Proverbs 10-12
2 Corinthians 4
“After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, 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.” John 6:14-15
After Jesus performed the miracle feeding a crowd of 5,000 men with just five loaves of bread and two fish, there was chatter among the crowd that Jesus must be the One that Moses was talking about. The disciples were probably thinking, “This is great! People are starting to believe!” But Jesus, knowing the intention of the crowd, withdrew Himself. The disciples were probably puzzled at that moment. Why did Jesus leave? What did Jesus see that the disciples did not see? Jesus knew that the crowd intended to come and make Him into their type of king, into an image of their own desire, so He hid Himself from them.
The next day, the crowd realized that they were left behind, so they tried to catch up with Jesus. When they found Him, they asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for Me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval” (John 6:25-26).
Jesus was saying to the crowd, “Your focus is on the wrong things. You are in fact not even here because of the signs that I performed. You are here because of the food you ate.” He had been hidden from them because they were looking for the wrong things. They wanted a good show. They wanted the razzle dazzle but they did not want to make any sacrifices or to serve and truly know Him. Maybe there were business leaders in the crowd who thought, “Wow, we didn’t spend a lot of money getting the bread and Jesus fed thousands. With such a huge profit margin, we’ve got a business here. Let’s call it ‘Alpha and Omega Bakery’ and let’s take over this world with bread.” Instead of the sign clearly pointing to who Jesus is, the crowd took the bread to feed their own desire.
Jesus, however, was trying to reorient the crowd’s focus on things that endure, on eternal things. Even though they had just eaten miraculous bread the day before, the people were hungry again. They needed yet another sign to keep them going, because what they sought did not last. May we ask ourselves this: Is our faith based solely on what Jesus could do for us or is it on who He claims to be—the true bread that came down from heaven?
Precious Jesus, You are the true bread that came down from heaven. Please orient my focus on things that endure, on eternal things. Thank You, Jesus.
2 Corinthians 4
“After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, 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.” John 6:14-15
After Jesus performed the miracle feeding a crowd of 5,000 men with just five loaves of bread and two fish, there was chatter among the crowd that Jesus must be the One that Moses was talking about. The disciples were probably thinking, “This is great! People are starting to believe!” But Jesus, knowing the intention of the crowd, withdrew Himself. The disciples were probably puzzled at that moment. Why did Jesus leave? What did Jesus see that the disciples did not see? Jesus knew that the crowd intended to come and make Him into their type of king, into an image of their own desire, so He hid Himself from them.
The next day, the crowd realized that they were left behind, so they tried to catch up with Jesus. When they found Him, they asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for Me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval” (John 6:25-26).
Jesus was saying to the crowd, “Your focus is on the wrong things. You are in fact not even here because of the signs that I performed. You are here because of the food you ate.” He had been hidden from them because they were looking for the wrong things. They wanted a good show. They wanted the razzle dazzle but they did not want to make any sacrifices or to serve and truly know Him. Maybe there were business leaders in the crowd who thought, “Wow, we didn’t spend a lot of money getting the bread and Jesus fed thousands. With such a huge profit margin, we’ve got a business here. Let’s call it ‘Alpha and Omega Bakery’ and let’s take over this world with bread.” Instead of the sign clearly pointing to who Jesus is, the crowd took the bread to feed their own desire.
Jesus, however, was trying to reorient the crowd’s focus on things that endure, on eternal things. Even though they had just eaten miraculous bread the day before, the people were hungry again. They needed yet another sign to keep them going, because what they sought did not last. May we ask ourselves this: Is our faith based solely on what Jesus could do for us or is it on who He claims to be—the true bread that came down from heaven?
Precious Jesus, You are the true bread that came down from heaven. Please orient my focus on things that endure, on eternal things. Thank You, Jesus.
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