Apart from the resurrection, this miracle of the feeding of the multitude alone excites all the gospel writers so that none of them feels the gospel story is complete without it. An exciting missionary adventure is crushed by John the Baptist's death, and Jesus and his disciples retired across Galilee. It was the backdrop for an incredibly timeless human story. Of all the gospel writers, only John writes, "He [Jesus] himself knew what he was going to do" (John 6:6 NRSV). The New International Version translates it, Christ "already had in mind what he was going to do."

The Things We Have In Mind

The disciples, even though they had witnessed many miracles, were frustrated for they did not know what the sovereign Lord "had in mind to do." Life is full of farfetched demands for which our res…