6:1 thru 6:24 (Mar 1)

A great crowd of people follows Jesus to the mountainside. After Jesus miraculously feeds them, the crowd says "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world". My bible points this reference to a passage in Deuteronomy 18, which says "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [referring to Moses] from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb [another mountainside, where the law was given] on the day of the assembly when you said, "Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die [the people recognize their sinfulness before God]" The Lord said to me: "What they say is good. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account."

This highlights what Jesus just said in 5:46: "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me". A prophet greater than Moses is sent. The people do hear the voice of the Lord their God. And they are commanded to listen to what he tells them, to what he speaks on behalf of God. For some reason, the crowd recognizes Jesus based on his miraculous provision of food, but this is not really related to the particular Deuteronomy passage. They were supposed to have recognized him as speaking the words of God. The application for me is to not get so focused on my physical needs and my daily struggles that I can't hear from God. Guilty as charged. Father God, help me to set aside time to hear your voice and listen.

Final thought is an observation about the faith of the disciples and how they follow Jesus even when they feel inadequate and have a lot of uncertainty. First, Philip recognizes that he can't do what is being asked on his own. Then Andrew offers up what they are equipped with. He recognizes that it is not enough, but he offers what he has to the Lord. Then they are obedient to Jesus and do what he asks them to do, even though it is not yet clear how God will act. Certainly getting 5000 hungry men to sit down and expect something to happen is an act of faith! Lord God, move me to follow you even when I don't think that I have enough and don't have everything figured out ahead of time.