Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 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!”
In one of my favorite Bible stories from John 6, we see the disciples trying to figure out how to a) pay for and b) get a meal for 5,000 people who showed up in a remote location late in the afternoon to listen to Jesus. Philip was freaking out about such an expensive proposition – more than eight months’ worth of wages would be needed to buy enough food for all these people.
I like Philip’s reaction to the question Jesus brings before him because he thought about the situation in pragmatic terms. “Here are 5,000 people. The sun’s setting. They’re getting hungry for dinner. There’s no food here, so we’ll have to go to town to buy some.” Then he did the math in his head and found the whole idea terribly expensive. Philip is practical, smart, and wholly human in his thinking here.
The only thing is, Philip forgot that he was in the presence of Jesus. Jesus, just prior to this, had been traveling and healing people. The disciples, including Philip, were around for this, witnessing the many miracles that were performed that day. In trying to solve a problem with human thinking, Philip forgot very quickly that with Jesus anything was possible. Ordinary human rules did not apply with Him.
Just like Philip, we often forget that we live and walk in the very presence of God every day. In our thinking, we often try to solve our problems using human logic and human methods. There’s nothing wrong with that; it usually works. However, sometimes we find ourselves faced with a problem, like the disciples did that afternoon, that defies conventional human logic, and we don’t have the financial, physical, or emotional resources to solve it. So, we sit, trying to figure out how to solve it using our human means, growing in our despair and anxiety, completely forgetting about God, forgetting that with Him – our Creator of everything in the universe – anything is possible!
God just asks that we trust Him in that He’ll provide what we need exactly when we need it because just like Jesus in John 6, He already has in mind what He is going to do! Jesus wasn’t caught off-guard by the need of these people. He knew what they would need and how to handle it long before he asked Philip, “Where shall we buy the bread?”
Next week we’ll see how Jesus solved the problem of feeding 5,000 people by using a human offering of just five loaves of bread and two small fish.
-Matt
breadfeedfishfive thousandGodhumanJesusJohnloaveslogicmethodsPhilippresencetrust
With God, Anything’s Possible… Part I
March 11, 2010
Calvary
Comments Off on With God, Anything’s Possible… Part I
Matt
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 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!”
In one of my favorite Bible stories from John 6, we see the disciples trying to figure out how to a) pay for and b) get a meal for 5,000 people who showed up in a remote location late in the afternoon to listen to Jesus. Philip was freaking out about such an expensive proposition – more than eight months’ worth of wages would be needed to buy enough food for all these people.
I like Philip’s reaction to the question Jesus brings before him because he thought about the situation in pragmatic terms. “Here are 5,000 people. The sun’s setting. They’re getting hungry for dinner. There’s no food here, so we’ll have to go to town to buy some.” Then he did the math in his head and found the whole idea terribly expensive. Philip is practical, smart, and wholly human in his thinking here.
The only thing is, Philip forgot that he was in the presence of Jesus. Jesus, just prior to this, had been traveling and healing people. The disciples, including Philip, were around for this, witnessing the many miracles that were performed that day. In trying to solve a problem with human thinking, Philip forgot very quickly that with Jesus anything was possible. Ordinary human rules did not apply with Him.
Just like Philip, we often forget that we live and walk in the very presence of God every day. In our thinking, we often try to solve our problems using human logic and human methods. There’s nothing wrong with that; it usually works. However, sometimes we find ourselves faced with a problem, like the disciples did that afternoon, that defies conventional human logic, and we don’t have the financial, physical, or emotional resources to solve it. So, we sit, trying to figure out how to solve it using our human means, growing in our despair and anxiety, completely forgetting about God, forgetting that with Him – our Creator of everything in the universe – anything is possible!
God just asks that we trust Him in that He’ll provide what we need exactly when we need it because just like Jesus in John 6, He already has in mind what He is going to do! Jesus wasn’t caught off-guard by the need of these people. He knew what they would need and how to handle it long before he asked Philip, “Where shall we buy the bread?”
Next week we’ll see how Jesus solved the problem of feeding 5,000 people by using a human offering of just five loaves of bread and two small fish.
-Matt
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