Could They Be Any More Clueless?!

Mark 8:14-21, CEB - Jesus’ disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, so they had only one loaf with them in the boat. He gave them strict orders: “Watch out and be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees as well as the yeast of Herod.”

The disciples discussed this among themselves, “He said this because we have no bread.”

Jesus knew what they were discussing and said, “Why are you talking about the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you grasp what has happened? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts so resistant to what God is doing?  Don’t you have eyes? Why can’t you see? Don’t you have ears? Why can’t you hear? Don’t you remember?  When I broke five loaves of bread for those five thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?”

They answered, “Twelve.”

“And when I broke seven loaves of bread for those four thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?”

They answered, “Seven.”

Jesus said to them, “And you still don’t understand?”

 

Could the disciples be any more clueless?  This is the question that runs through my head as I read this passage.  I think this not so much because the disciples don’t fully understand what is happening with the two feedings of the thousands.  I’ve been reading these stories for decades and I still struggle to grasp the full import of what Jesus is doing here.  But I know it has NOTHING to do with the fact that the disciples have forgotten to bring bread on their boat trip.  Jesus has supernaturally provide nutrition for close to ten thousand people and the disciples are worried about having enough bread for the thirteen people in the boat.  Really?! 

My indignance persists until I remember that, on dozens of occasions, I catch myself worrying about the stupidest things.  I got completely bent out of shape just the other day because my internet connection wasn’t working. Another time, it was because I had missed a minor deadline.  In my sanest and most faith-filled moments, I am just as indignant with myself, possibly more so, as I am with the disciples.  Here’s the truth that is a little hard to hear; Jesus is a bit indignant about it too.  His barrage of rhetorical questions conveys His incredulity at the disciples cluelessness. 

I think we like to believe that Jesus is always “ranibows and unicorns” with us. 

“Oh that’s okay that you worry about insignificant things,” we imagine Him saying. 

“I know you’re just having a bad day. . .it will be better tomorrow,” we fantasize hearing Jesus speak to us.

                But the truth is, sometimes we need to hear Jesus incredulous disappointment to jar us back into spiritual sanity.  And here in this passage, Jesus doesn’t hold back. Jesus walks the disciples through what has happened, prompting them to remember how He provided for them and thousands of others.  He points out with His questions tha, in each occasion, the leftover food was as much or more than they started with in the first place.  Everyone ate until they were full and there were plenty of leftovers. 

I should note that Jesus was also trying to point out something significant by rehearsing the specific numbers of loaves they started with and how many they had left over.  I have read more than half a dozen theories as to the symbolism in those numbers.  I am not overly convinced by any of them, so I won’t list them here.  However, it is clear that Mark was confident that the first readers of his gospel would clearly understand the symbolism.  However, two centuries later, the point is largely lost on us.  What isn’t lost is that Jesus cannot believe that the disciples are still not understanding the whole thing.  He does not mind sharing His disappointment with them and I think they needed to hear it. These same disciples, just a couple of years later, will be the ones who multiply the work of Christ many times over.  But in this instance, they need to hear that they have more growing to do.  They won’t become who God has called them to be if they aren’t held accountable for doing better.

There are times that we too need to receive this “tough love” even though it is not pleasant.   Sometimes it comes from parents, friends, mentors, or even sometimes our children.  Sometimes it comes from reading a scripture like the one above.  God may use just about anything to do the prompting, but the question is, are we open to receiving correction.  Can we hear God’s disappointment when it comes and respond?

 

Question:  When was the last time you were able to graciously receive correction and respond in a positive manner?

 

Prayer:  Lord, sometimes what we need is to hear that you love us in spite of our fumbling and cluelessness.  Other times, we need a little (or big) “kick in the pants.”  Help us hear Your prompting today in whatever form it comes and respond.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Spend some time today asking God to center you spiritually as we begin the busy season of Advent leading up to Christmas. 

 

Song:  10,000 Reasons – Matt Redman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3K3roEF36k

Big and “Little” Miracles

Mark 6:30-44, CEB - The apostles returned to Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught.  Many people were coming and going, so there was no time to eat. He said to the apostles, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.”  They departed in a boat by themselves for a deserted place.

Many people saw them leaving and recognized them, so they ran ahead from all the cities and arrived before them. When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

Late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it’s already late in the day. Send them away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something to eat for themselves.”

He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

But they said to him, “Should we go off and buy bread worth almost eight months’ pay and give it to them to eat?”

He said to them, “How much bread do you have? Take a look.”

After checking, they said, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.”

He directed the disciples to seat all the people in groups as though they were having a banquet on the green grass.  They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.  He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke the loaves into pieces, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.  Everyone ate until they were full.  They filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish.  About five thousand had eaten.

