Spellbound- 6:30-37

Jesus has compassion on them- for they were like sheep without a shepherd. I don't think I often think this way. There are probably many people around here like that- the salvos seem to be tapping into that at the moment. I wonder how the worldview differs between a typical first century jew and a 21st century australian.

And they get to sit and listen to Jesus teach them many things. He held them- perhaps the rock band thing not too bad an analogy- a bit spellbound. It would be so good to be transported back there and be in the crowd and hear the 'many things' that Jesus was teaching them. Yet for many or most they did not get the thrust of what he was saying- or if they did, chose not to apply it.
There is still the same fascination today with 'great teachers'. They draw great crowds of people who probably often don't put into practice what they say- the mega church phenomena seems to thrive on it. Probably points to a shepherdless like state among many christians- where they (we) could be far more active in seeking Jesus as the shepherd of our souls- and could then be active in both being a shepherd to others and helping them be a shepherd to others. (Hebrew's author's frustration at the spiritual immaturity of those he was writing to).

As is often the case in spellbound moments- they last longer than you think- perhaps the disciples weren't they only ones that 'awakened' to find the sun low in the west, and their minds came back from wherever they were to basic practicalities that the late hour meant. The disciples think that Jesus needs to be organised- and go to help him understand. But there sensibleness gets turned on its head- it will be the spellbound world which will continue.
o de apokritheis eipen autois, Dote autois umeis fagein. “But responding (or answering) he said to them, You give them something to eat.” Bit of a classic- the 'but' is 'de' which is not a particularly strong but- so (greek guru's may correct me here) its sort of this understated 'but', which must have felt anything but that to the disciples. They've just come back from small preaching tours- where I imagine they experienced much excitement as well as trepidation as they became more than just 'hearing learners' but also 'doing learners' (mathetes- 1 one who engages in learning through instruction from another, pupil, apprentice
2, one who is rather constantly associated with someone who has a pedagogical reputation or a particular set of views, disciple, adherent (BDAG)

the related verb (is that the cognate verb?) is manthanw- which means 'I am learning' or 'I learn'.)

They don't even have time for a proper debrief until the crowd intrudes- they've reverted back to the hearing learners in the face of the master- these sort of numbers are his domain, they merely provide aid by pointing out the time- but Jesus does not have this construct in his head. His solution to the problem they bring is for them to directly fix it- You (emphatic) give them something to eat. (for your information Kyle, in Greek, the verb contains what person it is within itself- there is no need for a separate word for a personal pronoun to be used in the sentence- so 'trekw' means 'I run', 'trekeis' means 'you run', and 'trekei' means 'he, she or it runs'. If you want to draw attention to the person doing the action, you can include a personal pronoun- and this is called an emphatic use. So where Jesus says in John, 'before Abraham was, I am!' , instead of just using the word eimi, which means I am, John uses (or Jesus- but he may have been speaking in aramaic) Egw eimi. The same as all the other 'I am' statements in John. - as a further aside, let me give you the three definitions for trekw from the dictionary that all the experts look at, 1. to make rapid linear movement, run, rush, advance
2. to make effort to advance spiritually or intellectually, exert oneself
3. to proceed quickly and without restraint, progress
I think the quickly part can often get left out when you are trekking)