Based on Mark 6:34-44
Feeding 35
We recently travelled to Louisiana to spend time with family for Christmas and New Years. We stayed with my brother-in-law and his family. He also hosted my sister-in-law and her family. Between all of the adults, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren there were 35 people under one roof for about 10 days.
If you do the math, that’s 30 plus meals for 35 people. That’s 1050 individual meals. This doesn’t include snacks, desserts, and holiday treats! Timewise, it was about 70 plus hours of food prep! So, today’s Gospel passage where Jesus feeds 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish hits home in a very real way. I have nothing to complain about with 35, even if at times it felt like we were trying to feed 5,000.
Feeding 5,000
Anyone who chalks this miracle of the feeding of 5,000 up to “people just sharing” hasn’t the slightest clue about human nature and most especially human nature when hangry!
Speaking of human nature, let’s take a deeper look at this event to see what is really going on. If we read today’s passage in context, we might find that the disciples didn’t want to send the people away because they were worried about their bellies. The lines previous to this show us that the disciples are exhausted. They’ve been ministering on their own (Mark 6:7-13). They’ve been driving out demons, curing the sick, and anointing people. Mark takes a quick detour or scene change to get us up to speed on John the Baptist and Herod (Mark 6:14-29). When we return to the story, the disciples are tired and hungry. Jesus takes pity on them and says,
“Come away by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.”
but…
People were coming and going in great numbers, and they had no opportunity even to eat.
Here the disciples suggest that Jesus send the crowd away. Was it because they were genuinely concerned for the crowd? Or, were they so hangry they just wanted to be done for the day and to share the meager meal they had on hand? Surely even the 5 loaves and 2 fish they had was barely enough for these 13 men to feast on!
Jesus Asks Us To Help
It is often during these times that Jesus asks us for more. It is when we are tired from being around people, including family. It is when we are spent from work or play. It is when we feel as though we have absolutely nothing left to give that He asks us for just a little bit more…
When we approach the Lord with all we have or all that we have left, it is then that miracles happen! Why? Because we are no longer relying on ourselves, our own wisdom, or opinions. It happened when the wedding party ran out of wine. It happened when the Carpenter gave fishing advice to Fisherman. It happened when the little girl’s parents and the widow were spent with grief. It happened when the blind, crippled, and deaf cried out one more time. It happened when the thief cried out from the cross.
Is Jesus asking you today to dig a little deeper? To give a little bit more? Is He saying, “I know you are tired and hungry but will you ignore that for Me? Will you look beyond yourself to serve others and thus serve me? Will you give me everything you have?”
If we answer, “yes” He will work miracles in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
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James M. Hahn, Author 