Belonging (S2) : WK 1 - WED
(John 6:7-9) Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
The truth isn’t always right. That sentence seems silly at first glance but allow me to expand on this idea for a bit.
Philip said something that was true.
“Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
There was an immediate need to feed thousands of people. That was true. The only way to make the amount of money to feed all those people was for all of the disciples to work for months. That was also true. But these truths created a false premise in Philip and probably some of the other disciples.
What Philip was basically saying was that it would be impossible for them to feed the crowd. They couldn’t do it. They didn’t have the time or the resources to get the job done. All of that was true.
But what Philip got wrong was that he didn’t understand that the crowd would be fed. We will find out later in the story that Jesus feeds the crowd and doesn’t need to use time or money. Although Philip was right about their lack, he was wrong about the will of God.
So in comes Andrew, with a little boy and his little lunch. And here is where the story turns. Here is where the truth begins to get blown away. Jesus grabs the opportunity to show that the truth of the limits of the situation don’t mean anything to Jesus. The people will eat today. God’s power will shine through the lunch of a boy.
Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”
The truth isn’t always right. That sentence seems silly at first glance but allow me to expand on this idea for a bit.
Philip said something that was true.
“Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”
There was an immediate need to feed thousands of people. That was true. The only way to make the amount of money to feed all those people was for all of the disciples to work for months. That was also true. But these truths created a false premise in Philip and probably some of the other disciples.
What Philip was basically saying was that it would be impossible for them to feed the crowd. They couldn’t do it. They didn’t have the time or the resources to get the job done. All of that was true.
But what Philip got wrong was that he didn’t understand that the crowd would be fed. We will find out later in the story that Jesus feeds the crowd and doesn’t need to use time or money. Although Philip was right about their lack, he was wrong about the will of God.
So in comes Andrew, with a little boy and his little lunch. And here is where the story turns. Here is where the truth begins to get blown away. Jesus grabs the opportunity to show that the truth of the limits of the situation don’t mean anything to Jesus. The people will eat today. God’s power will shine through the lunch of a boy.
- What is a need you have today that God could fulfill?
- In what area of your life do you struggle to have faith that God will provide?
- How have you seen God provide for you lately?
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