{"id":3473,"date":"2024-03-12T07:45:47","date_gmt":"2024-03-12T11:45:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3473"},"modified":"2024-03-12T08:06:25","modified_gmt":"2024-03-12T12:06:25","slug":"the-four-gospel-miracle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/12\/the-four-gospel-miracle\/","title":{"rendered":"The Four-Gospel Miracle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>
 
Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.    <\/em>
 
A number of years ago I read about a very large church that sponsored a special Sunday morning event: \u201cFeed the 5,000 Day.\u201d 
 
The first 5,000 people who showed up received a fish sandwich \u2013 bread and fish<\/em> \u2013 passed out by Ronald McDonald himself. 
 
You wonder if that day ended the way that Jesus\u2019 day ended on the occasion of the original miracle \u2013 with the main speaker going out of his way to alienate most of a huge crowd that was grateful for a free happy meal.  Here\u2019s what we read in John 6:5-13:
 
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, \u201cWhere shall we buy bread for these people to eat?\u201d  He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.  Philip answered him, \u201cEight months\u2019 wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!\u201d Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter\u2019s brother, spoke up, \u201cHere is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?\u201d<\/em>
 
Jesus said, \u201cHave the people sit down.\u201d  There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about 5,000 of them.  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. When they all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, \u201cGather the pieces that are left over.  Let nothing be wasted.\u201d So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.<\/em>
 
Apart from the resurrection, this is the only miracle that is reported in all four Gospels, which suggests it was deeply meaningful to the first generation of Christians. 
 
Two lessons are immediately obvious.  When we put even meager resources into Jesus\u2019 hands, they are more than enough.  And while he is the one who generates the miraculous feast, he insists on using our hands to pass this blessing on to others. 
 
What\u2019s interesting about this text is the number of numbers.  First, there\u2019s the number of those in the crowd.  Apparently the ushers were standing towards the back, feverishly making notes on their little attendance cards, thinking, \u201cThis is even bigger than Mother\u2019s Day!\u201d 
 
As far as we know, this is the largest crowd that ever heard Jesus speak.  John tells us, \u201cthe men<\/em> sat down, about 5,000 of them.\u201d  The other Gospels point out that this total did not include the women and children who were present. 
 
Thus there may have been as many as 20,000 people in the crowd.  It\u2019s worth noting that while the Gospel writers didn\u2019t count the women and children, Jesus did.  He fed them all.
 
The other numbers concern limitations.  Philip gasps, \u201cIt would take eight months\u2019 wages to pick up the check for this picnic!\u201d 
 
The disciples also count what they have with absolute precision.  \u201cWe have seven items, Lord:  Five loaves and two fish.  That is the boundary of our resources.  What exactly do you plan to do with seven items?\u201d 
 
This, however, turns out to be the day they discover that followers of Jesus must learn to count to eight.  Jesus himself is the greater Reality that overshadows all our limitations.
 
Check out the crowd\u2019s response following this astonishing provision of food:  \u201cAfter the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, \u2018Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.\u2019  Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself\u201d (John 6:14-15).
 
During the first century, a number of rabbis had been teaching that when the Messiah finally came he would restore the daily provision of manna that God had provided for forty years after the Exodus.  When the Messiah arrived on earth, it would be free lunches for everybody.
 
The crowd in John chapter six isn\u2019t hungry for Jesus.  Their agenda is another miracle \u2013 the bread that miraculously appeared during the time of Moses.
 
If we are utterly honest about our own prayers, isn\u2019t this where we often find ourselves?  Our lips may say, \u201cLord, give me the strength to do what you want,\u201d but in our hearts we\u2019re actually sighing, \u201cLord, give me the strength to do what I<\/u><\/em> want.\u201d 
 
Jesus\u2019 agenda is not to open a divine catering service.  He doesn\u2019t want to become somebody\u2019s meal ticket.  His intention is to capitalize on the reality of the crowd\u2019s hunger and to say, \u201cI know what you really want.  The only thing that will ultimately satisfy you is trusting me.  I am the Bread of Life.  I am not a side dish.  I am not dessert.  I am life\u2019s main course.\u201d 
 
The crowd\u2019s response comes in verse 41: \u201cAt this the Jews began to grumble about him\u2026\u201d All these years they\u2019ve been waiting for God\u2019s Chosen One, and when he finally shows up he\u2019s the kid from down the street whose mother became pregnant under suspicious circumstances, and who grew up to be a blue-collar worker in the construction industry.  How can this be the Messiah?
 
This teaching proves to be the breaking point even for some of his core followers. 
 
Consider verse 60: \u201cOn hearing it, many of his disciples said, \u2018This is a hard teaching.  Who can accept it?\u2019\u201d 
 
The word \u201chard\u201d here doesn\u2019t mean hard to understand.  The crowd knows exactly what Jesus is claiming.  This is simply outrageously hard to accept.
 
It\u2019s hard for us, too.  Most messages in our culture are about making life easier.  Jesus intentionally and provocatively makes things harder. 
 
Those who experienced the miracle that day \u2013 the ones who ate the loaves and fishes \u2013 were forced to answer two questions:  What kind of kingdom are we waiting for?  And what kind of king do we really want?
 
Every morning we have to answer the same two questions.

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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.     A number of years ago I read about a very large church that sponsored a special Sunday morning event: \u201cFeed the 5,000 Day.\u201d  The first 5,000… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3474,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[11],"class_list":["post-3473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-miracles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3473"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3477,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3473\/revisions\/3477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}