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| The ancient ruins of the bread maker in Pompeii, Italy. |
After Jesus had become known as a great healer and teacher, a crowd began to follow him. He was a Biblical times equivalent to an idol or a celebrity. During one event, John explains, multitudes gathered to hear Jesus speak. They estimated the number to be around five thousand people. His disciples, knowing that they could not possibly feed everyone (there were no concession stands back then) with only five loaves of bread and two fish, were concerned. If we remember here John's Gospel introduction, Jesus was in the beginning with God, and the Word was made flesh, we understand then with just a spoken word how Jesus could provide twelve baskets of food with only the fragments or leftovers of what they had eaten. Jesus who has all knowledge of the universe and is that knowledge should never be questioned. We have no questions thoughtful enough to contest His wisdom!
As humans, we fall prey to the needs of the physical. Of course we need to eat! Although Jesus as man was not immune to physical needs; He still was "God" in flesh, a fact that no other man could or ever can claim. Being of the Word in the flesh, Jesus was not chained to this world like us. He knew that this world is finite. This is not to say that He did not understand our anxieties and needs. He knew that in order for five thousand people to hear His teachings, they must be fed. Jesus, despite His own freedom from bondage to fleshly concerns, was compassionate to those who were confined by their physical and mental limitations. Regardless of his own lack of need, He helped those who needed what He could do without! What a great lesson we learn in this passage! To give to others what we can so easily do without!
John includes another great miracle in Chapter six. The miracle of Jesus walking on water is a Bible school favorite. Storytellers compound the drama of the story as Jesus walks on the waves through a strong wind to unite with His followers on their boat. The men are frightened when they see Him. I think of my own encounters on the water when the wind has changed and a sudden storm has threatened our safety, and it is quite an experience in and of itself, but to see Jesus walking on the white capped waves and pushing through the heavy winds, I would also have been spooked! Of course, the disciples took Jesus aboard and were glad to find themselves immediately ashore, but they still did not get it. Jesus had shown them two great miracles in only a day's time and they still wavered in their faith.
Arriving in Capernaum, Jesus speaks to His followers in the synagogue. He reveals himself entirely to them with what was surely a startling statement for many. In Chapter 6:35, He says, "I am the bread of life." The Jews were stirring with resentment at these words, mocking them as sacriligous, but Jesus faced them head on. In verse 43 he responds, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day... Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except him who is from God; He has seen the father...I am the bread of life."
Not only the Jews, but many of the disciples of Jesus had a hard time accepting this shocking revelation. Even though they had just witnessed the miracle of Jesus feeding thousands and the miracle of Jesus walking on water, there were those who still did not believe. In verse 64, we again harken back to the beginning of John's Gospel, "In the beginnning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" when John writes, "Jesus knew..." He knew! He knew from the first that there would be those who would not believe and those who would betray Him. After Capernaum, many of disciples refused to follow Him, only twelve of them stayed, and of them "Jesus knew" that one would betray Him.
Jesus knows all. It is written in Chapter 1:2-3, "He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." Does Jesus know what we will do next? Yes, He does. Does Jesus know what we will do last? Yes, He does. We can only hope that when confronted with His presence either next or last, we will know Him. We must pray that we are one of those whom Jesus explains in Chapter 6:39, those given to Him by His Father who will be raised up on the last day. Those who when they see the Son, believe in Him, and who will be given eternal life. Right now, we must have hope and walk on faith that someday we will share with our Savior heaven's glory.
