Jesus went from mini to mega ministry in a moment.
After growing up in a small town and ministering at first to small crowds, no less than five thousand men (plus women and children) came out to hear him preach. As the day wore on, the crowd grew hungry. Hoping to help, a little boy offered his lunch to Jesus, who then multiplied it to feed the multitude. The reactions of various people then reveal four facts about most people.
- Most people care more about their body and life than their soul and eternal life. As long as Jesus was feeding their body extending their earthly life, the crowd remained interested. But, as soon as Jesus transitioned to speaking about their soul and eternal life the people quickly lost interest. Witnessing this, Jesus said in John 6:26-27, ““Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life…”
- Most people are bandwagon fans. In sports, a bandwagon fan is one who really has no ongoing devotion to a team but rather wears the jersey as long as the team is winning. Once the team starts losing, the jersey comes off and the fan goes away. After getting to see people healed, water turned into wine, and eating until their belly was full, the crowds followed him wherever he went. But, shortly thereafter we read in John 6:66, “many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.”
- Most people already have enough evidence to believe in Jesus. At this point in John’s gospel they had seen Jesus turn water into wine, heal the sick, feed perhaps tens of thousands of people with one boy’s lunch, and walk on water to then calm a storm by command. These people had more than enough evidence to believe in Jesus, yet they demanded more as we read in John 6:30, “So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?” The same is true of most people in our day. They have enough access to Christian people and teaching and really have no excuse for rejecting Jesus.
- Most people would not even believe in Jesus if He showed up. This was the case in Jesus day as he says in John 6:36, “you have seen me and yet do not believe.” It may sound incredulous to us that people would not believe in Jesus even if He came down from heaven to prove Himself, but that is precisely what happens when your heart and mind are closed to a relationship with Jesus Christ!
How about you? Are you a bandwagon fan of Jesus or one that keeps the jersey on no matter what?