“Bread in the wilderness”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Friday, January 26, 2024

John 6:1-15 (Forward, p. 89) CEV p. 1107

There was an occasion, when the Israelites were still in the wilderness of Sinai, when they murmured against Moses, and said, ‘He has done such and such, but can he provide bread in the wilderness?’ Basically, they were putting limits on God. They were alleging that, while He certainly could do such and such, this present ‘issue’ was beyond His capability.

We see a reflection, another example, of that kind of thinking in today’s gospel account. We see this in the responses of Philip and Andrew. Upon seeing the vast crowd coming toward Him, Jesus asked Philip: “Where will we get enough food to feed all these people?” (verse 5)

Philip’s answer is clearly in keeping with that of the ancient Israelites there in the wilderness: “Don’t you know that it would take almost a year’s wages

just to buy only a little bread for each of these people?” (verse 7). Isn’t that just par for the course, namely, to dwell on the enormity of the problem and the impossibility of solving it? It sounds like so many of us today!

Andrew isn’t quite on the same hopeless page as Philip. He has been scouting out just to see what resources they actually do have. His assessment, however, isn’t that encouraging: “There is a boy here who has five small loaves of barley bread and two fish. But what good is that with all these people?” (verse 9). Again, this sounds so very much like those ancient Israelites. “We’re in a wilderness here, with so little by way of resources, so how can you possibly ‘pull this off?”

I’m afraid that we, you and I, and all the rest of the world for that matter, are often in that ‘wilderness’ mode of thinking. We look around us and see only scarcity, only inadequacy in one form or another. We throw up our hands and conclude that neither we nor God can do anything.

But what does Jesus say? He simply asks us to give over to Him and to His use what little we have, whether that be material resources or abilities or skills or experiences or anything else. And then He takes them, blesses them, multiplies them and meets a need as only He can. It may well seem impossible and unbelievable, but with He and us working together anything and everything is quite doable. Thanks be to God.

Forward notes: “When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do.” (verses 5-6).

“When I was 15, I left my home in Jamaica to attend a boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland. On a trip home, the principal at my old school asked me to speak at my old school and share my experiences. I was afraid, embarrassed even, to share with my peers, and I declined.

“My father later taught me an important lesson. When asked to do something, even if you think it’s out of your reach, say yes and figure out how to do it later. God has already put inside you what is needed to accomplish the task.

“Jesus asked Philip a question to ‘test him.’ To test Philip’s faith? To test how he would approach something humanly impossible? Philip answered as I often do—naming the practical limitations. But with God, the humanly impossible becomes divinely possible.”

Moving Forward: “Are you putting off an important action because it seems impossible? Remember that God has already put inside you all that is needed to accomplish the task.”