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MAY 19
The noise of their waves,
And the tumult of the peoples.
8 They also who dwell in the farthest
parts are afraid of Your signs; 6:19,20 Jesus walking on the sea. The
You make the outgoings of the Synoptics reveal that in fear and the darkness,
the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost (Matt.
morning and evening rejoice.
14:26; Mark 6:49). The Son of God, who made
Proverbs 16:20–21 the world, was in control of its forces; and, in
this case,He suspended the law of gravity.The
20 He who heeds the word wisely will find act was not frivolous on Jesus’ part, for it con-
good, stituted a dramatic object lesson to the disci-
And whoever trusts in the LORD, happy ples of Jesus’ true identity as the sovereign
is he. Lord of all creation (1:3).
21 The wise in heart will be called prudent,
And sweetness of the lips increases 10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.”
learning.
Now there was much grass in the place. So the
men sat down, in number about five thousand.
11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had
given thanks He distributed them to the disciples,
16:21 sweetness of the lips.“Honeyed words,” and the disciples to those sitting down; and like-
which reflect intelligence, judiciousness, and wise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when
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discernment in speech. This refers to eloquent they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather
discourse from the wise (v.24).
up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is
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lost.” Therefore they gathered them up, and filled
twelve baskets with the fragments of the five bar-
John 6:1–21 ley loaves which were left over by those who had
eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the
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After these things Jesus went over the Sea
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6 of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. Then sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet
who is to come into the world.”
a great multitude followed Him, because they 15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they
saw His signs which He performed on those were about to come and take Him by force to
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who were diseased. And Jesus went up on the make Him king, He departed again to the
mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was 16
4 mountain by Himself alone.
near. Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and see- Now when evening came, His disciples went
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ing a great multitude coming toward Him, He down to the sea, got into the boat, and went
said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was
these may eat?” But this He said to test him, for already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.
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He Himself knew what He would do. 18 Then the sea arose because a great wind was
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Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii
7 blowing. So when they had rowed about
worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on
every one of them may have a little.” the sea and drawing near the boat; and they
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Pe- were afraid. But He said to them, “It is I; do
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ter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad not be afraid.” Then they willingly received
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here who has five barley loaves and two small Him into the boat, and immediately the boat
fish, but what are they among so many?” was at the land where they were going.
DAY 19:Why were the crowds who followed Jesus a potential liability?
In John 6:2,it says that the multitudes followed Jesus “because they saw His signs.”The crowds
followed not out of belief but out of curiosity concerning the miracles that He performed (v. 26).
However, in spite of the crowd’s crass motivations, Jesus, having compassion on them, healed their
sick and fed them (Matt. 13:14; Mark 6:34).
The crowd’s declaration of Jesus as “the Prophet”(v. 14) is a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15.
Sadly, these comments, coming right after Jesus healed and fed them, indicate that the people
desired a Messiah who met their physical, rather than spiritual, needs. Apparently, no recognition
existed for the need of spiritual repentance and preparation for the kingdom (Matt. 4:17). They
wanted an earthly, political Messiah to meet all their needs and to deliver them from Roman
oppression.Their reaction typifies many who want a “Christ”that makes no demands of them (Matt.
10:34–39; 16:24–26), but of whom they can make their selfish personal requests.
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