Mark 6:35-44
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. 36Send the people away so 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 eight months of a man’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 set before 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.
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I think I would have been caught completely off guard by Jesus’ remarks. I honestly cannot blame them for their reaction. Really, looking around at over 5,000 people (probably at least double considering there were 5,000 men noted in v. 44) – how on earth could I and the other disciples take on such a great need? Ah, but all things are possible with God.
But then to go out amongst the people to gather what food there was, I would have been disappointed by the fact that there was only two fish and five loaves among them all. I almost find that hard to believe, to be honest. Among probably 10,000 people, there were only two fish and five loaves? I wonder if there were some who were unwilling to give up their food. I wonder if they thought if they would have little to nothing to eat if they gave up their food. It’s all speculation, though. But back to the disappointment…I think I initially would have thought Jesus’ idea to go out and take an inventory of available food was a good thing to do. I might think that this would produce what was needed to feed everyone. Imagine my utter dismay to find mere crumbs for the masses. Why would Jesus have me take inventory when He surely knew there wasn’t enough? I am reminded that sometimes I might misinterpret one step in God’s plan as the goal of His plan. Jesus never intended that there would be enough on an earthly level to feed all the people. He had the disciples take this step of obedience NOT with the purpose of filling the need, but to show them something greater – the great abundance of God to meet needs in a miraculous way.
Making this personal, I need to be sure that I am not presuming what God is doing by looking at the outward situation and signs. When something happens in my life, I need to be careful not to run out ahead of God presuming He’s doing this or that. I need to just keep walking with Him on this journey and let Him take me wherever wants. No speculation needed. No worry needed. Just a walk with Him each step of the way. And as I walk with Him, He will reveal glorious things to me.
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Thinking of the boy for a moment who provided the food for the 5,000 (from John 6) – at least two things stand out. First, he was just a boy. Don’t you just love how Jesus uses a little boy and not some elite figure? I love that! I am reminded from Paul (1 Cor. 1) that God uses the weak and foolish things of the world to shame the “wise”. Does not the world look to the skilled and gifted to accomplish much? Here, I think Jesus is showing the disciples that they don’t need to be like that. Jesus can accomplish miracles through a little boy. In this regard, I need to put more energies toward faith rather than self-improvement. Miracles are not performed through my skill; they are accomplished only by the power of God.