So i guess 5,000 or more missed the whole point of what Jesus was saying. I guess I can understand that…kinda. After all, they weren’t around the rabbi all the time. They just followed him from village to village. How could they have been expected to catch the heart of the message of the Messiah? And besides, they weren’t the 12. They were the ones who followed Jesus all the time. They knew everything about Him. Surely they wouldn’t miss it.

Yep, they sure did. 12 men who basically knew everything about the Messiah. Or did they? Throughout my studies, I believe the 12 knew everything about the "earthly" king. I’m sure they knew what foods He liked. They probably even had his sayings memorized. They knew His inflections. Ask them and they knew all of His patterns. However, they didnt know the heart of the divine.

When you look at the 12, you will see that they were pretty much preoccupied with the external. A couple were caught arguing over who would get to sit at His right and left hand side. One was more worried about the money in the treasury than hearing the heart of compassion. Peter even thought he could win with a sword. All said, I would say they missed the true message of Jesus.

Take a look around church. How many people do you think "get it?" How many times did God have to bring the Israelites through the water, famine, and disease before they "got it?" What does it take for all of us to hear what God is saying and connect with His heartbeat?

For me, my desire is not just to hear the words during a sermon. First, I need to connect with the speaker. When I do that, then I can hear their heart. I can’t listen to a message for too long if I dont connect with the speaker within the first couple of minutes. I have to know a couple things. One, this speaker is speaking truth. Two, they have my best interest at heart. Three, they are speaking out of love. If I dont sense these early on, forget it. Im not receiving much from it.

Of course Jesus did all of those. He was truth, He had their best interest at heart, and He always spoke out of love. So why did the 12 miss it? Maybe they were just too focused on the external benefits.

Next up…we’ll look at the 3, Peter, James, and John….could they have missed it too?