Reflection -- Redefining the Possible

Once more we have an account of Jesus miraculously feeding a crowd.  Last week the account was from Mark's gospel.  This time it is from the gospel of  John.  Is there still more to be learned?  So it appears.

Of course it will come as no surprise to you that there is a major theological point here.  These kinds of miraculous events were signs pointing to who Jesus was and is.  This is not just some ordinary teacher. 

But, as they say in those terrible old TV “infomercials,” wait, there is more.  For one thing, Jesus' concern for us isn’t just an otherworldly concern for our spiritual needs, as important as they may be.  Jesus is concerned with meeting human need at the most basic “right here, right now” levels; in this case, food to fill empty stomachs.  Jesus was a very practical teacher.  It’s first things first.  Of course meeting spiritual needs is critical, but it is hard for the average person to concentrate on the spiritual when their empty stomachs are crying out for attention.  (There are some obvious lessons for doing effective ministry here.)

Further, Jesus’ concern and compassion are not just for advanced disciples.  The crowd’s interest in him here seems to have been at a pretty shallow level. They’d heard about the healing miracles and wanted to see the show.   Nevertheless, Jesus cared for them.  (Perhaps there is a second ministry lesson here.  You have to get their attention before you can fed their bodies or their souls.)

And there is something else here too; something curious.  Why did Jesus ask one of his disciples a question, “where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?,” when he already knew the answer and doubtless knew that the disciple did not.  What’s this “testing” business?

Eugene H. Peterson’s biblical paraphrase, The Message, sheds some interesting light on this.  He translates the first part of verse 6 this way:  “He said this to stretch Philip’s faith.”

Philip did not have an answer to Jesus' question.  But that was OK.  Now that he had Philip’s attention, Jesus set to work showing God’s realities, God’s brand new possibilities.  A commentator says this:  “The point is that cautious calculations that operate only on the basis of possibility, calculations otherwise revered in our world, ignore ‘the One who comes from above’ … , the One who redefines what is possible.”  How much do we miss when we march along with our “rational” 21^st century minds always thinking inside the box and ignoring the One who comes from above, the One who redefines what is possible? 

As it was with Philip, it is OK that we don't have all the answers.  If we keep on following Jesus, for reasons shallow or profound, we learn little by little that God is always all about redefining what’s possible.  God’s “testing” is to help our horizons expand until we get a grasp of God’s possibilities so that we can start living in the realm of faith. 

So perhaps we need to try a little faith-stretching when there is some rationally insurmountable problem that stands between us and getting the right thing done. The Master is still able to take charge and turn things around in ways that you and I can’t see at the beginning.

revclay

_______________________________

John 6:1-15

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.  Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.  The Jewish Passover Feast was near. 

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?"  He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 

Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" 

Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" 

Jesus said, "Have the people sit down."  There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand 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 had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over.  Let nothing be wasted."  So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. 

After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.  [NIV]