Week 4: Signs and Wonders
Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, John 6:1-15
“For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened” (Mark 6:52).
In both John and Mark, the authors organize the story of the loaves to be followed by Jesus walking on water. How could the disciples have such hard hearts after seeing TWO miracles? Does that resonate with us, too? How quickly are we to return to hard hearts after seeing God do wondrous deeds in our own lives?
Jesus, later in John, tells of a different bread. He fed the 5000, and they came back for more. They want to be filled again, and Jesus tells them of a greater hunger they have.
“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal….I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:27, 35).
In 2026 America, many of us don’t have to wonder about getting food, entertainment, friends, knowledge…Most of that is at our fingertips. We live privileged lives, and yet, we starve ourselves of what truly matters.
Jesus.
“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…” (Philippians 3:8-10).
Could we honestly cling to Paul’s words in Philippians? Do our lives reflect such devotion to Jesus? Do we wake with a longing in our soul as the Psalmist puts it, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God.” (Psalm 42).
Jesus has not come to deal with our Earthly needs, but to address our eternal needs - our need for Him. He alone, the Bread of Life, satisfies.
