24.143 | Give Them Something To Eat | Mark 6:35-44 | God’s Word for Today with Pastor Nazario Sinon

God’s Word For Today

Text: Mark 6:35-44 ESV

GIVE THEM SOMETHING TO EAT

The great crowd of 5,000 men besides women and children stayed with Jesus at this desolate place. As the sun was setting down, the disciples became concerned about the problem of feeding them. They suggested to Jesus, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” To dismiss the crowd while they have time to go to the towns to find food for themselves was a practical solution, was it not? Despite, their experiences of seeing the miracles Jesus’ did, they still think this way. Perhaps they sighed that a restful trip with Jesus winds up being yet another day of watching Jesus heal and teach. Perhaps, the Twelve were thinking of their own hunger and fatigue.

But, Jesus commanded them instead, “You give them something to eat.” They did not expect it coming. How could they feed them when they have nothing? This is a common issue for us today. In the thick of ministering others, it can be difficult to determine how much more we should stretch ourselves.

Although they have nothing in their pockets, they forget that Jesus is with them despite surmountable needs. Jesus is our sufficiency, is He not? Jesus commanded them to feed them because they can do it if they believe in Him.

But, Jesus was out of the equation in their thinking as yet. They doubted. They commented, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?" A denarius is roughly a day's wages of a common laborer (Mat 20:2). It was Philip who pointed out that it would take nearly a year's income to give everyone just a bite (John 6:7). Clearly, Jesus wants them to learn that God will always give them what they need to do His will. Where the Lord leads He will provide. They were calculative and practical. This is our default thinking.

Jesus asked them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." Andrew sighed to find a boy with five barley loaves and two fish only (John 6:7–9). Jesus already knows how He will feed the people. He allows the Twelve a moment to fully recognize the situation (John 6:5). God does this to us as well, doesn’t He? He may wait until the day before the rent is due to provide the money, or just give us time to fully understand our helplessness before coming through to rescue us. Is He cruel? Definitely not! He's positioning us to see a better look at His power and authority. God is our present help in trouble.[Psa 46:1]

Reminiscent of the Shepherd in Psa 23, Jesus is our shepherd and we are not going to experience lack. This is not a time to panic. He let everyone sit down in the grass quietly in a group of hundreds and fifties. He blessed and multiplied the five loaves of bread and two fishes And in an orderly manner, he let the twelve distribute the food to each one. Everyone ate and was satisfied. In fact, they took up twelve baskets extra full of broken pieces and of the fish. As the ‘bread of life’ is to the whole world, God’s provision is more than sufficient. [John 3:16]

-------------------------

Visit and FOLLOW Gospel Light Filipino on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram