“You give them something to eat.”
Mark 6:37
The feeding of the 5000 is found in Mark 6:30-44 – the only miracle performed by Jesus and recorded in all four gospels. Jesus is doing some multi-tasking here. He is not just feeding the multitude, He is also using this event as a classroom for teaching His disciples.
As the day continued, the disciples suggested sending the crowd off to find food. But Jesus gave them a seemingly impossible assignment: “You give them something to eat.”
Has Jesus ever given you an impossible assignment?
Has He ever told you to start a ministry … to go on a mission trip … to love an unlovable person … to stay married…..to stay faithful….to go…to give…to forgive…to give up….? How about to just be quiet?
The response of the disciples in verse 37 mirrors the response we often give when God asks us to do the seemingly impossible: “No way!”
And apart from Jesus, our assignment is just as daunting and just as impossible.
Jesus questions in verse 38, “How many loaves do you have?”
He begins to coach them. Take inventory — what do you have? It’s so easy for us to focus on what we don’t have.
Taking inventory was a short job for the disciples. They came back with two pathetic little fish and five loaves of bread. It was the first century equivalent of a lunchable. Barely enough for one growing boy and certainly not enough for a crowd of 5000. Not nearly enough.
Where do you take inventory and find you don’t have nearly enough…..not enough patience….not enough love….not enough courage…how about enough faith? Are you willing to take what you do have and offer it to God, acknowledging it is not nearly enough from you — but trusting in faith that He will fill in what is missing?
Jesus then gives instructions for everyone to sit down in groups and in an orderly fashion. (If you’re a Type A personality who likes a bit of structure, planning, and organization in life, you probably love this part.)
Jesus then proceeds to give thanks to God and break the bread.
Jesus prays. Jesus in his earthly body, the divine in the flesh…relied on the heavenly father to work the miracle.
In John 5:19, Jesus said, “”I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
If Jesus needed to pray….if Jesus relied on the Father, then surely you and I must do so, as well!
Jesus then gave the food to the disciples to distribute.
God delights in allowing us to cooperate — to participate in what He is doing. Isn’t the fun part handing out the blessings? Giving a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus…giving lunch to a hungry person…a filled shoe box to a child…..sharing the love of Jesus to bring a smile to a weary face or sharing food to quiet the growling of a hungry tummy?
Don’t walk away because the assignment is too tough. Don’t give up because you don’t have enough. Wait for Him to work. Choose to walk by faith. Let your breath be taken and your mind be blown by what He provides. What has Jesus given to you that is not for you, but is to be passed on to someone else? Don’t hold onto it for yourself. Allow Him to use you to be a blessing to others – be that conduit of love, receiving from Him and passing it on to others.
And then be amazed when He provides. Not only is there enough, there is more than enough. There is satisfaction:
“They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.”
Mark 6:42-44
We bring so little…not nearly enough….but we bring and offer what we have ….and He makes it enough.
The mission that is impossible on our own becomes possible with Jesus! What impossible assignment has He given you?
{ If you are studying through Mark with us, please read Mark 5:21-6:52 this week. Here is the recorded teaching lecture on this passage: http://fbcsiloam.podbean.com/2013/11/11/ladies-bible-study-mark-lesson-1011-laura-macfarlan-11-7-13/ }
