Thursdays Child John 6:22-35 The Original "Show Me" People

Well, we're back on track after getting sidetracked with a little geography.

As I was reading this passage, I started thinking about 1) How people can be so deceitful and fickle, and 2) It's funny to watch Jesus tell them what they are really thinking, and that they can't deceive Him.  

John doesn't say after Jesus had fed them (the five thousand) and listened to Him teach, whether they went home to sleep, or if they had to sleep on the hill. He just says, they started gathering on the shore the next morning. They knew the disciples had gone across the lake without Him, but what they didn't know was that Jesus had decided to take a walk ACROSS the lake to catch up to the disciples. For some reason they decided to go across the lake and check anyway. I can just imagine the looks on their faces when they found Him there. When they asked Him how He got there, Jesus didn't answer the question, He just said "The truth is you just want to be with me because I fed you, not because you witnessed a miracle." It was like, that crowd was the groupies of their day. As long as the popular prophet was providing them with what they needed, or wanted, they would hang around. When their free ride starts to cost them something (as we'll see later) Jesus' crowd starts to dwindle. But for now, He goes on to tell them not to be so concerned about perishable things like food. They need to focus their energy on seeking the eternal life that Jesus can give them. He specifically told them "I, the Son of Man, have been sent by God the Father to give you eternal life." They did respond by asking what God wants them to do. Jesus told them "Believe in the one He has sent." They had the nerve to say "Then you need to show us a miraculous sign. What will you do for us?" It makes you wonder why Jesus didn't say "I just fed over five thousand of you with five loaves of bread and two fish, what more do you want?" Evidently they wanted Jesus to feed them as long as they followed Him, because they said "Moses fed the people manna while they journeyed through the wilderness." Jesus told them it wasn't Moses that provided the manna, it was His Father, and now God is offering them the true bread of heaven, the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said "Sir give us that bread every day of our lives." At this point I picture Jesus pointing to His chest saying loudly in frustration "I Am The Bread Of Life." The people are probably still thinking about getting some breakfast, and having some bread that is edible, and Jesus is talking eternity, and they just aren't getting it.
We'll see how they finally understand later but, I want to stop here for today. I don't want to go too far past Jesus' "Son of Man" statement. I want to take a closer look at that, and what He could have meant by that, next time. Until then,
Thanks for searching with me, as we attempt to understand Jesus' relationship with His followers.
Paul  
             

Thursdays Child-Jesus' Geography

Just a little suggestion before you get started, If you click on the map it shows up better.

As I was getting ready for the next Thursdays Child I was reading John 6:22-59 and I started wondering, where was Jesus when He crossed the Sea Of Galilee, and just how far did He travel (walk) in His ministry. This map can give you an idea how far He traveled. He changed the water to wine at the wedding feast in Cana. Then, He went to Jerusalem to heal the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, which seems to be about sixty to seventy miles or so. After He healed the lame man is when He made all the Jewish leaders angry by claiming to be The Son Of God. That's when it says He crossed the Sea of Galilee and fed the five thousand. Well, the Sea of Galilee wasn't right there for Him to just hop in a boat and go. He had to walk another sixty miles or so. Then I started wondering, where did He feed the five thousand, so we would know where he landed. As I was looking for that I read an article that said, since Jesus celebrated the Jewish Festivals, and the timing of them, He probably fed the five thousand about six months after He healed the lame man. I have been trying to focus only on the book of John when writing this, but I wanted to know where Jesus landed when He crossed the Sea of Galilee, and found it in Luke. Luke says "He took the disciples and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed them there." If you check the map, that's at the top of the sea. Again, checking the map, it looks like the trip over to Capernaum may have just be possible to do overnight. Their route must have taken them far enough out to sea though, that a bad storm could have been very frightening.

If it really was six months from healing the lame man, to feeding the five thousand, that gave Jesus plenty of time to do a lot of other miracles. That makes me think of the very last verse in the book of John. If you're not familiar with it, I won't make you wait 'til we get there it says "I suppose that if all the other things Jesus did were written down, the whole world could not contain the books." He had six months and over sixty miles of walking, to do a lot of miracles, and develop a huge following. Which is probably why He had five thousand people to feed when He got there.

Thanks for taking a break from the next scripture in line to satisfy my curiosity. As I have always said the more we question the more we learn.

Thanks for learning a little geography with me today,

Paul

Thursdays Child John 6:16-21 A Heck Of A Ride

As I read this passage, I remembered a Thursdays Child from June 2009. It was titled "Thursdays Child Matt 27:44 & Mark 15:32." I talked about the two criminals being crucified with Jesus and how Matthew just mentions the two criminals, Mark says both criminals mock Jesus, Luke is the only one that says one of the criminals repents. My question was, why do we only teach Luke's version? I know it makes for a better Sunday School class, and it teaches that no matter what we've done we can always ask for forgiveness, but I had really never heard the other two versions taught. It just goes to show, if you don't read the Bible on your own, you miss stuff like this. One of these days I'm going to write about some of the more obscure scriptures we don't hear much about. I do feel like I'm suppose to go all the way through John, then we'll see where God takes us.

I bring up the post from a few years ago because, John 6:16-21 is another one of those passages that isn't taught very much, if not at all. It's about Jesus walking on the water.

Yes, churches do teach about Jesus walking on the water, but they usually, if not always teach Matthews version. Matthew talks about the disciples seeing Jesus, and Peter getting out of the boat and walking on the water to go meet Him. I understand why we teach that version. It teaches about having faith in Jesus. When Peter took his eyes off of Jesus he started sinking in the water, and Jesus reached down, grabbed his hand and saved him. That's at Matthew 14:22-33 if you want to go check it out. In Mark 7:45-52 it just says Jesus gets in the boat and they go to the other side of the lake. For me, John's version is the most intriguing. Maybe because I'm into the supernatural stuff, but at the end of John's passage it doesn't say they just went to the other side of the lake. It says starting in verse eighteen "Soon a gale swept down upon them as they rowed, and the sea grew very rough. They were three or four miles out when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified but He called out to them 'I am here! Don't be afraid.' Then they were eager to let Him in." Now here is the best part for me. The last half of verse twenty one says. "IMMEDIATELY the boat arrived at their destination." It doesn't say they continued on, it says immediately. I wonder how the disciple reacted. One minute they're in the middle of the lake, then, in a split second they are on the shore. I picture them looking around at each other, baffled. I know my words would have been "Whoa, what the heck just happened here?" Don't forget about the version in Matthew, because it's important to teach faith and to keep looking to Jesus to guide us but, I think it's also important not to get stuck in a rut. We need also to teach that Jesus did some pretty amazing things that sometimes sneaks under our radar, and we don't really grasp how great some of the things were that He did. How do we catch these things on our radar? Let God's word sink in as we read. If we read the Bible looking for inspiration from God, He will provide that inspiration, then maybe one day we can have a supernatural experience like the disciples, and we'll be able to say "Wow, what a heck of a ride!"

Always ask questions, always keep searching, and He will always keep providing the answers.

Thanks for searching with me.

Paul