Jesus’ Law of Thermodynamics
Part 1
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
(John 6:63) KJV
Jesus fed 5,000 people with bread out of thin air but he couldn’t get them to understand energy transformation. His miracle caused a thermodynamic weather system to develop and gives us a predictive testable hypothesis.
We (that’s me and the Holy spirit) have discussed the possibility that God’s angelic messengers are spirits, and that their nature is a vapor that maintains its integrity as an independent entity because it’s centered on a gravity node, or soul.
There’s another aspect to the unseen spiritual world that we haven’t addressed yet: sound. Sound is a form of energy. According to Einstein’s relativity, matter is also a form of energy. Basically everything is energy. The first law of thermodynamics tells us that energy may not be created or destroyed, only changed from one form to another.
The first law of thermodynamics is a version of the law of conservation of energy, adapted for thermodynamic systems. The law of conservation of energy states that the total energy of an isolated system is constant; energy can be transformed from one form to another, but can be neither created nor destroyed.
The first law is often formulated ฮ U = Q – W
– Wikipedia
Feeding the 5000
Then Jesus said, โMake the people sit down.โ Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
(John 6:10-11) NKJV
In John chapter 6 Jesus demonstrates the the conversion of matter and energy, by taking energy from the environment and converting it into bread, and he attempts to explain thermodynamics. He didn’t have any success, lost a lot of followers, and caused a tempestuous storm to develop.
Ironically this pictures the age in which we live: when you explain what failed science (SciPop) is to people who assume that they know, they tune out.
What did Jesus do to the five barley loaves and two small fishes that produced enough food to feed five thousand men? The answer “it was a miracle,” is correct but there has to be more to it than that.
The chapter begins with one of Jesus’ most well-known miracles: feeding the 5,000. We have multiple eye witness accounts of Jesus making bread and fish appear out of thin air. It’s described for us in John 6:1-15. What did Jesus do to five barley loaves and two small fishes that produced enough food to feed five thousand men? The answer “it was a miracle,” is correct, but there has to be more to it than that.
In Genesis chapter 1 there was no need for God to create the universe from nothing, there was a body of water called the deep available. Did Jesus create bread and fish out of nothing? There was no need, there was plenty of matter and energy available: atoms and molecules in the air and heat from the sun.
This means that Jesus changed energy from one form to another, in accordance with the first law of thermodynamics, also called the law of the conservation of energy. One way or another Jesus took the energy and molecules around him and rearranged them into a steady supply of bread and fish until everyone was filled.
The thing is, according to the law of conservation of energy, he couldn’t have done that without it having an effect somewhere else in the energetic system of his environment. We can test this hypothesis against the rest of scripture. It’s Hypothesis 37.
Walking on Water
So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, โIt is I; do not be afraid.โ Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.
(John 6:19-21) NKJV
John Chapter 6 describes Jesus walking on water (v. 16-21) which is described in the other gospels as happening during a tempest. Jesus physically demonstrates his power over matter and energy.
Everyone who preaches on this text emphasis’s how it demonstrates Jesus’ divine nature because he showed that he has power over nature. It’s not an issue. What we want to do that may be slightly different is to see what we can deduce about what this power is and how did he do it.
In a way it’s not really necessary to know the details. That’s what faith is for. On the other hand, we find time and time again that pulling on these threads to see how far they go produces results which enhance and deepen our understanding of the relationship between the Word of God and the creation around us.
The Bread from Heaven
Jesus answered them and said, โMost assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.โ
(John 6:26-27) NKJV
Jesus begins his attempt to describe energy transformation with the difference between food that perishes and food that endures. To Jesus, the almighty God, it’s a simple matter of changing the energetic state of matter.
This transformation is rendered in some translations, notably the King James, as “quickening.” In this situation, however, Jesus has two problems:
- His audience has no frame of reference to be able to understand thermodynamics,
- they’re typically antagonistic. They’re there because they think that they’re going to get fed, not because they’re seeking to master spiritual truth.
Undeterred, Jesus is going to attempt to explain.
Believe in Him
Then they said to Him, โWhat shall we do, that we may work the works of God?โ
Jesus answered and said to them, โThis is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.โ
(John 6:28-29) NKJV
Jesus makes the claim that he’s sent from God and that the work of God is to believe him who has been sent. The people naturally balk, and ask for a sign from Jesus which would confirm his claim.
They unwittingly present the example of Moses feeding the Israelites with manna in the wilderness. That sets Jesus up to be able to show the people that they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about, nor do they understand Moses. It’s somewhat of a precursor to the great speech given by Stephen, right before he got stoned to death, in which he responded to a similar ill-conceived challenge regarding Moses.
The people are accustomed to being taught the law and the prophets. They think that they need a simple instruction, or rule, that they can follow. A check list of tasks to do everyday by which religious observances they can be assured that they’ll have everlasting life.
Jesus has something much simpler and says: believe in me. The people don’t get it, believe in what? Who? They don’t know how to believe in him, they don’t know what to believe in. There is a chasm of understanding. Then he demonstrates the seemingly impossible feat of making food for 5,000 people materialize out of thin air. Later that evening there is a tempestuous storm.
Manner didn’t come from Moses
Then Jesus said to them, โMost assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.โ
(John 6:32-33) NKJV
Jesus fed 5,000 people with bread and fish which he caused to materialize out of thin air, however, the people think that they need some kind of sign that proves that he’s sent from heaven.
They throw out the sign that Moses performed in raining bread from heaven. Jesus politely informs them that they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. It had nothing to do with Moses. This ironically foreshadows Stephen, but in this situation the people won’t be inclined to stone Jesus, but they’re going to start drifting off, loosing interest in a man who’s eloquently pointing out that they’re totally clueless.
Jesus goes on to make another bold claim that he is the bread of God from heaven. Jesus’ problem is that he understands it, but the people he’s speaking to don’t have a frame of reference in which to be able to realize that he’s not being poetic, allegorical or metaphorical, he’s trying to teach them physics.
We’re deep in the weeds and we will have to see how Jesus digs himself out of his conceptual hole tomorrow. What he does is a positive result for Hypothesis 37.
Read through the Bible in a year
| Reading plan | June 22 | |
| Linear | Psalms 93-95 | |
| Chronological | Proverbs 30-31 |
Salvation
- Call upon the name of Jesus Christ,
- believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
- confess your sin.
