I think it can be easy sometimes, especially for people who grew up in a church environment, to become a little calloused to stories we read in the Bible. Stories that you grow up hearing over and over again can sometimes lose their wonder. For me, it is always amazing to rediscover the splendor and awe of something you thought had burnt out long ago. In the Bible especially, it is easy to play down the glory of individual events (such as the miracles of Jesus) simply because we know the big picture and we did not have the honor of living in that moment, not knowing the end of the story. So it is in my times of reading about Jesus that I try most to reject my current mindset and put on the attitudes and thoughts of the first hearers of his words. That is when he really comes to life.....
I have read and heard (as have most people I know) about two certain miracles all my life. Everyone knows that Jesus walked on water. And almost everyone I know has heard the story of Jesus feeding five thousand people. Two amazing events by themselves, no doubt. But I think sometimes it is important to read around the stories to get a better understanding of what is really going on behind the scenes. You see, both stories take place in the same chapter, Matthew 14 and there is more to chapter 14. Now I know chapters and verses weren't added till much later, but nonetheless what precedes these two events is linked to them.
The scene is this, Jesus has been teaching throughout the countryside in and near his homebase. People have started to follow him and really take interest. Word of Jesus gets to the regional ruler, Herod, who has just executed Jesus' cousin John. This would have been a big deal for Jesus.
John was not only his cousin, but they were intimately tied together. They each has a miraculous birth and were raising with an expectation of greatness. John had preceded Jesus in his ministry. Before his death, John had been hailed as a prophet. But he was different than all the previous prophets. John spoke with a new message and a new hope. He was preaching that God's kingdom wouldn't be established sometime in the future, but that it was coming and they would see it present in their lifetime. John was there to pave the way for Jesus' ministry. If there was any human on earth that understand most who Jesus was and why he had chosen to come to earth, it was John. The disciples lived day in and day out with Jesus and they even struggled with who Jesus was and what he was trying to do. But John got it.
So it says that when Jesus got the news of John death, he tried to slip away. Jesus needed to mourn. So he leaves the crowds he had been teaching in and goes across the lake. But the people follow him. Jesus gets off the boat and sees all the people he had tried to break away from.
What would you do in that moment? Would you yell at the top of your lungs, "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Would you be gentle and try to explain to them your situation, "Please, I just need a day or two alone!" Or would you respond like Jesus did.
"When he saw them coming, he was overcome with pity and healed their sick."
-The Message
He loved them. Amazing. In a moment where Jesus was tired and burdened with grief to the breaking point, he still chooses to love those who are also tired and burdened. He heals people and helps them all the way up into the evening. Then he feds them. After dinner he lets the disciples get in the boat and go ahead of him. And he dismisses the crowd. It is only after healing and caring for everyone that he is able to be alone and release his grief.
That's the kind of man I want to be. Others, then me. I want to love those who can't find love for themselves. Why? Because he first loved me and I am no longer my own man. Jesus bought me with his love and I am forever his servant. My job is to show others that my master is faithful and he is good.
He is the love we have all been looking for.
