Invisible People Make a Difference
A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick....Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" This He was saying to test him, for He himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them...."Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many people?" John 6:2-9, NASB.
Too often we overlook the common people in the Bible story, those quiet individuals, who are "just there." Largely ignored in their own time, and probably by most Bible readers today, those individuals made a difference. We find a lesson for us here. You don't have to be a Peter or a Billy Graham for God to use you as a blessing to other people.
Central to today's passage are three individuals whom we don't hear much about in the Bible, even though two of them are disciples. The first of the "hidden" figures in the feeding of the 5,000 is Philip. Outside of listings of the 12 disciples, none of the Gospels except the fourth even mention his name. In John 6 Jesus asks him how much food it would take to feed the crowd. Philip's answer was about six months' wages (200 denarii). The only thing he contributes to the miracle story is to highlight its magnitude. But his approach is basically pessimistic: "There is nothing we can do. The situation is hopeless."
Then there is Andrew, another of the hidden disciples. He is best known as the brother of Peter. The world is full of such types. The introduction of, "Meet so-and-so, he is the brother of, wife of, husband of, son of so-and-so." There are the "really important people" and there are the Andrews.
But Jesus teaches us in John 6 that the Andrews of life make a difference. Moving beyond the pessimism of Philip, Andrew is the one who said, "I will see what I can do." Andrew may not have been the star of the show, but he functioned as the spark plug who got things off of dead center.
His part in ministry was doing something simple. In this case, finding a boy, two dried-up sardine-sized fish, and five barley loaves, the cheapest of all bread.
And then there is the boy himself. Probably clueless as to what he was doing in salvation history. But he was willing to give the little he had.
Help us today, Lord, to give what little we have, realizing that no matter how humble our person or our gift, we make a difference.
A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick....Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, "Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?" This He was saying to test him, for He himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them...."Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many people?" John 6:2-9, NASB.
Too often we overlook the common people in the Bible story, those quiet individuals, who are "just there." Largely ignored in their own time, and probably by most Bible readers today, those individuals made a difference. We find a lesson for us here. You don't have to be a Peter or a Billy Graham for God to use you as a blessing to other people.
Central to today's passage are three individuals whom we don't hear much about in the Bible, even though two of them are disciples. The first of the "hidden" figures in the feeding of the 5,000 is Philip. Outside of listings of the 12 disciples, none of the Gospels except the fourth even mention his name. In John 6 Jesus asks him how much food it would take to feed the crowd. Philip's answer was about six months' wages (200 denarii). The only thing he contributes to the miracle story is to highlight its magnitude. But his approach is basically pessimistic: "There is nothing we can do. The situation is hopeless."
Then there is Andrew, another of the hidden disciples. He is best known as the brother of Peter. The world is full of such types. The introduction of, "Meet so-and-so, he is the brother of, wife of, husband of, son of so-and-so." There are the "really important people" and there are the Andrews.
But Jesus teaches us in John 6 that the Andrews of life make a difference. Moving beyond the pessimism of Philip, Andrew is the one who said, "I will see what I can do." Andrew may not have been the star of the show, but he functioned as the spark plug who got things off of dead center.
His part in ministry was doing something simple. In this case, finding a boy, two dried-up sardine-sized fish, and five barley loaves, the cheapest of all bread.
And then there is the boy himself. Probably clueless as to what he was doing in salvation history. But he was willing to give the little he had.
Help us today, Lord, to give what little we have, realizing that no matter how humble our person or our gift, we make a difference.
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