Snubbed! Jesus Drops in the Poles!

In case it has slipped by you, this is an election year!

Everywhere we turn for the next 5 months, we are going to be hearing about pole numbers.

“Kerry is up in the poles, Kerry is down in the poles.”

“Bush is up in the poles, Bush is down in the poles.”

The idea of the opinion poles was originally for the candidate to gauge how well he or she was doing, or as a tool to gauge public opinion on issues in a timely manner. They had a legitimate, important role in our society.

But lately poles have become a tool that is used by the candidates themselves to try to maintain, or even create momentum for their campaign. We have seen examples where people try to govern by poles, saying or doing whatever they think will please the most people, rather than holding to their convictions. The media, which used poles to gauge the mood of the Nation, now are simply trying their best to project the winner of the election before the first vote has been cast.

In 1980, for example, the networks were declaring that Ronald Reagan had defeated Jimmy Carter before the poles in the western United States had closed. Even more disturbing was that Carter actually conceded that he had lost before much of the west coast had even voted! Those voters felt like they were left without a voice in the election, and many chose not to go and vote at all since they couldn’t make a difference.

Back before the modern opinion poles came on line, Abraham Lincoln got it right when he said, “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” Politicians, school boards, business leaders and even pastors who do everything by the pole, and who change their tune based solely on public opinion are seen as week – not having any convictions of their own, even dishonest because they seem to be telling people only what they want to hear – their talk is based on their audience, not on their beliefs. Their primary goal is not to tell the truth, but to gain approval.

As we pick up our study of the life of Jesus, He has emerged on the scene as a very public figure. Because John wrote his gospel much later than the other three, he left out much of the details that the others had included. The first words of John 6 read, “After these things…” In the NIV it reads, “Some time after…” In fact, between the end of John chapter 5, and the beginning of chapter 6 much has occurred. The other biographers of Jesus tell us that in the months that passed between the healing of the man at the pool, and the feeding of the 5,000 much has occurred. John the Baptist has been executed by Herod, Jesus has sent the disciples throughout Galilee to preach, “The Sermon on the Mount” was preached, and many of Jesus most famous parables had been given. The crowds were getting huge! By the time we get to chapter 6, a huge group has been following Jesus for several days, listening to his teaching, and watching his miracles. Mark tells us that Jesus had tried to slip away from this crowd to get some rest (Mark 6:31ff), but the crowds kept coming. Finally, Jesus went up onto a hillside, and sat down with the disciples.

From that vantage point, they were able to look over the huge crowd – Matthew tells us that the men alone number 5,000 – add in women and children and you could easily double the number. Follow along with me as I read beginning at verse 4.

4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. 5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. 7 Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little." 8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, 9 "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"

I would have loved to have seen Philip’s face when Jesus asked him where he thought they should bet bread for the crowd! Look closely at verse 6. It says that Jesus asked this to test him, for He already knew what He was going to do. There is a nugget of truth there that I don’t want us to miss – because it really is a thought that permeates this entire chapter, and really is the main point of the message this morning. There are going to be times when we get tested. There are going to be times when the thing that Jesus is asking us to do is bigger than our ability to comprehend. There will be times when we won’t understand – or see any way through. The question is this – How will we respond to those times?