Before I say what I found important to me during the service, I want to just make a point about the 4 gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I used to read them as stories, more like Grimm's or an edited Reader's Digest version of the events. I now read them as courthouse worthy testimonies of eye witness accounts. It makes a big difference in perception. I read "Cold-Case Christianity" by J. Warmer Wallace a retired homicide cold-case detective, whose approach to the Bible was from a skeptics point of view allowing the "evidence" to lead where it might. As he did so, he went from a disbeliever in anything supernatural to believer of Jesus as the Son of God. He did this by reading the 4 gospels and applying the same techniques he used on the job, which he teaches in his book. I pray this revelation will become part of the interpretation all believers use in evaluating the gospels. Now back to the scripture and teaching from Sunday.
As we read about the crowds gathering around Jesus before He and the disciples could rest, Jesus decides to feed the crowd of about 5,000 men (not counting women and children). He tested the disciples to see if they would look to Him to provide, but they did not understand fully who He was and answered as most of us would, "We don't have enough money to buy the bread and the one boy who has food does not have enough."He then made the tired disciples do the work to make the men sit and deliver the miraculous food as supplied by Jesus to the crowd. If they had huge baskets of fish and bread, it still would have taken hours to feed them all. Then He sent them back to pick up crumbs. That must have been exhausting.
He sent the disciples out to sea saying that He would catch up to them. What did the disciples think that meant? I would imagine they thought Jesus would catch another boat out to them as they were actually looking for Him when they were at sea. After it got dark, a strong wind arose and they did not make any more progress towards shore.
Have you ever been so exhausted you see things? I have and know to pull over for a nap when I am driving. The disciples were exhausted and thought they saw a ghost. With the boat bouncing up and down on the waves and Jesus' head bobbing between waves, it is easy to understand the dilemma of the disciples. Now, it was nearly Passover, which means it was nearly a full moon. No mention of clouds, leads one to believe that the disciples could at least see well enough to glimpse someone walking toward them with his robe and hair flapping in the wind--a very ghostly presence. As soon as Jesus spoke to them and they received Him into their boat, they were immediately upon the shore they were heading towards.
There were 3 lessons for me here. The lessons reinforced that which I already know, but bringing it to the forefront of my thoughts helps me apply it to my life. Every little bit helps there!
1. Jesus is in control.
2. He is our source.
3. He will come to us where we are.
So, what about the Saulectomy? Well the crowds, after being fed, wanted to forcefully make Jesus their King, a lot like when they desired a King in 1Samuel. Jesus left before they could do that. If you have read 1 Samuel, King Saul was not a godly man and made many mistakes. He was selfish, angry, tried to murder David, went against what God had told him to do, and was fearful. Frontier Hubby made a comment during our study of 1 Samuel over several months in the sermons, that he felt he needed a Saulectomy, meaning that he felt too much like Saul and needed to get closer to God. It became one of the terms used often in our church.
[I am linking only to things I have read or have experienced. By using supplied links I can help cover overhead for my web-presence. If you are uncomfortable with that, go directly to the provider, such as amazon.com.]
Here is a link to "Cold-Case Christianity" by J. Warmer Wallace
May you find all things new in Him,
Frontier Woman @ FrontierChristianLiving
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