LENT – WEEK 4 – SUNDAY

LESSON: JOHN 6:1-15

“Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.” Matthew 6:33

In the Gospel of the feeding of the five thousand, Christ once again teaches us the need for faith without anxious worry about food and clothing. Then He stirs us up with a miracle in which He actually demonstrates in deed what He says in words in the Sermon on the Mount, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well.”

We see here that the people follow Him to hear God’s Word and to witness signs. They are seeking God’s kingdom. Jesus does not forsake them but provides them richly with food. He shows quite clearly that before those who seek God’s kingdom should suffer want, the grass in the wilderness should rather become corn and one piece of bread should rather become a thousand loaves, so that what He declared to the devil at the time of His temptation would stand fast, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

So that this principle of God’s Word should be confirmed and stand fast, He proceeds to provide for these people what they should eat. He consults Philip about the matter even before they make any complaints and ask for food.

From this we also should learn to let Him do the worrying for us, and we should realize that He thinks about us more and sooner than we think about ourselves.

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PRAYER: You know all our needs, O Lord, even before we think about them ourselves. You have promised never to leave or forsake us. Be with us then, O Lord, at all times, for the sake of your truth and mercy. Amen.