Let’s
call his name Joshua. And let’s think of
him as an old, old man. Joshua was an
old man with a great memory for detail.
He loved to tell and retell memories that were important to him. Everyone who knew Joshua enjoyed his stories,
because not only was he quite old with many, many different stories, but he was
gifted a story-teller, too. So, anytime
Joshua cleared his throat and said, “Did I ever tell you about the time . . .
“, everyone would lean in to listen.
“Did
I ever tell you about the time I was a little boy at a great banquet? No? Well,
back when I was quite young, probably not more ten or eleven, I went out by the
sea. There were a great many people
there from all over the region—tall, short, young, old, rich, poor, crippled, and
healthy.
“The
day was a beautiful day. The sun was
bright in the late afternoon sky. You
had to squint your eyes when you looked at the sea because a million little
sunbursts were exploding across the surface of the deep, blue-green water. It felt like they were bouncing off of the
surface and right into my eyes.
“I
remember the sea breeze racing over my skin and ducking into my clothes as if
it was looking for a place to hide. Birds
coasted over and dove into the water, scooping up late afternoon insects or
top-dwelling fish.
“As
the afternoon went on I started feeling a bit hungry. I was glad that my mother packed me a
meal. She was nearby and was constantly
looking at something over the shoulders of other people in front of us. I couldn’t really see much of anything. All I really saw were the bellies and backs
of the adults all around me.
Occasionally I would catch the eye of other children being squeezed in
the sea of legs, walking sticks and backpacks.
Every once in a while a dog would run through yapping and yipping. That was kind of fun, and sometimes a bit
scary if they were coming right at me.
But all I had to do was reach for my mother’s or father’s hand and I
felt secure again.
“I
remember at one point I started getting tired and told my Mom that I was
hungry. She told me to wait just a bit
more, because we were getting closer.
‘Closer to what?’ I asked. ‘Just
hang on to me and you will see’.
“A moment or two
later there was an opening in the crowd.
I could see that there was a group of men standing together and everyone
wanted to touch one man in particular.
Then I heard a strange conversation that was started by the man everyone
was looking at, (John 6:5b-7)"Where
shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" Then another man answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy
enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
I told you there were lots of people there.
“It was at the point my mother remembered my
whining for dinner and she quickly handed me my meal. I eagerly opened it, but then all of the sudden
I heard one of the men say, "Here is
a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they
go among so many?"
“I
can tell you for certain that my little stomach was not any too happy to give
up my meal—for what it was worth. But
there was something about the urgency of the moment. So, I handed it—napkin and all—to the men.
“I
can still remember the surprise of those around us. I can still see some of the
smiles on the faces of the adults as they looked down at me. And I can still remember my mother leaning
down suddenly with a warm hug, whispering in my ear. ‘That’s Jesus! You just gave your lunch to
Jesus. I am so proud of you.’
“I
had heard the name of Jesus in my parent’s conversations. I remembered hearing that He was a good man,
who helped people everywhere He went.
But it wasn’t until this particular day that I really saw what that
meant.
“You
see, there were thousands of people out by the sea that day. It was only as I grew a bit older that I
truly comprehended why everyone wanted to be near this man named Jesus. They had come from far and wide, some of them
forgetting to even bring food, some of them having run out of food as they
followed Him that day. So really it
wasn’t just me that was hungry—we all were.
And Jesus wanted us to be fed.
“Then I heard Jesus
say, “Have the people sit down.” (6:10a).
I remember reading about it later and it was written this way: There was plenty of grass in that place, and
the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave
thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did
the same with the fish. (6:10b-13)
“I don’t think that I
can rightly tell you how He did it—the fish and the bread just did not stop
coming. I know three things from that
day 1) I gave Him my lunch, 2) He gave thanks to God and 3) then we all had
lunch!
“The writer put it this way: When they had all had enough to eat, he said
to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be
wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces
of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. (6:12-13)
“I don’t care what
anyone says, that was a banquet!
Everyone around me, my mother, and everyone we walked by on the way
home—not one of them complained of being hungry.
“From that day forward I thanked God just the
way Jesus did for my food. But something
else happened that day. I began to want to follow Jesus myself. Not because my mother wanted me to, but
because I wanted to go. Every
opportunity I got I wanted to thank Him for that feast and all
the ones to come.”
______________________________
The Apostle John
remembered this story that we find in the Gospels. He remembered the
little boy. And later in chapter 6 of
the Gospel of John we see that he remembered something else. Jesus took their recent experience of actual
bread to teach them a profound truth about who He is.
Read John 6:26-33.
Today we can acknowledge
the Bread from heaven. It is Jesus
Christ who has given us life—real life.
He’s given us far more than homes to live in, food on the table,
emotional healing, restored relationships.
He’s given us far more than cars and work and money and courage to
endure and strength to carry on. He’s
given us above all we can ask and imagine—and that is salvation from sin and into spiritual peace now and eternal peace forever.
Take some time right
now to give thanks for all the Jesus Christ has given you.
Amen
Copyright M.R. Hyde
2014
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