The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me (Moses) from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. (Deuteronomy 18:15)
After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” John 6:1-14, verse 14
Jesus crosses to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (13 miles long, 8 miles wide). A great crowd of people follow – how? Did they walk all around the sea? Maybe some did. Was it a mass flotilla of boats? If so what a sight! 5000+ people and they proceed to follow Jesus up a mountainside. In this remote area, Jesus playfully, with a twinkle in his eye perhaps, asks his disciples “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?”
He knew what he was going to do. He seems to pick his moment to disclose, and ask questions about, his identity. What’s to hand is offered and used: 5 loaves, 2 fish. There is a prayer, all are fed and baskets of leftovers result. This is noted as a sign, pointing to the presence of the long awaited Prophet, now among them. And so expectations will ramp up to a new level.
Curiosity and longing
Notoriety, popularity, celebrity, paparazzi. Expectation. I’ve not known this myself (!) but have read of others’ and for whom this was unsettling, derailing. It hasn’t always worked out well for them! The attitude in light of such attention and expectation can be to hide, to sneer, to bathe in it. And Jesus? Here he creates distance (goes across the sea and up a hill) yet also draws near, showing compassion: What will they eat?
Jesus is moved by and works with the expectations that are present (high and low, accurate and inaccurate). He clocks the crowds’ great curiosity and their deep longing.
He’s ignited the crowds’ expectations with his authoritative words and his healings and he wants to poke the expectations of the disciples too. He’s pricking interest and challenging possibilities, especially about himself eg hilltop recluse or expansive director, peaceful man or stirrer, all talk (though what talk!) and no action?
This miracle, ‘sign’ as John calls them, appears in all 4 gospels. It points to the identity and presence of the longed for Prophet. The ‘great crowd’ (v2 and v5) is in contrast to the ‘small loaves’ and ‘small fish’ (v 9). What have you got, even if it’s little? What do you bring? This is enough for me to work with, to show you who I am and what I would do.
Questions
What do I expect of Jesus? Might Jesus want to challenge that, in terms of his personality and his actions?
What might he expect of me and is that more simple than I think? Might it be to give what’s in my hands, what’s in front of me? Give what I have and am, not what I have not and am not, and that’s enough.
Finally, what part has curiosity and longing played in my life so far?
Andrew Hook