Before working the miracle of the loaves and fishes, Jesus asked Philip where they could buy enough bread for the people to eat. “This he said to test (πειράζων, tentans) him, for he himself knew what he would do.” (John 6:6). We should not pass on from this verse before considering that, at least according to the gospel of John, Jesus sometimes puts his disciples to the test.
The fact that Jesus tested Philip does not prove ignorance on the part of our Lord. People often times test each other even though they already know what the result will be. A courtroom lawyer, for example, will question a witness while already knowing the answer. Scout expressed this idea in To Kill a Mockingbird “Never, never, never, on cross-examination ask a witness a question you don’t already know the answer to, was a tenet I absorbed with my baby-food.”
Nor does this test indicate any malice on the part of our Lord. There is a way that you can test someone in order to make them stumble and fall. The devil tests people in this fashion, but God does not (cf. James 1:13). There is also a way to test someone in order to make him succeed. A test, in this sense, is a situation that brings out some hidden aspect of our knowledge, skill or character. A good teacher, for example, tests her students in order to see them succeed.
As long as we are on this Earth, we have the potential for good and for evil. When Jesus tests us, it is only so that the good that is in us can come out, with the help of his grace. Let us not flinch from such a test, but embrace it with trust in God’s plan for us.