The Texas sun blazed down … and temps sat in the upper 90’s all day. We had just flown in from endless grey and rain, and temps of low 50’s.
In fact, most of us had come from cooler climates. Some had come from Montana … from Wyoming … from Alberta, Canada. A surprising number had come from Washington State. Some had come from Kansas … from Michigan … from Wisconsin. From New York State … from Spain … from Australia.
Here we all were … 5,000 of us. We had all come together for the Feeding of the 5,000.
The announcement came over the loudspeakers … it was time for us all to head over to the filming site! It’s time!!
Excitement was palpable!!
Most of us had never seen what filming a movie was like before!
As a huge sea of humanity, we all began the short walk over to the filming sight. Crew volunteers in bright blue T-shirts directed us where to sit. We each found a spot … and began to spread our blankets and mats on the ground.
Just as we were getting settled, an excited stir spread like wildfire through the crowd … it’s Jesus!!! There he is!! We all could hardly contain ourselves!
People popped up off their blankets to get a better view! I realized with a bit of dismay that I couldn’t see him … I was too far back. All over the place cellphones were raised high in the air for a photo! It’s Jesus!!! There’s Jesus!!
We all knew it wasn’t really Jesus himself. We all knew it was just the actor who plays Jesus. But wow … the excitement!! I’ve never experienced anything like it!
I was immediately struck with the thought: this is what it was like. That excitement … that’s totally what it was like when Jesus was here on the earth!
It’s one thing to sit on my comfy couch at home and read about crowds of people coming from far away to see Jesus.
It’s a completely different thing to actually be one of those people in a crowded mass of humanity … all of us having traveled from far away … and there was Jesus!!
I sat on my mat, at the back of the crowd, unable to see Jesus, and was also struck with the thought: Jesus is right here with me on my mat, at the back of the crowd. It’s ok. Jesus is right here with me. What an amazing thought!
#thechosen
