John 6:31

“God gave our forefathers bread to eat during their times in the desert.” The people add. “The Scriptures tell us, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” John 6:31 EFP

To add insult to injury the crowd quotes the Torah to Jesus!  Don’t they know he is the Word that spoke the thoughts to Moses that he would pass on to the desert-dwelling forefathers they speak of?  Are they not aware he is the one who rained manna six days a week for forty years on the wandering ones who would have otherwise died of starvation?  Obviously not.

So they bait Jesus, hoping to guilt him into multiplying some more food.  He did it once.  God did it repeatedly for forty years!  God fed hundreds of thousands—well, Jesus, a mere ten thousand or so.  Does it sound faintly familiar with the temptation he confronted in the desert a few months before?  “If you are who you say you are, make some bread for all of us!” they suggest.  The audacity is not in the request, it is in the preface placed on the request.  God is more than willing to grant our request, but he is still sovereign.  He does not act on our behalf to prove he is God, but because he is God.  The crowd fed in Perea comes to hear Jesus because they believe he is something special—they were fed more than enough.  This mixed up group comes seeking proof on their terms.  I sense they will go away hungry today. As do I when I bargain with God instead of taking him at his word and claiming his promises to me. Come think of it, that’s pretty audacious as well! And not in a good way.