Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, special ones.

It’s raining. However, Becki and I were able to do our walk/jog within a window of almost no rain. We did so with a new dog. He has proven to be a ball chaser too. His name is Max—a big fat Golden Lab and Golden Retriever mix—6 years old. I think he’s close to 100 pounds. He’s a very pleasant guy. He particularly liked the chase-the-ball-in-the-creek time that I spent with both dogs following our walk/jog. Early on, Dandy and Max had a spat—competing over the same ball. It was probably a good thing—since it helped to establish some mutual respect. Thano gave Max a bath this morning in hopes of reducing the high-level dog smell before the little boys show up this afternoon.

Max was free for the taking—to “a good home.” But we’ll have to invest in having him neutered. I hope this announcement of intention doesn’t get back to him.

I need to get on with sawing up some cedar logs.

Blessings on whatever you have going today.

Love, Dad/Ray.

The primary motivation of the crowd for seeking out and following Jesus is revealed. I guess there’s nothing really wrong with that as an initial motivation—as long as they are headed in a direction to recognize that all these miraculous signs were not an END, but A MEANS TO AN END. And what is the END to which miraculous signs should be a MEANS? To recognize and accept that Jesus is the Christ of God and man’s only means to the healing of his universal terminal sickness of SIN—his only hope for eternal life (salvation).

While the crowd may have expected to behold more miracles done to the sick, they most likely never dreamed they would get in on a miracle feast. And it wasn’t just a little handful of people—we’re talking about over 5000! This was a big deal. It would be a tall order even for a big catering company. It was such a sensational attention-grabber that this miracle on the heels of preceding miracles generated a movement within the crowd that determined to make Jesus their king. They probably were not as concerned with whether or not He was the Messiah as they were with the fact that He did super-duper miracles that could meet all their medical and material needs. Free lunch! Free health care! What a deal! They figured they couldn’t find a better candidate to serve as their king. Why not push this deal through right away?

More miracles were yet to come for the disciples. While they were trying to make their way across the sea in very difficult conditions, Jesus came walking up to their boat—on the water! You have to admit—that’s not natural—like it’s so supernatural to be a little scary! Then when He got into the boat, suddenly, without warning or explanation, they found themselves near the shore of their destination. I have to conclude that all this supernatural stuff was done with the divine intention of confirming WHO Jesus was.

Jesus’ disciples went on from these miracles to mature and serve in their conviction that Jesus was indeed man’s only hope for salvation from sin. They certainly had some human failures along the way. But why did they choose this course and become so effective in promoting the Gospel? Only because they witnessed so many miracles by Jesus? No, but BECAUSE THEY WERE DISCIPLES!—FAITHFUL, BELIEVING, GROWING, DEDICATED DISCIPLES. So I simply recommend that we make sure that we are that—DISCIPLES in the truest sense of the word—not following those who follow Jesus just for the show and material benefits.