Christianity

I’ve been trying something different lately. Instead of just reading the Bible, taking it from point A to point B and letting that be that, I’ve been trying to actually study the Bible. I’ll read a short passage, think about that passage, and then try to understand not only what took place, but what it means and what I can learn from it. It’s been going pretty well, I think, and although I know I won’t be able to just read a passage and know everything that there is to know, I still feel as if I’m learning a lot. The Bible study that I’ve been involved in has helped too.

The reason I mention it is because the other day I was studying the passage where Jesus feeds five thousand people with just a few loaves of bread:

Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “gather up the fragments that remain so that nothing is lost.” Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. (John 6:10-13 NKJV)

I don’t know how many times I’ve read that and thought, “Wow…what a miracle! He fed five thousand men with just five loaves of bread!” But after thinking about it, I noticed something completely different. Instead I thought about what Jesus says a couple verses later:

And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35 NKJV)

So, I felt that what Jesus did by feeding five thousand men was not just perform a miracle, but show the world what he can do for everyone: me, you, your friends, everybody. What am I talking about? I’m not entirely sure, but think about this: Jesus fed five thousand men with bread and had a bunch left over, twelve baskets full. Also, Jesus himself is the bread of life. And so I feel that what we should take from the miracle is that there is enough of Jesus to go around, plenty in fact. However many people come to him, his arms will always be open, there will always be some bread available. No one has to go hungry.

Another interesting tidbit is that Jesus gave the bread to the disciples to hand out, which is exactly what He did during His time on Earth. Jesus spent three years teaching and mentoring His disciples so they could spread the message to the world; so they could hand out the bread of life to whomever would listen.

Maybe I’m wrong, maybe all Jesus wanted to do was feed a bunch of people and show them that He can perform miracles, but for some reason I doubt it. I truly believe it was much more than that.

The Bible is amazing.