Teens
The World’s Greatest Picnic
by Dan Blankenship
I have only been on a few picnics in my lifetime. I know – I’ve lived a sheltered life. However, a few of those picnics have been smack-dab in the middle of some of America’s most beautiful national parks. In Yosemite, I have devoured a peanut butter and jelly sandwich surrounded by the peaks, waterfalls, and amazing flora found in that breathtaking location. On the edge of the Grand Canyon, I have munched on Doritos while staring out at the raised plateaus and structural basins that seem almost surreal. Those were both great picnics. So were the ones I took Redwood National Park, Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Mount Rushmore.
But I have to believe that the most amazing, the most awe-inspiring, picnic to ever take place on the planet had to be held on the shore of the Sea of Tiberas, in the Holy Land, some 2000 years ago (see John 6:1-15). It was there that 5,000 people gathered together to see the man who was their redeemer, their teacher, and their hope.
Imagine that you were a teenager when this event took place. Note: If you are a teenager, this should not be difficult! What would you think when your parents roused you out of bed early that morning? Would you ask what was so important that it demanded a sudden departure with no time for packing of rations? I know I would. I would, as a teenager, wonder how important this man must be. After all, parents are supposed to the responsible ones, right? Yet the story of Jesus feeding 5,000 could not have taken place if it were not for the fact that grown men and women felt the urgency of the event outweighed the careful planning that was normally warranted by such a venture.
Now imagine the pure joy of being seated on the grassy plain, with the sea in the on the horizon, and the Creator of the grass and the sea standing before you. Suddenly, the exigency, the magnitude, and the holiness of the moment becomes quite apparent. And as Jesus turns five small barley loaves of bread and two small fish into enough to feed 5,000, you realize this is no ordinary picnic. This is, without a doubt, the World’s Greatest Picnic.
How can five loaves of bread and two fish feed a crowd of 5,000? It is seemingly impossible. Yet, if we are to believe the Bible is an accurate account of Jesus’s life, we must believe this extraordinary event to be true. Could there be any doubt among the picnickers that Jesus was indeed a miracle worker, that he was not beholden to the physical limits of this world? And if you were a teenager whose parents had just dragged you out of a warm bed to be part of this event, wouldn’t your frustration be calmed, your countenance restructured, and your heart be changed as you witness the impossible become possible?
I was a teenager when I enjoyed a few outdoor meals at some of our nation’s most spectacular parks. I did not appreciate my parents keeping me crammed inside the back seat of a 1978 Pontiac Bonneville as we traveled thousands of miles across America.
But once we arrived at our destinations, once I was able to see the majestic beauty with my own eyes, I felt the journey was worth the suffering. I cannot even comprehend the magnitude at which a teenager must have experienced this transformation of the heart after seeing Jesus feed the hungry crowd. I imagine that teenager turning to her parents and saying, “Thank you. There is no place on earth that I’d rather be, for right here, right now, I have seen the one who has given me every breath and the reason to breathe it.” And I picture that teenager growing old, but never forgetting to tell his children and his grandchildren about The World’s Greatest Picnic.
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