Monday, October 14, 2013

John 4:33

The disciples are confused.  They ask each other, “Do you think someone else brought him food while we were gone?” John 4:33 EFP

It’s quite clear that Jesus and his followers are on different planes.  Jesus is talking on a spiritual plane while the disciples are earthbound in their understanding.  Jesus has just finished letting them know that there is a sense of satisfaction that is lost on those who settle for the readily accessible and easily understood.  “You have no idea what I’m talking about, but I have food you haven’t tasted yet!” 

They would someday, but they certainly had no idea what he was talking about at that moment.  When he says he had food they immediately begin to wonder out loud who could have brought him sustenance.  I would not be surprised at all to discover they may have gotten more than a bit annoyed that someone had made their trip into town superfluous.  They may have gone through a number of scenarios, none of which made sense to them.  In the end it doesn’t matter, because they are dealing with the knowledge Jesus has just given them as mere information to be processed.

The apostle Paul would one day echo the sentiment when he says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV)  It is easy to fall prey to merely dealing with the crumbs of a flesh-anchored world when the banquet of the spiritual realm awaits us if we are willing to delve in completely and dig a little deeper into the Word.

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