Miracles or “signs” as John calls them are always meant to point beyond themselves to something bigger and to something far greater.
Unfortunately, people get hung up on the “signs’ themselves.
They do not think beyond them!
Miracles were fun. You never knew what to expect…there was a certain vitality, a kind of zeal and flair involved. People liked or appreciated the oomph and the pizzazz.
Did he seriously – just turn water into wine? Did you taste it? It is wonderful? The best I have ever had. Top Shelf! Mazel Tov!
Did he seriously – just feed more than 5,000 people on those few loaves and fishes? How does that happen? Did you see all the left-over’s? That’s crazy. I’m stuffed how about you?
Was that Jesus walking on the water?
Did he just restore sight to the blind?
What next?
Where does he go from here?
Jesus didn’t do miracles (or signs,) just to do them. He certainly didn’t do them to impress anyone.
He did them so that people would see the “larger picture” and prayerfully get a “new and better understanding…”
He didn’t want to be known as a “worker of signs and wonders,” anymore than he wanted to be known as a “healer.”
Nor did he want to be known as being just another “itinerant preacher”…roaming through the hills and villages and teaching the people.
At one point, the people thought that he was a prophet, like one of the “old prophets” of long ago. That was a compliment.
A prophet is a “spokesman for God.” If the crowds understood him to be a “spokesman for God,” that was a good thing. It was a step headed in the right direction!
When they called him “Rabbi,” while that was an honor, it was certainly less than that of a prophet. A rabbi is simply “one who teaches the people.” And he was that, but he was so much more than that.
So the “signs” were all meant to point beyond themselves, to something even larger.
The people loved the signs. They craved more signs. We always crave MORE! We always WANT more? When are we EVER satisfied? Our appetites can be INSATIABLE, sometimes!
And so it was with the “miraculous feeding.” The crowds loved it! And of course, why wouldn’t they? They got their bellies fed. They ate their fill.
As a matter of fact, some loved it so much, they started talking about, “What if he were our king or our ruler?”
So Jesus departed and left them…saying, “See ya!”
The very next day-here comes the “same crowds” – again! Apparently they had been looking for him. Apparently they were hungry again.
And that’s the thing about hunger. Wait a little while. Wait a couple of hours…and you will be hungry again. The pangs return. They always do!
So, they come to Jesus. Craving more signs, more wonders, preferably more “free food.” Their hunger is impossible to satisfy.
They missed the bigger picture. Instead, they felt the pangs of hunger again. And so they sought Jesus out!
Might as well hit up “the source” again!
So, Jesus gets serious with them. “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.”
Blah, blah, blah, they want food.
“Believe in HIM – whom HE has sent”
Where’s the bread and the fish?
“MY FATHER gives you to the TRUE BREAD from heaven.” One more time, “MY FATHER.” My. Father.
How much plainer can I say this: “I AM (look at me, over here!) THE BREAD OF LIFE.” I am. Me. Get it?
I wonder if there will be food left over this time? Yeah and how much? I brought a doggie bag this time.
C’mon guys, the bigger picture? Who is it that walks on water, changes water into wine, who heals the sick and the infirmed, who restores sight to the blind and makes the lame run free? Who can do these things? Who?
5 loaves, 2 fish, 5,000 men, plus women and children, a massive feeding, multiplication of the bread and of the fish…who does these things? Who?
Who am I? Right over here? Standing in front of you? You know WHO sent me, right? Think! Put 2 and 2 together – what do you get? THE BIGGER PICTURE!