Jesus Knew What He Would Do

On this occasion, Jesus crossed the Lake of Galilee, and as usual, a great crowd followed him because they had seen signs which He gave in His dealings with the sick. But Jesus went up the hillside and sat down there with His disciples. The Passover, the Jewish festival, was near. So Jesus, raising His eyes and seeing a great crowd on the way towards Him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy food for these people to eat?” Jesus said this to test Philip, for He knew what he was going to do, (John 6:6)

It is soul healing when we realise that Jesus knows everything about us and knows what He will do. But He may choose to test us as He did to Philip. It was expected that Philip would have acknowledged the Sovereignty and Supremacy of the Master over all He created by saying for example, “Sir you know all things, Lord. What shall we do?” Instead, Philip answered him in terms of economic and natural estimates, “It would take nearly a year's wages to buy enough food for them, even if each one gets only a little.” Fortunately, there was another disciple around, Andrew the brother of Simon Peter. Andrew with some faith said, “A boy here has five loaves of bread and two small fish. But what can that little bit of food do for so many people?” That little faith was enough for Jesus our Lord and Saviour to be brought into the scene, as Prophet TB Joshua always says. Jesus said, “Tell the people to sit down.” The rest is a miracle as the heavens were open and bread and fishes flowed to the hungry and wearied souls. The multitude was feed with great leftovers. 

The Bible testifies that Jesus is the eternal God who became a man to sacrifice His life for the sins of the whole world. He was always aware of this and was not expecting Philip to rain bread to feed the multitude but to have some faith in this eternal God. There was never a time Jesus doubted His calling nor was He ever overwhelmed by all the attention He received and allowed Himself to be taken for someone He was not. The prophets that He has called, anointed and using, have some of his divine attributes by His generous grace. They shouldn’t be bothered by worldly pursuits, earthly desires, nor feel overwhelmed by millions of people seeking help from them. Only that it is necessary to remain connected with the One who knows the way through the wilderness of life. The Bible makes it clear that Jesus was always confident of who He was and why He had come to earth. From our first glimpse of Him, until the end of His life, we find Jesus confident of His person and message. Those who trust Jesus should never doubt His ability nor put limits unto what is possible. Instead, we should know that “With God all things are possible, and what is not possible for man is possible for our God”. God can use His servants for our help.

Hence as the entire world is swimming in the wilderness of life, from fear and panic unto economic lockdown and eventually total humility that will leave no stone unturned, it is not too late to come to Jesus for our supplies. In this COVID-19 era, the God who knows what He will do is reshaping the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) to minister to the world in a new way and we must support their effort, in prayers and different kinds. They have newly come up with “Distance is not a barrier” when the Church is in lockdown. People across the globe can benefit from this but by faith. 

Everyone should come to seek Jesus like Zacchaeus, a tax collector who lived in the city Jericho at the time of Jesus. He learned that Jesus the prophet was passing through the city and he ran ahead of the crowd and climbed up into a sycamore tree to have a better view of Jesus. It is not enough to secretly install Emmanuel.tv inside your bedroom to watch or to use to attack SCOAN. There is so much to learn about Zacchaeus beyond the fact that he was a short guy who hung out in trees just to see Jesus. Even what’s coming out from the World Health Organisation (WHO) about SCOAN is Zacchaeus and Pharisaical in my own opinion. It is necessary to truly and openly acknowledge Jesus and the fact that “Jesus knows what He will do in the World He has created”. God has the final say. Organisations and nations like the UN, WHO, USA, UK, China, Russia, even Nigeria, and all others must listen to what God has to say. God is Supreme, Omnipotent, Omniscience and Omnipresence. Emmanuel

Prof. R .A. Ipinyomi, University of Ilorin, Nigeria