A couple of Christmases ago I volunteered to furnish the 2-liter drinks, the paper goods, and the bread for our family meal. I also had Greek Salad left from a potluck a few days before.   I bought the drinks and paper goods a few days earlier and left them in my van.  When the day arrived, I was distracted right before leaving and the salad and bread were left behind.   I was frustrated and the object of our family’s Olympian event of good-natured insults the rest of the day.  A quick trip to the neighborhood store by my son-in-love provided the bread, and that salad was added to my meals for several days. 

My embarrassment could not compare with the disciples’ action of forgetting to bring any bread to their event.  Jesus, the ultimate teacher, used the situation as a lesson object.  Maybe the disciples took the comment as a reprimand at first, but Jesus was about to teach them an important truth.  After reminding them of two past miracles, He then turned to something far greater – being aware of things more serious than forgetting the bread.  He warned them of the danger of not being alert to people and circumstances that are intended to lead us in the wrong direction.