Have you ever watched a movie or tv show where a group of people were stranded somewhere for an unforeseen amount of time and one of them had some food they were trying to hide from the others. Maybe because they knew there wasn’t really enough for everyone, or maybe because they were just greedy and didn’t want to share…
Have you ever had food when someone else was hungry and offer it to them? Or were you selfish and kept the food all to yourself? I’ll admit I have been on both sides of this equation, I have offered and I have retained the food I had.
I wonder if Jesus carried a secret snickers? Read the passage for the day from John 4:31-38:
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”
Jesus says he has food the disciples don’t know about. Does he have a secret pocket in his robes where he has stashed some snickers for the road? This of course is not the case. Jesus was not hoarding food, or eating anything at all. The gospel of John is full of double meanings and makes us look deeper at our faith and what God is saying to us. Jesus was physically hungry, yet that was not the purpose of the food. The food Jesus spoke about is doing the will of the Father.
See the ending of the passage, “Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” Others have started the work here, but it isn’t done, so we must enter in and continue the labor. Notice He did not say finish the labor, but we have entered into their labor, and now it is our labor and someday someone else will enter into our labor and it will become their labor. See we are doing the work of the Father. It is not our job to bring the whole world to Jesus, Jesus is already there! It is our job to help them see He is there and continue the work that Jesus himself started to love the world and show them what it means to be in a relationship with Jesus.
So don’t hide your snickers! Share it so others will share with you!
aSacredRebel 