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JOHN’S GOSPEL… THE BREAD OF LIFE – 12

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John 6:5-7, 9-13 NIV
[5] “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?” [6] He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. [7] Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!”
[9] “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” [10] 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). [11] 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. [12] When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” [13] So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.”

Considering that we are discovering that Jesus turned every impossibility into opportunity, and every opportunity into more evidence of His identity, the Son of God, this familiar story takes on a new meaning. After all, didn’t John, the narrator record His own people’s reaction to Him? Rejection!

Their rejection was not because of the lack of evidence. It was their decision made out of stubborn unbelief. Every miracle was another pointer to the truth of Jesus’ claim…trust, obedience, and oneness with the Father. The message was loud and clear and backed up with words that were not His but the Father’s words spoken through Him.

John 10:29, 31-33 NIV
[29] “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand…
[31] Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, [32] but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” [33] “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

Mark 11:27-28 NIV
[27] “They arrived again in Jerusalem, and while Jesus was walking in the temple courts, the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him. [28] “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you authority to do this?”

Authority was the issue. His opponents heard His words, saw His works but still chose to reject Him because it was not convenient for them to believe.

Unfazed by the opposition, Jesus used every opportunity, not only to confirm His identity but also to link Himself to the prophecies and pictures of Messiah in their own Scriptures.

Our story, the only miracle recorded in all four gospels, shows Jesus, the Son, reflecting the heart of the compassionate Father who cares about His children’s physical needs. In this situation hid another opportunity…Jesus was always drawing His disciples into the situation to teach and train them for their mandate to continue where He left off.

So, He throws the ball into their court. What were they planning to do to feed this vast crowd of people? He fires the question at Philip. Why Philip? Why not Peter, the motor-mouth? Perhaps He deliberately bypassed Peter to give another disciple opportunity to think for himself.

Philip had to think quickly. His response was the typically human one…consider the obstacles…too many people, not enough money. He dismisses the problem as impossible.

Andrew pipes up, just for good measure. There are a few barley loaves and fish available! His suggestion sounds ridiculous, so he backs down with an apology. There is food but not enough. Good try, Andrew!

Without waiting for any more feeble suggestions from the other disciples, Jesus issues instructions. Seat the people on the grass in an orderly fashion. That done, He proceeds to break the bread and fish into small pieces, and pass the pieces out, first saying His thanks to the Father with a prayer of gratitude.

John 6:11 NIV
[11] “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.”

And the rest, they say, is history.

Out of this incident issued another storm…and another lesson. When we read on, the people latched onto Jesus, not for spiritual food but for another opportunity to get a free meal.

John 6:25-26 NIV
[25]” When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” [26] Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”

Jesus was incensed. Talk about opportunists! So, once more, He launched into another profound comparison between Himself and Moses. Moses gave them manna from heaven to feed their stomachs. Jesus came as heavenly “bread” to feed their souls.

John 6:32-33, 35 NIV
[32] “Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. [33] For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”…
[35] Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

John 6:41, 60, 66 NIV
[41] At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”…
[60] On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”…
[66] From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”

Too unpalatable for many of them, they rejected the “bread”, and walked away.

THE GOSPEL OF MARK – ALL GOD’S DAUGHTERS

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ALL GOD’S DAUGHTERS

4 Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume? 5 It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
6 “Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. 7 The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. 8 She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial. 9 Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”
10 Then Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Jesus to them. 11 They were delighted to hear this and promised to give him money. So he watched for an opportunity to hand him over. Mark 14:1-11

This is another one of those occasions when Jesus’ mercy and kindness to women offended men. The Samaritan woman and the woman caught in adultery are two other incidents when Jesus treated women with dignity, even when their behaviour was sinful, and the men didn’t like it.

In the Jewish culture of the time, women were viewed as considerably less than men. They were not much more than possessions; their word was not accepted in a court of law; they could be divorced and thrown out on a whim. But Jesus championed women and lifted them to a place of dignity and respect by the way He treated them. He honoured the crown of His creation and often showed men up in public for their high-minded arrogance, an attitude He hated.

Jesus was a rescuer of women. He rescued Mary Magdalene from a life of demonic torment; the Samaritan woman from guilt and shame; the woman caught in adultery from death by stoning; the woman with the issue of blood from isolation and premature death; the woman who was bent over for eighteen years from a life of pain and indignity, (these two women who were outcasts because of sickness, He called “Daughter”), and all the women who followed Him from a meaningless existence.

Most of all, He rescued them from their despised position as less than men. He treated them as equals, honoured them as participants in the great mission of the church gave them an equal share in the gift of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. .

It was the women who braved the hostility of the religious leaders to be near Him at the cross, to follow His body to the tomb and to anoint Him for burial. It was the wealthy women who often provided for Him and His disciples and it was a woman to whom He first revealed Himself after the resurrection.

People who appear in the gospel narrative alongside Jesus will be remembered for many things, but none received the commendation Jesus gave this woman by specifying her place in history, nameless though she was. Was He in fact saying, “You men are so mean-spirited that all you will remembered for is your insensitivity, but she poured out her very best for me”? Could anything be better than that?