The Search For Jesus

By Mary Vee
John 6

One of the 5,000 

Photo by Mary Vee. Ruins at Capernaum

Yesterday, I brought my wife and children to the place where others said Jesus would be. I wanted to hear what He had to say. My friends tell me this man has healed even the very sick and His teachings are like none any have heard before.

We spent the day listening to Jesus and around evening, we grew hungry. The story has already been told how Jesus miraculously fed all the people who were there. 5,000 men plus women and children! 

After we finished eating, the people wanted to make Jesus king. Some of the men and women pressed in toward Jesus. It looked like they wanted to lift him up in their arms and place a crown on his head. 

Jesus whispered to his disciples. They nodded, walked down the hill to their boat, and sailed away. Sometime after, Jesus left, I'm not sure when. There were so many people I didn't see him leave or which direction He went. 

Everyone hung around, assuming the disciples would return, which meant Jesus would also come back. When they didn't come back right away, some of the people boarded boats and went out searching for the disciples hoping to also find Jesus.

Nightfall came. Those of us who had stayed still didn't see Jesus. By the next morning, ships from Tiberias docked at the shore. We watched and saw neither Jesus nor His disciples stepping on to the shore.

We were confused. The disciples must have sailed to Gennesaret across the sea. No one could figure out where Jesus went.

We talked and decided the only answer that made sense was Jesus must have climbed into a boat and met His disciples across the sea.

We climbed into boats and sailed for Capernaum in search of Jesus and were so happy to see him when we docked. "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

Jesus said, "You are only looking for me because you had your fill of food yesterday. You haven't come because of the miraculous sign that you saw or what you learned. Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that lasts eternally. The Son of Man will give this to you. On him, God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

We asked him, "What work does God want us to do?"

Jesus said, "God asks you to believe in the one he has sent."

We asked, "What miraculous sign can you give to help us believe you? Our forefathers ate manna in the desert given to them from heaven."

Jesus said, "Moses is not the one who gives bread from heaven. My Father gives the true bread from heaven. The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

We asked Jesus to sit. "From now on, give us this bread."

Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But you have seen me and don't believe. Whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. I have come down from heaven not to do my will but the will of Him who sent me. Everyone who looks to the Son and believes will have eternal life and will be raised up at the last day.

 Come back to read the next story.

*Author of blog's note: If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. I will see them and will answer as best I can or direct you to a source.


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sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.
*Photos from my trip to Israel.

The People Longed to See Jesus

By Mary Vee
Mark 6, Matthew 14

Peter 

Near the area where Jesus fed the 5,000.
Northern area, up a high hill, The Sea of Galilee
Photo by Mary Vee

My name is Peter, I am one of Jesus' disciples.

We twelve disciples and Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee last night and weighed anchor on the northwest shores at the city of Gennesaret this morning.

While out on the water, we saw crowds of people swarming to the shore and expected their greetings. Why? Because of Jesus. He'd fed 5000 people only the day before and the news had traveled. 

Over these many months, He has healed the sick, caused the lame to walk, the blind to see and ordered demons to leave those infirmed.

The people who came to the shore to greet us desperately cared about their loved ones who needed help and were willing to carry them wherever Jesus happened to be. Longing for a simple moment with Him. And while their first interest was the healing of their child or father, they also heard the teachings of God while with Him.

Jesus walked throughout the region teaching truths about His Father. Because he had healed those in need, family members brought their lame and blind and sick loved ones and sat them on mats. Everyone had a chance to hear Jesus' teachings, not just the healthy. Then with the compassion we'd known Jesus to have, He healed the loved ones.

Jesus walked into the countryside into small villages, and towns sharing the teachings of His Father to everyone. In those places, the people begged him to let them touch a tiny piece of his garment. 

Every time I watched another person healed, I marveled. The family smiled and rejoiced. The sick person rose up, well. 

Jesus cares for the people like no other man we have seen before. As I saw out on the sea, when my feet slipped into the water and he caught me, this man truly is the Son of God. Only He has the power to heal people. Only He knows the words of God to teach us. He is the promised Messiah.

 Come back to read the next story.

*Author of blog's note: If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. I will see them and will answer as best I can or direct you to a source.


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sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.
*Photos from my trip to Israel.

They Saw What Happened And Believed

By Mary Vee
Mark 6, Matthew 14, John 6

Peter 

Near the area where Jesus fed the 5,000.
Northern area, up a high hill, The Sea of Galilee
Photo by Mary Vee

My name is Peter, I am one of Jesus' disciples.

A few moments ago, more than five thousand people shared one boy's lunch. Imagine that! Jesus took the bread and fish from the boy, blessed it, and served enough food for everyone. I saw it happen. Jesus truly amazed us with that miracle. 

We'd barely finished gathering the extra food when men and women from the crowd stood. They walked closer to Jesus and said, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."

With the people crowding Jesus, we disciples barely had room to stand. 

Jesus said, "You need to get into the boat and sail ahead of me. I will meet you in Bethsaida."

We looked at the people than him, not wanting to leave his side.

"Go," he said. "I will dismiss them."

Later we learned that Jesus knew the people wanted to make him king right then and there. This was not His time, He said. After the crowds left, Jesus walked up the mountain to pray.

