The Pop Quiz

As the Disciples spent time with Jesus, they were watching their teacher heal the sick, cast out demons, teaching the people from the Scriptures, etc. Every now and then, their teacher gave them a ‘pop quiz’. Now when I was in high school and college, a pop quiz was intended by the teacher to encourage us to do our homework and sometimes, it was a measuring stick to see what we were getting or not getting from their teaching.

Jesus was on the move again and a great crowd was following him because they were enthralled by his miracles of healing. They wanted to see what he was going to do next. Here is the quiz Jesus threw at his Disciples: “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” John 6:5

Two answers are recorded. Philip’s answer was pragmatic. He was probably quite good at math. “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” John 6:7 Philip is a realist. He wasn’t thinking about why these people were following Jesus – miracles – but rather, he may have been getting caught up in the popularity of their teacher. He couldn’t even see that a solution was possible.

The second answer came from Andrew. We don’t get much information about Andrew in the New Testament. We know he was one of the first disciples to follow Jesus and the first thing he did was get his brother Peter to come see this amazing teacher who he immediately believed to be the Messiah. (See John 1:40-42) Andrew’s answer shows a little more insight than Philip’s. “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” John 6:9 Andrew does not see the solution, but he is able to see there is a possibility. He didn’t immediately write the problem off as unsolvable, but rather, saw there was something there.

Sometimes, my subconscious knows something, but my conscious part of me overlooks it because of the other things around me getting my attention. Later I say, “I knew there was something not quite right,” or, “I saw that, but it didn’t quite register.” I think that is where Andrew was. He was further along in the learning process than the others. But he wasn’t quite seeing the whole solution but he was thinking there might be one.

Now Jesus knew where the Disciples are at. And he proceeded to teach them their next lesson: Jesus is the source of all we need. He can take whatever we offer to him and make it into more than enough! How many times do we beg for an answer to a specific prayer and like Philip all we can see is the unsolvable problem? Or when like Andrew do we say, “I don’t see the solution, but here is what I have and I give it to you, Father. Bless it and multiply it to your honor and glory.”

I wonder if I will pass the quiz the next time.