Christ sometimes provokes a question so that He can be the answer

Christ sometimes provokes a question so that He can be the answer

 I love how John’s version tells us Christ prompted the question, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:5). Verse 6 tells us, “He asked this only to test him.” I think Christ might have been testing His disciples to surface what they had learned, or, like me, what they had yet to learn! Think of the miracles they had seen Christ perform by this time. Yet they couldn’t imagine how they were going to feed all these hungry people. I think Jesus may have been testing them to see if they were beginning to think in a “faith mode.” Their response proved they still practiced fragmented faith. While they had seen Christ cast out demons and heal the sick, it had not yet occurred to them He could feed the masses. They still had much to learn about Christ’s complete jurisdiction. He can meet our spiritual needs, our emotional needs, and our physical needs. He is both deeply spiritual and entirely practical. Christ was teaching them to see Him, His power, and His authority in every area of life.