During a stay in the hospital one of the heroes of the past weeks for me was a wonderful Greek lady who was determined to find something I would eat. Swallowing was very painful, so days went by without my eating. Three times a day she came to talk about food, any food that sounding tempting. Meal after meal she got me what I wanted only to see it go untouched. She would not give up. Finally she found something soothing that I could drink. She was amazingly patient and persistent.
The analogy here jumps off the page. Of all the miracles Jesus performed, the feeding of the 5000 is the only one mentioned in all four Gospels. The Messiah was to feed His people. I am amazed that the resurrection of Lazarus, a man dead for over three days, is only mentioned in the Gospel of John.
Jesus has a nourishing message of hope and life and His challenge is to find ways to make that message palatable for each of us. Just as we have different physical tastes so we have different spiritual tastes. As each of us is unique so is the necessity of making the appeal unique. What touches the heart of one means little to another. So it is that we have an all knowing God who alters the appeal to fit the person. The miracle of Pentecost and languages were not so much the disciples speaking French and German as much as the miracle of ears. People heard and were fed what appealed to them.
Written by Roger Bothwell on May 7, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org