1After this
Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of
Tiberias. 2And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that
he was doing on the sick.
3Jesus went up
on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4Now the Passover,
the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5Lifting 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?”
6He said this to
test him, for he himself knew what he would do.
7Philip answered
him,
“Two hundred
denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.”
8One of his
disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him,
9“There is a boy
here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?”
10Jesus said,
“Have the people
sit down.”
Now there was
much grass in the place. So, the men sat down, about five thousand in number.
11Jesus 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.
12And when they
had eaten their fill, he told his disciples,
“Gather up the
leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.”
13So they
gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley
loaves left by those who had eaten.
14When the
people saw the sign that he had done, they said,
“This is indeed
the Prophet who is to come into the world!”
15Perceiving
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 6:1-15
COMMENTARY
These people had
followed Jesus to his planned retreat with his disciples who had just come back
from their first missionary trip, but it proved to be hard to scape the masses
who followed the Lord, because they needed Him (Mark 6:30-32). Jesus received
them not because He could not be away from them (John 6:15), but because He felt
mercy towards them (Mark 6:34).
There were many
there. Some who believed in Him, as He Himself said He was, the Messiah and Son
of God. There were others who thought He was just another Prophet. Other did
not pay attention of who He was, but they knew He had power from God, and
mostly these, they followed Him for his miracles. And some others they did not
have a fixed opinion of Him, and they followed Him out of curiosity. But all of
them they needed Jesus.
After teaching
them the way to God, our Lord knew that they were hungry and far away from any
town, so to prove his disciples’ maturity in the faith, He asked what they
could buy with the 200 Denarii they had in their money bag (Approx. US$150-200).
Jesus knew the place was far, and that 200 Denarius could not cover the food of
5000 people.
The apostles
responded that that was not enough and that the place was far from any town for
them to go and eat (John 6:7; Mark 6:35-36). They did not give thought of the
ability of Lord Jesus to feed them all from the rocks if He wanted. So, Jesus
took the conversation and said for them to feed them (Mark 6:37), and they found
a boy there present who had five loafs of bread and two fish, probably for
sale, or for his own family. Jesus blessed the food, giving thanks to the
Father for his providence, not like a human does, but as his only Son who knew that
all that was going to happen even before He was born.
Through this,
Jesus demonstrated his own disciples, the only ones who seemed to have known about
the miracle, that He had power over nature and that He was totally reliable,
and therefore, worthy of our trust once again, in the three years of schooling
they enjoyed with the Lord.
When He ordered
the left overs to be collected, they filled twelve baskets of bread, left after
feeding them, and seems that the story sparked and they realized that Jesus had
performed such a miracle. Jesus had fed them from nothing, and they marveled of
his power and thought that nobody else than Him could cover the place of the promised
King of Israel, and so they ran towards Him to name Him King.
Jesus moved
away, because He had not come to create an earthly kingdom, even though He
could have; but because He had come to save us from our sins, through his
vicarious atonement.
Jesus had the
power they accused Him for. He could have proclaimed Himself successor of David
and conquer not only the whole of ancient Israel, but the world entirely. He could have stopped his crucifixion, but He
knew his call was unique and that nobody else could save us. And because He
loved us, He continued with the Plan of Salvation, out of his own free will.
Glory to You
Great Lord JESUS-CHRIST.
Omar Flores.
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