John 6:13 surveys the aftermath of a miracle. And I’m just mesmerized by the simple statistics. Five loaves and two fish produced twelve baskets of food AFTER filling the bellies of five thousand men plus women and children.
Now, I think we need to take just a few moments to consider the implications of this.
Doesn’t it force us to reevaluate our faith? Did Jesus actually do this or not? If He did, how can it be so easy for us to just carry on with the routines of our lives without any expectation that He might want to invade our circumstances with His miraculous power?
The next verse, John 6:14, says that those who had front row seats for that miracle became believers on the spot. And wouldn’t you? So why is it possible for us to read the account of what happened and not be equally moved to belief?
Maybe it has to do with the way we casually read the biblical accounts of miracles as though they’re disconnected from our personal reality.
Perhaps I shouldn’t admit this, but I’m a bit of a Star Wars nerd. I love watching the Millennium Falcon travel through hyperspace in the films and imagining the lightsaber duels I read about in the books. But I’m well aware that these things only happen in a galaxy far, far away, not on the street where I live.
So, I have to ask myself, “Is that how I categorize the epic displays of the supernatural I read about in the Bible? Do I intellectually relegate them to another time and place?” If so, how do I square that with John 14:12 where Jesus said that after He returned to the Father, those who believe in Him would experience even greater works than He performed?
I don’t think the Lord could be clearer about His intentions to continue being who He is, the omnipotent God. Everything He does is miraculous, beyond the constraints of this natural world. He can’t be any other way. So, let’s get our expectations aligned with His attributes in this regard. If we want our miracle-working God to be active on the street where we live, it WILL involve miracles.
So, today, let’s allow Jesus to help us read the Bible differently, to see in its pages not some fantastic story of what happened once upon a time, but as a preview of what God is prepared to do right now.