After these things Jesus went away to the
other side of the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). A large crowd followed Him,
because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick. Then
Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat down with His disciples. Now
the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Therefore Jesus, lifting up His
eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" This
He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.
Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient
for them, for everyone to receive a little." One of His disciples, Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five
barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?" Jesus
said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the
men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and
having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of
the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said to His
disciples, "Gather up the leftover
fragments so that nothing will be lost." So they gathered them up, and filled twelve
baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by
those who had eaten. Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had
performed, they said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the
world." So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him
by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. John 6:1-15 NASB
When
was the last time you saw 5,000 men, plus women and children in one place? Did
you feed them? The baseball stadium, GESA stadium, near where I live, will only
seat 3,700 people. That’s not much for a collective community population of
253,340 people. The Toyota Center seats 7,000. How many people would come out
to hear Jesus speak? The hillside were the people followed Jesus had to be a
sizable area, there along the banks of the Sea of Galilee for that many men and
their families to sit down for a picnic.
Jesus
was testing Philip when He asked about buying food for the 5,000 men. A denarii
was about equal to a day’s wage—so at minimum wage of about $9.00 an hour that
would be $72 for the day or $14,400 in our dollars to purchase food for the
crowd following Jesus. That’s a lot of money! And Philip said that wouldn’t
even be enough—but five barley loaves and a couple of fish fed them all when
Jesus blessed it. Those were humble food items—not fancy food, but filling for
everyone. Amazing—that was a miracle. Then there were the leftovers—twelve baskets
full. One basket for each of the disciples to gather. That certainly made
believers of them. What would it take to make you believe? Do you need a sign
or miracle? Those same people that Jesus fed wanted to make Him their ruler—but
He didn’t want a political position. He quietly slipped away into the night and
went to pray.
Dear Jesus—help us in our unbelief. You are
still a miracle worker and whether it is food or salvation, we know that You
provide. Give us this day our daily bread—physical and spiritual.
© 2012 by Mickey M. Hunacek. All rights reserved.
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