Corona Chronicles - Crown of Thorns

Welcome to corona chronicles. We're actually in the middle of the story of the feeding of the 5000. And we're gonna pick it up at verse 35. So let's let's read. By this time, it was late in the day So his disciples came to him.

This is a remote place they said. And it's already very late. Send the people away. So that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered, you give them something to eat.

They said to him, that would take more than half a year's wages. Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat? How many lows do you have? He asked. Go and see.

When they found out they said 5 and 2 fish. Then Jesus told them to make all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties taking the 5 loads and the 2 fish and looking up to heaven, he gave fence and broke the loads. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute the people. He also divided the 2 fish among them, all.

They all ate and were satisfied. And the disciples picked up 12 basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was 5000. And that's just huge. You're betting some people think that when you include women and children, you've been looking at 15 pounds in a row.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So This is enormous crap.

And this is 1 of the most famous miracles to Jesus. It crops up in every 1 of the gospels. Yep. And it's even 1 of those expressions that has that has made its way into set limits. Yeah.

You know, a lot. It's gonna be speeding the 5000, you know, because it is such a such an iconic story. Really? And in here, and for good reason, you know. And I think I think what's interesting for verse 35, and we were picking up on this in in our session a couple of days ago, is that the the apostles, the disciples have been come back and they've reported to Jesus.

It's all the things that they did and saw on admission. Yeah. And yet, it's still being hounded by these great crowds. And whereas we might expect Jesus just to say, right, go away, guys. You know, give us some time Actually, he has compassion on them.

He teaches them, but he is also going to provide for them. In this miraculous way, and in doing that reveals something incredible about bad result. So they might have had a little bit more patience. Okay. You know, we've been teaching let's let Jesus teach for a bit.

Yes. Yeah. And then they go, okay, enough enough enough. Yeah. Yeah.

They were looking at their Send them out. Yeah. You know, they need to go now. But, you know, and and they're they're they're seeing. They're hungry.

But when when they come up with the idea, let's send them out to the villages and towns -- Yeah. -- to get sent to e. He turns it back on them and says, you give them sent them. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And and it's an amazing it's an amazing thing, isn't it? Because what he's really doing there, I mean, it's quite funny, isn't it? It's been funny. Yeah.

Yeah. What he's doing now, I think, is revealing that they still have got some way to go before they truly grasp the identity of Christ. Yeah. Yeah. And I think right up until chapter 8, that's the point that's been made, isn't it?

Like, there's this there needs to be this revelation who Jesus is before the penny drops. And I think he's wanting to say to them that you, you know, you guys are thinking you're thinking only in material terms here. Yeah. Yeah. Too many people.

We don't have enough. It costs too much. Send them home. We can't is they're still not sort of thinking big picture, supernatural provision. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, I mean, that's the thing, isn't it? Most of the miracles up till now have been individuals, you know, you know, healing this 1 and that 1 -- Mhmm. -- driving out this demon and that demon. This is big scale miracle here.

You know? This is and and and as the as the story goes on, I'm sort of thinking, it's it's he's dropping loads of hints here, isn't he? They're sitting down in hundreds and fifties. Yes. You know, like, He's he's sort of trying to help he he's trying to get them to go, oh, man.

This reminds me of an old testament story. Yeah. Yeah. But but they're not getting it, are they? They're just they're just, you know, this is what Moses did.

Yeah. Hundreds fifties. Yeah. But they're still you know, as you say, because they're thinking that they're thinking is still quite small. Yeah.

It's it's yes, Jesus is powerful. Yes, you can do, you know, like even calm the storm, that was pretty big. But this is this is this is a different story. Yeah. Yeah.

We've got a lot of angry people. Yeah. And thousands of them. Yeah. But 5000 men, probably plus women and children.

Yeah. You're talking 15000 people here. Yeah. Incredible. It's a big task.

