The Word This Week
John 6:15…
Feeding the 5000 men created quite a stir, as we may imagine.
For His disciples it must have been one of the most incredible days of their lives. To think of the overwhelming problem of feeding this massive crowd being solved by such an amazing miracle would have been so fantastic it is almost unfathomable to put ourselves in their places.
The night, however, would not be nearly as kind to them – at least initially.
Jesus had to hurry His guys away – as the satiated crowd was of a mind to take Jesus by force to make Him king. This would have only reinforced in His disciples’ minds the kingdom they longed for – and to be rulers of – had come.
Jesus knew they had enough problems with competition among themselves as to who would be the greatest in this kingdom they imagined, along with the fame that would come their way by the adoration of this massive crowd would have been more than they could handle.
This was not the right time, and not the right place for that. So Jesus hurried them away to escape the adulation the crowd was of a mind to bestow upon them by boat.
Jesus Himself also left hurriedly to escape the crowd He had just been so compassionate to feed the bread and fish. He went to the top of a nearby mountain by Himself to pray.
Rowing all night in the darkness, because of a great wind storm and troubling seas, the disciples had only made it three or four miles in the direction of Capernaum. The adrenaline of the day having worn off by now in the struggle, and in the exhaustion of the great struggle they found themselves in, they suddenly found themselves troubled and greatly afraid by what they thought they saw. How could this be?
Jesus had been watching them from His perch on the mountain, and when the time was right, and when their energy was spent, and when all their thoughts of the fame of their close association of Jesus had faded from their minds in the midst of the storm Jesus came to them.
They were in a boat making very little headway against the force of the wind. Jesus didn’t bother with procuring a boat. He didn’t need one.
Pastor Bill
Feeding the 5000 men created quite a stir, as we may imagine.
For His disciples it must have been one of the most incredible days of their lives. To think of the overwhelming problem of feeding this massive crowd being solved by such an amazing miracle would have been so fantastic it is almost unfathomable to put ourselves in their places.
The night, however, would not be nearly as kind to them – at least initially.
Jesus had to hurry His guys away – as the satiated crowd was of a mind to take Jesus by force to make Him king. This would have only reinforced in His disciples’ minds the kingdom they longed for – and to be rulers of – had come.
Jesus knew they had enough problems with competition among themselves as to who would be the greatest in this kingdom they imagined, along with the fame that would come their way by the adoration of this massive crowd would have been more than they could handle.
This was not the right time, and not the right place for that. So Jesus hurried them away to escape the adulation the crowd was of a mind to bestow upon them by boat.
Jesus Himself also left hurriedly to escape the crowd He had just been so compassionate to feed the bread and fish. He went to the top of a nearby mountain by Himself to pray.
Rowing all night in the darkness, because of a great wind storm and troubling seas, the disciples had only made it three or four miles in the direction of Capernaum. The adrenaline of the day having worn off by now in the struggle, and in the exhaustion of the great struggle they found themselves in, they suddenly found themselves troubled and greatly afraid by what they thought they saw. How could this be?
Jesus had been watching them from His perch on the mountain, and when the time was right, and when their energy was spent, and when all their thoughts of the fame of their close association of Jesus had faded from their minds in the midst of the storm Jesus came to them.
They were in a boat making very little headway against the force of the wind. Jesus didn’t bother with procuring a boat. He didn’t need one.
Pastor Bill