Dark filled the sky. We'd sailed for a while expecting Jesus to catch up in another boat. A strong wind pushed the sails tossing our ship about. Waves rose up and smacked against the sides of the ship, splashing in on us. We held the oars steady with all our strength working to keep the boat upright.

The wind and water pummeled the ship hour after hour. Although we knew what to do, we were frightened the ship would sink. How we longed for Jesus to come and save us. 

Long about the fourth watch we looked and saw a man walking on the water toward the ship. We had no idea who or what it was. He continued walking even alongside the boat. The man had to be a ghost. Who else could walk on water? We became terrified and cried out for mercy.

The man answered our cries right away, saying, "Take courage!" Then I knew. It was the voice of Jesus. "It is I. Don't be afraid."

The other disciples and I looked at each other. We hardly knew how to respond.

I looked at Jesus, still a bit uncertain, and said, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water."

Jesus held his arms out and said, "Come."

I glanced at the others. The wind and storm became nothing to me. I had an opportunity to walk out to Jesus on the water. Did I trust him? Absolutely.

I climbed out of the boat and set first one foot on the water than the other. I fixed my eyes solely on Jesus'. I stepped once, twice, and again. Not looking to the right or to the left.

Suddenly a gust of wind swept past me. My focus broke away from Jesus. I looked down at the water and became afraid. My feet sank into the waves, then my legs then my waist. I looked up to Jesus and cried, "Lord, save me!"

Jesus reached out his hand and caught me. "You of little faith. Why did you doubt?"

In His kindness and compassion, He walked me back to the boat and helped me climb inside. The wind died down as Jesus entered the boat. 

The other disciples who'd witnessed what had happened couldn't find words to say.  

Jesus continued to surprise us with things we did not understand. We couldn't help but say, "Truly you are the Son of God."

While the other disciples did not know what it felt like to walk on the water toward Jesus, they saw what had happened and believed.

 Come back to read the next story.

*Author of blog's note: If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. I will see them and will answer as best I can or direct you to a source.


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sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.
*Photos from my trip to Israel.

Feeding 5,000

By Mary Vee
Mark 6, Matthew 14, Luke 9, John 6

From Matthew's Journal 

Near the area where Jesus fed the 5,000.
Northern area, up a high hill, The Sea of Galilee
Photo by Mary Vee

The hour grew late. We disciples had a busy day with Jesus.

Thousands of men and women rushed to the Sea of Galilee's northern shores to see Jesus. 

The break time Jesus gave us ended the moment we landed on shore. We docked the boat and stepped onto shore with Him. He looked at all the people greeting him and had such compassion.

Jesus walked up the hill to a grassy area where the people could sit and hear him talk. He taught them until the evening hour which is now. The people were hungry. We disciples were hungry.

I spoke with the other disciples and we all agreed that the crowd needed to be sent away. There still was time for them to walk to a city or villages, buy bread, and eat before returning home. We agreed the idea should be suggested to Jesus. So we did.

Jesus turned to Philip and said, "Where is a place we could buy bread for these people to eat?"

We all were surprised at the question, but waited for Philip to answer.

Philip shrugged and said, "Eight months wages wouldn't buy enough bread for each person here to have a single bite!"

We leaned later that Jesus already knew what he would do even though he posed this question to Philip.

Andrew had been away during this conversation. He guided a boy to take a step forward. "This boy is willing to give his lunch. He only has five small barley loaves and two small fish." He shook his head. "It won't feed many people."

We were perplexed. Jesus didn't seem to want to tell the people to leave, yet we didn't have the food to feed them. We didn't even have the money to buy enough food. 

In all this time, Jesus never once seemed concerned how to handle the problem.

He looked at us and gave this instruction: "Direct the people to sit in groups of hundreds and fifties."

So we did. He obviously knew what he was doing. We walked among the crowd and helped them section themselves into the groups Jesus asked for. When we finished we returned to Jesus who still ha the boy's lunch. 

Jesus held the fish and bread in his hands and looked up toward heaven. He prayed to His Father asking a blessing, said amen, then began breaking the bread and fish into pieces. The pieces were placed into baskets.

The twelve of us walked to our assigned groups of people and passed out the food, letting them take what they needed then went back for more. I continued returning to Jesus and taking more bread and fish to the people until everyone in my group had eaten.

We disciples also ate and were satisfied like the people. When everyone finished, we took the baskets around to the people, gathering up the extra food. Twelve baskets came back to Jesus filled with uneaten food.

There were five thousand men and this didn't count the number of women and children present who also ate.

When the people saw the miracle Jesus had done, they said, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."

 Come back to read the next story.

*Author of blog's note: If you have questions, please feel free to leave them in the comment section. I will see them and will answer as best I can or direct you to a source.


*********************************************************************************************

sources: 
*A Harmony of the Gospels for Historical Study, An Analytical Synopsis of the Four Gospels by William Arnold Stevens and Ernest DeWitt Burton, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York 1932
*New International Version, New King James Version. 
*My Bible College training.
*My notes and walk through classes I've taught in Children's church. Answers to student questions, etc.
*Pastoral sermons on this time
*Matthew Henry Commentary
*F. LaGard Smith Commentary
*My notes from my trip to Israel.
*Photos from my trip to Israel.