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Mar 28, 2024 06:00am

The Unseen Purpose

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Hours. It took hours to put this thing together. The instructions were worse than trying to read an astrophysics book. WHO can know these things?

But the important thing was – it was finished. As we cleaned up, there were three little pieces left over.

What on earth was that for? Did they just throw it in extra? Why on earth would they put those in there if there wasn’t a purpose for them?

John 6:1-13
After these things, Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.
2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.
3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.
4 ¶ And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.
5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?
6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.
7 ¶ Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.
8 ¶ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,
9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?
10 ¶ And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now, there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.
12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.
13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.”

How incredible! You’ve probably read or heard this story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 before. The focus may have been on the test of Philip, how God can do the impossible, or even how He can do great things with little. And all of those are wonderful and miraculous. I am in awe of the Lord as I consider each.

But this little thing caught my eye as I read this morning. This tiny little detail seems like maybe it was just thrown in there. But surely it has a purpose, right?

“And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.”

Tucked in between verses 3 and 5, we find this little nugget. A verse that tells us the feast of Passover was near. Why would that be here? Let’s look a little closer at the feast.

The primary purpose of the feast was for the Jews to remember how God had saved them in Egypt. Remember, it was the last plague as the pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go. But this one didn’t just affect the Egyptians. All firstborn males would die unless they followed what God commanded them to do.

They were to sacrifice an innocent, spotless lamb and put its blood on the doorpost of their house. When the angel of death passed through, it would see the blood of the lamb and pass over their home. The people inside were covered, protected, and saved by the lamb’s blood.

So, here is Jesus with His disciples, but it was so much more than just them. There was a multitude following Him. Not only would they be hungry, but at the forefront of their minds would be the Passover feast.

Jesus takes this opportunity to show them something incredible. He takes something so small and produces what they need and even more! There is an abundance!

He displayed His power, His authority, and His greatness with this act. He demonstrated that He had the power to save them. And the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.

Because He was the innocent, spotless lamb that would be sacrificed, with the blood He poured out as He died on the cross, any that believe in Him will be spared from eternal death. They will be covered, protected, and saved by the blood of the lamb.

It’s a beautiful foreshadowing of what is to come, but it’s tucked away within these verses.

Don’t miss it.

It’s easy to do that sometimes, isn’t it? We miss the beautiful picture because we’re too focused on all the problems or events going on around us. We meet ourselves coming and going, running around trying to do all the “things.” And it would be easy to miss the most essential part of life.

It’s the lamb of God who chose to leave heaven to come to this earth, to be the sacrifice we needed to be saved.

It’s simply Jesus.

Don’t miss it.