Cruise ships have become known for offering an astounding variety of menu items as a main attraction.
I've never been on a cruise, but I've enjoyed a few high-end, all-you-can-eat buffets.
Such luxury and abundance have become almost commonplace in North American culture.
But in first century Israel, they were not.
Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?" He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little." One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him, "There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 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.
And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"
Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
John 6:5-15 ESV
In this episode of Jesus' ministry we get a glimpse of what Jesus considered an adequate earthly meal for his followers, who apparently had only the smallest of appetites for the most satisfying food – his sustaining words.
Some scholars have compared circumstances surrounding this and following events with Moses leading the Israelites into the wilderness of Sinai after their miraculous flight from Egypt. Those refugees complained that the menu God provided was inadequate, because it was a departure from the cuisine they had become accustomed to in Egypt.
Jesus' miracle of multiplication of the five barley loaves and two fish that fed five thousand men plus their families, stirred a desire in that crowd to crown him their king. They likely hoped he would serve as their second Moses and lead their nation to freedom from their Roman oppressors.
Why did Jesus withdraw from their grasp? Because the more expansive kingdom he continues to offer his followers is not of this world.
"My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world." John 18:36 ESV
Instead, those of us who follow him anticipate the most luxurious banquet ever prepared after his victorious return to establish his forever kingdom.
And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." Revelation 19:9 ESV
Have you been anxious to secure Jesus' kingdom in this world? Do you long for a return to a framework that allegedly surpasses our present arrangement? Perhaps you are eager to override outdated, existing systems for a better world?
Take inventory of your desires for benign leadership to establish firm, worldly dominance, even in what appear to be godly interests. Submit those desires to Jesus as you re-read John 6:1-25.
by Kathleen Petersen
