, if you find them meaningful and would like to consider supporting our online outreach, you can donate using this link.
