Reading for Today:

• 2 Samuel 9:1 Chapter 9 1 And David said, Is there yet any that is left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake? –10:19
• Psalms 65:1-8 Chapter 65 1 Praise waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion; And unto thee shall the vow be performed. 2 O thou that hearest prayer, Unto thee shall all flesh come. 3 Iniquities prevail against me: As for our transgressions, thou wilt forgive them. 4 Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach `unto thee', That he may dwell in thy courts: We shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, Thy holy temple. 5 By terrible things thou wilt answer us in righteousness, Oh God of our salvation, Thou that art the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of them that are afar off upon the sea: 6 Who by his strength setteth fast the mountains, Being girded about with might; 7 Who stilleth the roaring of the seas, The roaring of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples. 8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.
• Proverbs 16:20-21 20 He that giveth heed unto the word shall find good; And whoso trusteth in Jehovah, happy is he. 21 The wise in heart shall be called prudent; And the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.
• John 6:1-21 Chapter 6 1 After these things Jesus went away to the other side of the sea of Galilee, which is `the sea' of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they beheld the signs which he did on them that were sick. 3 And Jesus went up into the mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 Now the passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Jesus therefore lifting up his eyes, and seeing that a great multitude cometh unto him, saith unto Philip, Whence are we to buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred shillings' worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, who hath five barley loaves, and two fishes: but what are these among so many? 10 Jesus said, Make the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 Jesus therefore took the loaves; and having given thanks, he distributed to them that were set down; likewise also of the fishes as much as they would. 12 And when they were filled, he saith unto his disciples, Gather up the broken pieces which remain over, that nothing be lost. 13 So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves, which remained over unto them that had eaten. 14 When therefore the people saw the sign which he did, they said, This is of a truth the prophet that cometh into the world. 15 Jesus therefore perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force, to make him king, withdrew again into the mountain himself alone. 16 And when evening came, his disciples went down unto the sea; 17 and they entered into a boat, and were going over the sea unto Capernaum. And it was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 And the sea was rising by reason of a great wind that blew. 19 When therefore they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they behold Jesus walking on the sea, and drawing nigh unto the boat: and they were afraid. 20 But he saith unto them, It is I; be not afraid. 21 They were willing therefore to receive him into the boat: and straightway the boat was at the land whither they were going.

Notes:

2 Samuel 9:8 dead dog. A “dead dog” was considered contemptible and useless. Mephibosheth saw himself as such in that he knew that he had not merited David’s kindness and that there was no way for him to repay it. David’s offer was an extraordinary expression of grace and beauty to his covenant with Jonathan (1 Sam. 18:3; 20:15,42).

2 Samuel 10:4 shaved off half of their beards. Forced shaving was considered an insult and a sign of submission (Is. 7:20). cut off their garments…at their buttocks. To those who wore long garments in that time, exposure of the buttocks was a shameful practice inflicted on prisoners of war (Is. 20:4).

Proverbs 16:21 sweetness of the lips. “Honeyed words,” which reflect intelligence, judiciousness, and discernment in speech. This refers to eloquent discourse from the wise (v. 24).

John 6:19,20 Jesus walking on the sea. The Synoptics reveal that in fear and the darkness, the disciples thought Jesus was a ghost (Matt. 14:26; Mark 6:49 49 but they, when they saw him walking on the sea, supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; ). The Son of God, who made the world, was in control of its forces; and, in this case, He suspended the law of gravity. The act was not frivolous on Jesus’ part, for it constituted a dramatic object lesson to the disciples of Jesus’ true identity as the sovereign Lord of all creation (1:3).

DAY 19: Why were the crowds who followed Jesus a potential liability?

In John 6:2 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they beheld the signs which he did on them that were sick. , it says that the multitudes followed Jesus “because they saw His signs.” The crowds followed not out of belief but out of curiosity concerning the miracles that He performed (v. 26). However, in spite of the crowd’s crass motivations, Jesus, having compassion on them, healed their sick and fed them (Matt. 13:14; Mark 6:34 34 And he came forth and saw a great multitude, and he had compassion on them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. ).

The crowd’s declaration of Jesus as “the Prophet” (v. 14) is a reference to Deuteronomy 18:15 15 Jehovah thy God will raise up unto thee a prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken; . Sadly, these comments, coming right after Jesus healed and fed them, indicate that the people desired a Messiah who met their physical, rather than spiritual, needs. Apparently, no recognition existed for the need of spiritual repentance and preparation for the kingdom (Matt. 4:17). They wanted an earthly, political Messiah to meet all their needs and to deliver them from Roman oppression. Their reaction typifies many who want a “Christ” that makes no demands of them (Matt. 10:34–39; 16:24–26), but of whom they can make their selfish personal requests.

Jesus “perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king” (v. 15). John supplemented the information in Matthew and Mark by indicating that the reason Jesus dismissed the disciples and withdrew from the crowd into a mountain alone was because of His supernatural knowledge of their intention to make Him king in light of His healing and feeding of them. The crowd, incited by mob enthusiasm, was ready to proceed with crassly political intentions that would have jeopardized God’s will.

From The MacArthur Daily Bible Copyright © 2003. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson Bibles, a division of Thomas Nelson, Inc, Nashville, TN 37214, www.thomasnelson.com.

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