Scripture/Bible: After this Jesus went to
the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiber'i-as. 2 And a multitude followed
him, because they saw the signs which he did on those who were diseased. 3 Jesus went up on the
mountain, and there sat down with his disciples. 4 Now
the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting
up his eyes, then, and seeing that a multitude was coming to him, Jesus said to
Philip, "How are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" 6 This he said to test him,
for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip
answered him, "Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of
them to get a little." 8 One of his disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, 9 "There
is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they among
so many?" 10 Jesus said, "Make the
people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place; so the men sat
down, in number about five thousand. 11 Jesus
then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to
those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten
their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the fragments left over,
that nothing may be lost." 13 So they gathered them up
and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves, left by
those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the
sign which he had done, they said, "This is indeed the prophet who is to
come into the world!" John
6:1-14
Reflection: There are
various reasons why one would follow a leader. Today’s gospel reading reveals
one such reason why people followed Jesus, viz. signs of his healing people from
diseases. They were, for the sake of
signs, even willing to follow Jesus across the Sea of Galilee on the other
side.
Signs
are a great attraction and seeing those signs they may have recognized Jesus as
someone great and mighty. But did they recognize
the real Jesus and how he is to be recognized?
Unless
he reveals himself to them they will never be able to recognize him as he is to
be recognized. No smart man on earth can do that, even with one’s best learning
or observational ability. What they recognized
about Jesus was commendable but not legitimately correct.
Hence
we could safely ask; were these in reality followers of Jesus? Did they recognize
Jesus as who he is? No.
What
Jesus wants is true followers; one’s who are willing to learn the serious
things of the kingdom of God from him and willing to dedicate themselves as his
disciples.
Here
is a clear sign of discrimination between the ordinary followers and the serious
followers. It is the disciples he can lead to the test and speak the
secrets of the kingdom, and here in this case he speaks to Philip; “How are we to buy bread, so that these people may
eat?" vs 5.
While
the effect of his signs were meant for the benefit of the people the learning
from the sign was meant for his disciples; “This he said to test him, for he
himself knew what he would do.” Vs. 6
Prayer: Lord,
lead me by thy light and guide me to the truth.
DD = Dedicated Discipleship: Come grow in the Lord with us
thank you Father
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