Healthcare and welfare top the charts as attention grabbers. This is nothing new; two thousand years ago multitudes followed Jesus over sea and land, they even tried to force Him to be their king. Here’s why: He gave them free food, healed their diseases and gave them hope the day he fed 15,000 to 20,000 people in John 6 (woman and children included).

By chapter’s end, scores of false disciples walk away from Jesus, never to return. He’s left addressing a congregation of only “The Twelve,” wanting to know whether they’d like to go away also.

John 6 is a message of God’s gracious provision of food and medical care, yet ironically, it’s also a classic example of a lack of gratitude from people who only want “a Jesus” who gives them free stuff, minus His call to “believe in Him whom God sent” (John 6:29).… Continue reading