Mark 6:30-44 NIV
30 The apostles gathered
around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then,
because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a
chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves
to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by
themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But
many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns
and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed
and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep
without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late
in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said,
“and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people
away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy
themselves something to eat.”
37 But he answered, “You give
them something to eat.”
They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s
wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”
38 “How many loaves do you
have?” he asked. “Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them
to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So
they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking
the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and
broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the
people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They
all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples
picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The
number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
But Wait! There’s More!
Wow! All I can say, which is way too little, is, wow! This
passage of scripture and my studies this past week, go way beyond anything I
ever expected. This passage gave me a personal message of comfort and relief to
continue on in this world. I know now, without a doubt that Jesus is with me
through it all. So, here goes. May this message Point To Jesus!
A couple of weeks back, we read in the book of Mark how
Jesus sent out His disciples in pairs to teach repentance, to forgive, to heal
and to be with the people. And they did just this, coming back tired. Here,
Jesus gives his disciples rest.
As you read and hear the Word above; we discover nourishment
and teaching. We witness compassion of God in and through Jesus. God is
abundant, for sure, as we witness the reading and hearing of this passage of
Mark.
God has always been abundant. Look back to Jeremiah 23:1-6.
You can read for yourself. In this passage we find the Israelites out of exile.
We can look to our own life journey, in the wilderness of life, and ask, “What
now, am I to do, as I struggle?” Well, look to the righteous Branch. Look to
Jesus. He has always been with you. Follow, listen and serve Jesus in life. As
we struggle at the “oars” of life, fighting the stormy seas, Jesus walks to us
and gets into the boat with us and calms the storms of illness, death, addiction,
poverty, hunger, and on and on. Yes, God feeds His people and loves and cares
for them and all of us.
In Exodus
16:14-35, we witness how God took care of the need of hunger. He fed the
Israelites, in the wilderness, manna, or bread from heaven. God gave the people
just what they needed in the amounts they needed. Yes, God loved them and fed
them all they needed.
In the desert of our own wilderness, God feeds us all that
we need.
This same love of God is remembered in the book of Nehemiah…
Nehemiah 9:15 NIV
15 In their (The Israelites
in the wilderness) hunger you gave them bread from heaven and in their
thirst you brought them water from the rock; you told them to go in and
take possession of the land you had sworn with uplifted hand to give them.
Jesus wants us and His disciples to take time to rest in a
desert or lonely place. Jesus, like the 23rd Psalm teaches us… “He
makes me lie down.” See that? Makes me! God doesn’t just request this but makes
us. And I think this is at least daily.
Just yesterday, as I visited the Columbus Zoo with my wife
Sue and grandchildren Kaiya and Bubs, we saw this rest taking place with the
animal kingdom. Lions, tigers, bears and many of the creatures, were taking
rest. In the heat of the day, they took rest. God gives His creation rest when
needed. I believe this is one of those gifts given to us from God. And if we
don’t take that rest, God will make us lie down.
As we rest in this desert place, this lonely place, that
God gives us; we come to see ourselves and we see God. So, rest! Take time each
day to draw near to God. For you have been brought near to God by a great
price. What price? You have been brought near to God by the blood of Jesus. And
in and through the blood of Jesus, we need not fear the evils of this world,
the sin, the death, the illness, the addiction, and on and on. Why? Because God
IS with you. God IS with you in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. No doubt about it.
Rest, reflect, open the Word, pray and be near in rest. Not because you have to
encounter God, but rather because God MAKES you! God makes you; this isn’t
about your efforts or you being a goody goody, this is about God taking care of
You!
Let’s move along in this reading. So, a crowd tracks Jesus
and the disciples down. A crown invades this quiet time. How does Jesus respond
to this break in His schedule?
Jesus is compassionate with the crowd. I would have been
irritated that this selfish crowd destroyed MY time alone with Jesus!
But Jesus didn’t have my selfish vision of the people, as I
would have had with my eyes and heart of irritation. Rather Jesus was concerned
with the needs of the crowd. Beyond Jesus’ own need for rest; Jesus sees into
the heart of the people. WOW! Think of that! Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our
King… yes, THE King, looks beyond His own need to the needs of others.
God in Jesus IS compassionate.
But the response of myself and the disciples is something
far different.
The disciples, and my guilty self, say, as I paraphrase, “Send
them away!” “Let them take care of themselves.”
But NO! Jesus tells us to meet the needs of the crowd. How?
Through Faith the need is met. Through this same Faith that Jesus gives to all
people.
But, come on, Jesus! I don’t want these people to take my
stuff? Let them feed themselves! Let them earn what I had to earn on my own!
Send them away!
But Jesus tells us NO! This crowd, these needy people, are YOUR
responsibility!
YOU give them something to eat!
What are your resources?
Forget about what is impossible, and move along with what
you have.
Seek what IS possible with 5 loaves and 2 fish.
And then, give all of your resources to Jesus!
You see, the need of hunger is met when we let God take
care of the resources. And that goes beyond hunger, to the many needs we
encounter in our walk in this wilderness of life… perhaps illness, addiction,
death, temptations, greed, selfishness…
And here we go back again. Not only with Jesus and His
disciples, but also with this hungry crowd. The crowd is to lay down in green
pastures. Kind of like Psalm 23 again. Be fed by Jesus.
Let’s view this “green” in a new and different way than we
think of “green” today. In this “green” we think of Passover, the spring of new
life. Yes! Think of Easter!
This very thing was predicted years earlier and continues
on today.
Ezekiel 34:15-16 NIV
15 I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie
down, declares the Sovereign Lord. 16 I
will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the
injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will
destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.
That’s Jesus! In this passage and today and forever!
And then it happens once again, just like we have witnessed
in the last few weeks of Jesus actions with the people.
Faith accompanies the miracle of God in and through Jesus.
And this and this alone, is all we need. It’s way more that
we need to give life to the crowd and to all those God gives to us each and
every day.
Jesus takes what we give to Him and makes a miracle out of
it, feeding all the people. It was never about our doing, or our generosity. It
was always about what Jesus does for us, the crowd and the world.
Look at it!
We handed Jesus a cross. What did Jesus give back? Jesus
handed back to us, from the cross, forgiveness, salvation and everlasting life.
When we give to Jesus all of our resources, Jesus makes way
more! It’s not about our giving that makes this happen. No! It’s about what
Jesus gives through faith. And to this, what can we say? Thanks be to God!
And now, Jesus, looking up to heaven, as in a table prayer
of thanksgiving, blesses and breaks the bread. Why? This is a feeding of a New
People… Forever!
Feeding more than a measly few thousand people, with a little
bit of food; Jesus gives life and sustains us all for daily living. Jesus gives
us not only food, he gives us all the faith we need to believe in Him and God,
now and forever.
And… more was left over than what they began with. This is
a Divine bounty.
In the midst of our wildernesses of life; whatever they may
be, and in whatever shape you encounter your own hunger, Jesus is with you.
Jesus feeds you and gives you all the faith you need to believe in Him.
With all those leftovers of compassion, love, service and
giving and faith. Believe and GO! Go out in faith to love and serve and have
compassion on all those God gives to you each and every day. And God will take
all of this and make a miracle for all the world… today… tomorrow… and forever!
You can believe in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… always. --- Amen
Please enjoy with me this YouTube song... God bless you this week and always!
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