And I think And I think there's some there's some kind of encouragement in what the disciples are doing, because it's interesting that earlier in chapter 6, you know, they themselves on their kind of pre apostolic mission -- Mhmm. -- have experienced and seen God provide for them in miraculous ways. You know, when they work announcing people with oil, driving out demons, healing people. You know, they've seen the power of god at work. And, yeah, just short while later, they they seem to forget -- Yeah.

-- these possibilities. And we're still like that. Yeah. We we might we might see got answer our prayers and do incredible things for us in the ministry. Yeah.

And then just a week later, we can doubt. Yeah. You know, we're we're we're so like that Jesus is thankfully so patient. But as you as you rightly say, you know, I think there's more going on here and just to feed it, miracle. Jesus is, It is sort of hard, you know, sort of trying to get their minds back into into Moses that oh, what have we got here?

Large crowd. In a wilderness, supernatural provision, satisfaction of the people. Yeah. You know, this is this Jesus is saying, you know, the 1 graced the most is here. Yeah.

Yeah. Except that kind of thing. Yeah. I mean and then, you know, like, even I just wonder as well, like, when they're picking up, the leftovers. Again, are they they obviously they obviously didn't do this because he has to go on to remind them later on.

Yeah. But, like, 12 baskets. Yeah. Yeah. 12 baskets are there.

Yeah. It's not an accident. Yeah. That's right. It's like I wonder if anyone any of them did say, like so so, you know, for instance, Matthew.

Right? Yeah. You know, he's Google number. He's a Yeah. He used to be a task letter.

Is he going 12? That's that's funny in it. Yeah. Yeah. It's 12 of us.

Yeah. And then, you know, be but, obviously, they're they're not. But you just saw, like, none of them got it. Yeah. Yeah.

It doesn't seem like it did. And mean, I think it is extraordinary. And they all ate and were satisfied. Yeah. So it probably wouldn't be possible with modern technology and laser division to actually break up 5 loaves and 2 fish -- Yeah.

-- into 15000 faces. But no 1 would say that was a satisfactory pool that they received. And, yeah, yeah, here they are. Yeah. This is just an incredible thing.

I remember sitting on a panel recently. No. Not recently. Last year, it was an into a sort of into faith panel. Secondary school, and the kids were asking us all questions about the bible.

And 1 of them was that 1 of them asked about this miracle by another chap I was sad with said, And this is the kind of thing you might read in some commentaries, but you you can hardly believe anyone actually believes that yeah. Said that that the real miracle hit was Jesus enabled people to to to share what they had with their neighbors. And in that way, everyone was satisfied, you know, and sort of miracle was overcoming stinginess, really? And you just say, there is no warrant for that implementation. You know, that that's that's not a plain understanding of of of this, is it?

No. And the point here is, no, this this is a supernatural act of god. Incredible miracle pointing to who Jesus is. Yeah. And I think it might be a sort of a side note, but the fact that the story is just told.

There's no there's no sort of there's no shame in it. There's no let let let's just sort of try and give you some evidence to prove that the the the miracle is done. Everybody believed it. You know, there was no there's no there's no sort of there's no there's no attempt to justify it. It's just told.

Yeah. It's just But sort of goes to, you know, goes to show Yeah. Yeah. This this was this this in my musical was was known about it was believed -- Yeah. -- that, you know, that the eyewitness is sort of over their own I mean, like, sick people who were just waiting to be demuded by any trickster or magician that came along.

You know? They weren't sensible men. Yeah. No. Yeah.

See, And -- Yeah. -- yeah. Something something awesome has happened here. And I think, you know, so the core for us is to recognize who this Jesus is, isn't it? But also, I think with that, there there comes a sort of encouragement that that the lords can use our little efforts.

Yeah. To do things. Yeah. I think there is something in that often, particularly in this lockdown time that, you know, that sort of our efforts and -- Yeah. -- services perhaps have looked and felt weak and our efforts to reach the community feel like they've been just weak and hindered.

But actually, God can take the little bits of sandwich, and and he can use it and multiply it, for example, or it can feed the people, and that's what we want. 15 the sandwich. Yeah. Which really sounds. Great.

Join us next time when I will be thinking about another miracle, Jesus walking on water.