Listen to the Land (Historical Geography) - Lesson 21

Dr. Cyndi Parker
Listen to the Land (Historical Geography)
bs600-21
Epilogue
Lesson Transcript

As a fun epilogue to the whole course. I would like to read maybe a story. I think this story is really fun. You can see my computer's closed. I'm not going to put any maps up. I'm not putting the calendar up. This is all to test you. So let's just see if you can start putting into practice the things that we have been learning. So I want you to pull. I want you to just practice what it feels like to to take the information we've been studying over all this time and read it back into the Scripture to see these details that are already there. I'm going to start with John Chapter six, and I chose this one because John is so determined for you to see how cool this thing is that he adds all kinds of crazy little elements in there. So he's giving us lots of clues to help us on this like final exam of our time together. So, John, chapter six, This is one of the stories of the feeding of the thousands. So it's a story we're maybe all familiar with or have heard of before, and maybe we can just add a few layers of color and interest and context. Okay. So he says, starting in verse one. After these things, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee or Tiberius already. Right. I am going to try not to stop every time, but we already talked about what going to the other side means. So we should be asking, where was he? He was in a different political unit. And the important thing is he's going into the political unit of Galilee. A large crowd followed him because they saw the signs which he was performing on those who were sick.

Then Jesus went up on the mountain. But we know it's one of the mountains, right? And there he sat down with his disciples. Now, the Passover, the feast of Jesus was near. John always tells us things on purpose. So what time of year is it? April, what is it everyone is thinking of? The barley harvest, the fact that God and Pharaoh go head to head and God wins in this redemption story, really very significant, very foundational for the Israelite and the Jewish mindset. Okay. So John can tell us that just by telling us the name of the the feast. Now in verse five, therefore Jesus lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread so that these may eat? He was saying this to test him, for he himself knew what he was intending to do. And Philip answered him. 200 denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them for everyone to receive a little. One of his disciples, Andrew Simon, Peter's brother, said to him, There is a lad here who has five barley loaves. Oh, isn't that very clever? Of course he has barley loaves. It's the only grain his mom has in the house right now. If the time of Passover is near, they have just harvested the barley and he has to fish. Now, also kind of knowing that Galilee structure, there's a part of me that always wonders if this lad is out, like with his little school lunchbox. I wonder if they're preserved fish from Magdala. Maybe not fresh fish he did that would stink, you know, but maybe they are the preserved fish. So it's just kind of interesting to go, oh, maybe.

Oh, we've seen that. Oh, we know what that looks like. Okay, so here is a lad with five barley loaves, two fish. But what are these for? So many people? And Jesus said, Have the people sit down? Now, there was much grass in the place. Oh, so very nice. Because what we know about the barley harvest and April on the calendar, there's a certain what is weather wise? What is going on? It's the latter rain ray. And this is when the earth burst forth in all kinds of color. So of course, there's a lot of grass in that place because it's that latter rain and there's been a lot of moisture in the hills are green there. Green only for a short amount of time because then they burn off. Okay. So there's a lot of grass and they sit down. Jesus then took the loaves and having given thanks, he distributed to those who were seated likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted when they were filled. He said to his disciples, Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost. So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Okay. 12 baskets. I mean, this is really fun, right? Because 12 automatically with especially within a Jewish context, we think 12 tribes when is so given. I shouldn't say win was. But given all of this context, it's April. People have Passover on their mind physically. We've already seen John kind of playing with it. There's grass, there's barley loaves. But in the first Passover, as soon as the people left and they go like out into the wilderness and they would sit and they would eat.

Who was providing for the 12 tribes of Israel? God was providing manna. And plenty of mana as much as they needed to eat. Like exactly enough. And so, John, the way he's describing it, but everyone, especially those who are in in fact, I would say a good portion of the people experiencing Jesus during Passover, getting people together in a place where there aren't resources and providing bread for them. And then 12 baskets are left over. It's inviting them to go, Wait, who are you in this scenario? And people get it. Because in John's version of this, we then move on to one of the large discourses between Jesus and the people where they're like, Really? Because they're starting to go, God prevented manna in the desert for our forefather Moses like. And they're already making the connection contextually. And Jesus goes into this long discourse of how I am the bread of life. Right. They understand the context and what's going on. Okay. Now there's another very similar miracle. Not all of the gospel writers included. Only two do. So we're going to read the Mark version. All of the Gospels have this feeding of the 5000. Two of the Gospels have another very similar miracle. So let's read Mark's version. We're going to go to Mark. I think it's chapter eight. Mark Chapter eight. Okay. And just to contextualize this in the greater history of what's around, especially because we touched on this a little bit in the official part of the course in chapter five, Jesus and the disciples are in the to capitalists. So in that Helena ized area, and this is when Jesus encounters the demonic and he throws the demons, purifies this guy, cleans this guy, and then he wants to go follow Jesus.

He's like, No, no, no, go back. Like, we talked about this during the course. Okay. Jesus leaves the Nicopolis and in chapter seven is the first time Jesus comes back to the two capitals. And in chapter eight, it seems like he's still in that nicopolis. Okay, so let's start in verse one. In those days when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with me now three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from a great distance. And his disciples answered him, Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people? And he was asking them, How many loaves do you have? And they said, seven. And he directed the people to sit down on the ground and taking the seven loaves he gave them and broke them and started giving them to his disciples to serve to them. And they served them to the people. They also had a few small fish. And after he blessed them, he ordered these to be served as well. And they ate and were satisfied. And they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over the broken pieces. About 4000 were there, and he sent them away. Well, according to this context, we don't really have the same. Israelite underlying story. Which maybe makes sense, right? Because where Jesus. In the day Capitalists, which has a Hellenistic base to it. They're not sitting on top of thick soil of Israelite stories. So we don't we don't have that same kind of play, but we have a second version of a miracle that he did in Galilee.

Jewish territory with Jewish symbolism. And now he's doing the same thing. But in the Coppola's. Now seven. What is it about seven, right? If there are seven loaves of bread this time through and seven baskets that are leftover this time through, it has to mean something. So seven seven is the perfect number. It's the number of creation. There's significant there. And. And maybe that could be an element to this story. For me, the context of it being in the dark hapless is also really significant because the decay is almost like the utter most parts of the earth. It's the other. And if we're looking at this story of Jews and Gentiles. The number seven is quite informative because by this time the Jews would refer to all the nations of the world as the seven nations. Why? Because in Deuteronomy chapter seven, Deuteronomy says when you go into this land, there are groups of people who are there to get rid of and then they're named. It happens to be seven. And that tradition carried over. And so the seven was always like and the whole rest of the nations. So now we have Jesus doing the exact same type of provision for people in a desolate place that he did for the Jews with all the the symbolism of Passover. But this time, he's in a Gentile place. And the significant thing is he's providing for them in the same amount of abundance he provided for the Jews. Isn't that so? Fine. Yeah. So it may not change the way we've been interpreting these biblical passages, but it is adding a humanity and it is adding a depth and an awareness of context. We can see Jesus being aware of where he is and teaching those people as real people as He is doing these miracles and as he is explaining himself, we're always asking ourselves not only what happened, where did it happen, Why are these details included? Because they are probably all significant.