The Men Sitting Down - John 6:10

The apostle John wrote how, “Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he said unto Philip, Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said unto him, There is a lad here, which has five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?”, and in chapter six and verse ten of his book, John shared how Jesus said, “make the men sit down … in number about five thousand” where we read:

And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place.

So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

The verse reads, “And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place.”. John began with the words, “And Jesus said” or “and the Son of God, the Savior of mankind and God incarnate uttered, declared, proclaimed and instructed”, “make the men sit down” which means “cause and appoint the men to be seated”. “Now there was much grass” or “moreover there existed a large amount of herbage, hay or grass” “in the place” which means “in the location where Jesus ministered on the mountainside”. John shared how Jesus instructed His disciples to have the men to be seated upon the “grass” which overlay the mountainside.

The verse goes on to say, “So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.” John continued with the words, “so the men sat down” which means “therefore the men were seated”, “in number about five thousand” or “and the number of them was around five thousand men”. John shared how Jesus' disciples obeyed Him and directed the five thousand men to be seated.

When we consider John's words in this verse, we learn how Jesus began to organize the crowd of people for what He was about to do next. God is a God of order, and for the men to be easily accessed for this miracle, Jesus had His disciples “seat” them. God has a plan for each and every person, and when they yield their life to His Son Jesus as their “Savior and Lord”, He carefully begins to fulfill His purposes in their lives. Those who are wise will seek the Lord Jesus to see if there are specific organizational efforts He is making in their lives as submit to His every instruction.

Next time John shares how, “Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".