The "priest" realized that he was getting an
upgrade when the men of Dan entered the house of his master Micah and took the
religious objects for their own. He went
from being priest of one man's household to being priest of an entire clan. He is the first pastor for hire, the
professional looking for a promotion rather than serving where called. Didn't you hope that the people of Laish, the
quiet and unsuspecting people, would destroy this tribe of Dan? It is an affront to believe that these
people, who have no longer any interest in Yahweh, came upon these folks and
killed them. It is an incredible
surprise to find that Moses' grandson is one of the priests of this idolatrous
altar. Nothing about morals should
surprise once you walk away from God's Word.
This crowd is filled with pilgrims going to Jerusalem for
Passover. As they come they knew about
Jesus from what they had seen and heard and they came to him here at the Sea of
Galilee. Why does He decide to feed
them? What prompted this question
regarding where they would get bread to feed this crowd? Philip knows the truth, even if there were
bread available it wouldn’t matter, they couldn't possibly afford to buy enough
to feed them. Jesus has them instruct
the multitude to sit down on the grass there and what He did next is truly
amazing and everyone there knows it.
Commentators will try and find naturalistic explanations for the feeding
but they have to deal with the belief of the people that this was the Prophet
of whom Moses spoke would come into the world.
In order to be the prophet like Moses you have to provide food
miraculously, not get people to share what they had. They don't make you king for teaching people
to share.
The apostles, who have not left Jerusalem although there was
persecution that scattered other believers like the deacon Philip who has gone to Samaria, send Peter and John to impart
the Holy Spirit. The believers in
Samaria have not received the Spirit yet, "they had only been baptized in
the name of the Lord Jesus." What
does that mean? Apparently the two
events, baptism and the giving of the Spirit, are two distinct things in Luke's
mind and the giving of the Spirit was apparently more than necessary to
believe. Simon the magician wants the
ability to do this thing, impart the Holy Spirit, which tells us he saw
something happen that was tangible. He
offers to pay for the secret and receives a stern rebuke. We can't confuse magical power and God's
work, it isn't something we possess or can transfer to another, it is God
working. The "priest" in the
first lesson believes he works for a tribe.
He was intended to work for the Lord.
The people see the work of feeding and believe Jesus is like Moses and
they want Him as king, they miss the work of God that sets Jesus apart. We either give glory to God or we give glory
to man.
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