John 6:10

Jesus must have smiled as he says to Andrew, “Just have the people sit down.”  There is lots of green, lush grass all over the hillside.”  So, the men get comfortable when instructed to do so.  There is about five thousand men in the crowd.  Add to that number women and children.  Their number must have exceeded ten thousand!  John 6:10 EFP

Jesus already knows what he is going to do before they arrive.  I am almost certain he smiles when he asks his disciples to tell the crowd to sit down on the hillside lawn. I had to chuckle when the narrative says “the men sat down” (NIV).  I can understand the children not sitting, since they were probably spread all across the hillside running on the carpet of grass, jumping off the countless boulders, chasing insects, doing the things children do when they are in the great outdoors.  But what about the women?

At first I thought it was just another “inclusive” use of the word men.  But then it occurs to me the women do not sit down.  The men do!  The women remain standing until the men are taken care of.  Bring them water.  Make sure they are comfortable.  Find the children and settle them down.  Then, and only then, can the women sit down.  But in the midst of this cultural and time-tested custom, the stark reality of the number of people begins to sink in.  At least ten thousand hungry, thirsty, and tired people spread all over the mountainside.  They came to hear a sermon.  Boy, were they in for the surprise of a lifetime.

Get comfortable.  Things are going to get a bit dicey before the day is done on the “far side of the sea.”