[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during November 2021]
Here are two questions that probably you have never asked:
– Who is this man Red?
– Why did he embark on his voyage so late in the day?
These two questions have their root in the misunderstanding of a simple statement, presented out of its context. Aficionados of the popular music of the twentieth century will immediately recognise the misapplication of the opening line of “Red Sails in the Sunset”. Written by James Kennedy to music by Hugh Williams, it has been performed by numerous artists since 1935. Taking that one line out of the context of the song might well provoke the questions above.
Context, like punctuation, is important. Do we have any favourite Bible passages that sound better without the encumbrance of their context? Certainly, we would welcome God’s promise to heal the land much more if it were not for that tiresome ‘humble themselves’ bit beforehand.[1]
Perhaps another prominent example is where words from John 3 v16 “… whoever believes in him shall not perish …” are quoted whilst the counterpart in v18 “ … whoever does not believe stands condemned already …” gets less emphasis.
Returning to our starting point, we see a similar situation in John’s account of Jesus calming the Sea of Galilee (and also calming the disciples). “When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum.”[2] They were sailing off into the sunset after a hard day picking up bread crumbs and bits of fish, heading for home.
Did you notice that Jesus provided not just for the crowd but that the 12 baskets of left-overs were enough for each disciple to take one for his own family? Those who are the channels of God’s blessings have their needs met too.
Our first question reminds us of a similar one recorded by Mark whilst Jesus and his disciples were on a road trip.
He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?” So they answered, “John the Baptist; but some say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” [Mark 8 v27-29 NKJV]
That’s a question that, sooner or later, we are all going to have to answer.
[1]: 2 Chronicles 7 v14
[2]: John 6 v16-17
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Contributed by Steve Humphreys; © the Author
