What a beautiful day for a crossing! The sun is shining. There are only gentle waves today, but there is enough breeze to be comfortable and to keep us moving forward. We saw signs of a storm last night, but everything seems serene today.
Some of these folks sailed over from Tiberias this morning but they were too late to see the amazing thing that happened yesterday. His disciples left in their boat about sunset, but the prophet remained. We remained too. We wanted to see more! But this morning we realized that he slipped away overnight. With such a large crowd surrounding him I can’t imagine how no one noticed his departure.
It was after that when the boats arrived from Tiberias. They said they heard about the teaching and the meal and they wanted to see for themselves. Someone said that Capernaum was the home base of this prophet, so a great number of us boarded the boats from Tiberias for today’s sail, heading north in pursuit of him. We can see the shoreline in the distance now.
It’s hard to explain how all this started, even though I witnessed much of it. Several days ago I heard the prophet say to a crowd:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
That sounded pretty good, I admit. My Father was a hard man. He made many demands, wanting me to be even better than he was. I worked harder than most, but never really satisfied him. A light burden sounded pretty good.
The Pharisees were following him around, keeping an eye on him, and asking many hard questions. They were quite annoyed that he had healed a man with a crippled hand, because he healed him on Shabbat. I was amazed! I think everyone else in the crowd was too. When he left there, we followed him.
The crowd grew as we walked. He kept healing others, then telling them not to tell anyone else. You might guess how that worked out. Then he healed a demon-possessed man! We started asking each other if this could be the Son of David whom we await? But the Pharisees said:
“It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
Even though the Pharisees were careful to say this to the crowd, and NOT to the prophet himself, he seemed to be aware of their thoughts, for he said:
“Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
“Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house.“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.”
Then he went down and sat by the lake. Such a significant crowd gathered around, that he got in a boat, pushed out a short way, and taught us from there. He told several stories, about sowing and weeding, and a missing pearl – stories of abundance and riches. After quite some time he went back into the house, but he kept teaching his followers there.
Then he left and went to his hometown. We headed back to our homes too. Things seemed to calm down for a while.
Later the news got around that Yochanan the Baptizer had been beheaded by Herod Antipas, that esteemed Roman tetrarch. They say Yochanan was a cousin of this prophet. Some say these two were close, even though they did not often see each other. They both preach, and they are both zealous, though not militant. Perhaps Yochanan should have been more militant. To learn what happened to your cousin at the hands of the tetrarch must have been hard news for this prophet. Some say Herod did it just to please his wife, but could such a thing really be true? I wonder if Yeshua thought he might be next. He is not well liked by our leaders, or by Rome’s. If I were him, I might have made short plans to leave town too.
Well, for whatever reason, when the prophet heard about this he got into a boat and left. Maybe he was trying to get some time alone to mourn. But the whole region was abuzz with the things people heard him say and saw him do. So, we started walking to where we expected that he was going, expecting to see more amazing things, and to hear some strong words about our oppressors. Funny how you can be oppressed by so many people around you, The Romans, of course, are a common complaint. Observations about the Pharisees are much less common, and usually whispered, as they have ears everywhere. Then there are the fathers… does anyone have a good relationship with their father? Is there a father anywhere that accepts and loves their child… truly? I, or one, would like to see them all overthrown. Maybe that’s why the kingdom this man talks about sound so good.
We walked much farther than we thought we would, from Nazareth to the south end of the lake, but that effort was well worth it! On the south shore we saw him heal many more people! But as the sun was setting, most of us realized how hungry we had become. We had not planned to be gone for so long and had not brought food for the evening. I heard that he told his disciples to feed us, though they had no food either. Then they found a boy with five loaves of bread and two fish – not even enough for one needy family to be thankful for, let alone this huge crowd. He told us all to sit on the grass, then he prayed a blessing and started passing out this food. Those further away quickly grew anxious, wanting to hurry the morsels to their group, and their own mouths, but as the food made its way through the crowd, each person ate their fill. Once all were satisfied they collected what was left, and it filled 12 baskets!
There must have been about 5,000 men, plus the women and children, who were eating! After the people saw this sign that he performed, they began to say:
“Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world.”
Well, that was last night.
It’s almost Passover. What better time to receive more of his miracle bread? That’s what I say anyhow!
We’ve finally reached the shore! There is a great crowd nearby. Why do I expect that he will be in the midst of them? We are far closer to Gennesaret than Capernaum, though on the north shore of the Sea of Galilee either way.
Ah yes, one again surrounded by the sick, and he is healing them!
“Rabbi, when did you get here?”
How could he have made better time than we did sailing across the lake?
“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Well now, for a man who knows how to draw a crowd, that did not seem very welcoming. Clearly none of us like the idea of working for food that spoils – like manna horded overnight for the next day. And as for working for the bread, we have all heard that God can deliver such food without our labors as he did in the dessert.
As the ‘seal of approval’ I don’t know what kind of father he has, but I would like to know how anyone can be approved in this world. Is it really possible to do enough good works to get approval?
“What must we do to do the works God requires?” someone asked.
I suppose it is good that at least one person here will work willingly.
“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” He replies.
Belief is work? Now that’s the kind of work I would like to do. But who is this one that has been sent?
Alright, now some are debating how to reply. If this prophet thinks he is the one that has been sent, he should be able to prove it, and that will be entertaining for us all.
Now one brave soul prepares to challenge the prophet:
“What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness[i]; as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
“Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
“Sir, always give us this bread.”Someone shouts.
“I AM the bread of life.” He replies.
Hold on! WE were not asking for YOU all the time. That would be a little hard to stomach! Always give us ‘food’!
“Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Ah! The crowd grows ugly! Several are grumbling about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
They say:
“Is this not Yeshua, the son of Yosef, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
“Stop grumbling among yourselves” he replies. “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.[ii]’Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died.But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
The pot is stirred yet again and things are nearly bubbling! How can this man give us his flesh to eat? That is abhorrent!
“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
“This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” someone murmurs.
Now there is an understatement! And it echoes through the crowd. We simply came for some more lunch and entertainment, and this is what we receive in exchange!
“Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe. This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
Enough is enough! Time to head home. We can have nothing else to do with a man like this. What a disappointment! We had such high hopes!
Oh, now there’s an interesting turn! He just asked his inner circle if they would leave him too, but one dim-witted follower asked only:
“Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”
Perhaps these fellows would allow me to make some recommendations regarding alternative courses. Clearly there is no future with this one!
(c) 2018 Chuck Curtiss
To read other similar stories in this series see The Witness List.
Based on John 6, Matt 14-16, Mark 3, 6
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[i]Exodus 16
[ii]Isaiah 54:13
Percipient Witnesses 