 

This miracle is the only miracle recorded in all four of the New Testament gospels.  It is even more remarkable how similar all four accounts are.  This suggests that this is one of the more famous events that occurred during the earthly life of Jesus.  Given the fact that there are five thousand men present, it is estimated that there may have been as many as fifteen thousand people present.  That’s an incredible number of witnesses to this miraculous provision of Jesus.

There are echoes in this miracle of two Old Testament miracles. The more obvious of the two is God’s provision of manna (a bread-like food) for the Hebrews during their lengthy time in the wilderness. (Exodus 16) The second, though not as impressive, was when the prophet Elisha used 20 small loaves of bread to feed over a hundred men (2 Kings 4).  The detail that really seems to be echoed in Jesus’s miracle is the mention of plenty of leftovers after the meal.  Certainly, in the crowd fed by Jesus, there would have been musings that in this very moment, these people found themselves in the middle of an event that, like manna in the wilderness, would be spoken about for generations to come.  They were present for movement of God comparable to the days of Moses and the prophets. 

While I haven’t been present for a mega-scale miracle like this, I have many experiences when I realized God’s power was tangible.  Sometimes, they are worship services with a large number of people, but more often, they take place in way more ordinary circumstances.  I realize that God has put exactly the right person in my path at exactly the right time.  Serendipitous circumstances that only God could have orchestrated come together to provide just what was needed in the moment.  There have even been a couple of times when I realized that a vision of that God had placed in my heart had been realized many years later.  While the scale of this miracle is mammoth, the same kind of thing is going on.  People are hungry and need to be fed.  There doesn’t seem to be enough resources, but somehow, God provides anyway.   

The reality is that miraculous provision is being made for us all the time.  The feeding of the five thousand should remind of us of that truth and open our eyes to the “invisible” provision around us. The oxygen that keeps us alive every moment is no less miraculous than multiplying loaves and fishes.  Spend some time taking note of the miracles taking place in the space around you today.

 

Question:  What is something that points to the power of God at work right in this moment and space where you are right now?

 

Prayer:  Jesus, help us see Your mysterious provision for us in the ordinary moments of life.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who are hungry right now.

 

Song:  Ordinary Miracle – Sarah McLaughlin

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqZE4ZDnAkQ

Matthew 15:29-39 - What Does God Have to Work With?

What Does God Have to Work With? - November 19, 2021

 

Matthew 15:29-39, NIV -  Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down.  Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.  The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.”

His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”

“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.

“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”

He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.  Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people.  They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children.  After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

 

                Only one chapter ago, we read the account of Jesus feeding a crowd of five thousand men with women and children besides.  Now we read an eerily similar account of Jesus doing the same with a somewhat crowd – only four thousand men with women and children.  The minute details (number of people, numbers of fish and loaves available, etc)  are a bit different, but the two stories teach us remarkably similar truths about Jesus:

·         Jesus performs the miracles out of compassion for those that have sacrificed in order to follow Him.  The crowds stayed with and followed Jesus away from food.  In fact, even though they had to be seriously hungry, they continued to praise God for the miracles that were beign done in their midst.  Following Jesus is not always easy, but there is confidence that we will be cared for when we do. 

·         Though Jesus is fully capable of producing food our of thin air, He asks his followers to give Him what they have to work with.  We might miss that the people who DID have food in that crowd were asked to give it up to Jesus trusting that they would be fed.  They were asked to relinquish self-reliance for reliance on Jesus to feed not just them, but everyone. 

·         With Jesus, there are always leftovers.  Jesus not only provides enough; He provides abundance.  This challenges our tendency to see the world with a scarcity mentality (there is not enough for everyone, so I gotta hold on to what I have or even compete with others for what’s available.

                Jesus takes care of those who follow and trust Him with however meager resources they have and there is always more than is needed.  These are simple truths to hear and understand, but very difficult to live out for they require us to stake our hearts and resources on what Jesus can do with what we have instead of what we can do with what we have.  The sad truth about humans is that we often trust ourselves and our resources more than we trust God.  The continuing call of God is live a different way – to place all that we are and all we have in Jesus’s hands.  Then and only then can we see the full extent of what God can do with us.  So this begs an essential question that each of us need to answer.

 

Question:  With respect to me and my resources, what does God have to work with?

 

Prayer:  God, you know who I am and what I have.  Help me to see how that can be multiplied and expanded when I place it in Your hands.  May I trust more of myself to You and what you can do with me.  Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for those who are feeling worn out today that they will find new strength. 

 

Song:  I Surrender – Jesus Culture

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56RTqoSpVno

Matthew 14:14-21 - The Feeding of the Thousands

 

Feeding the Thousands - November 11, 2021

 

Matthew 14:14-21, NIV - When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.

As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”

Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

“We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.

“Bring them here to me,” he said.  And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. 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 the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.  They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.  The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

 

This is one of the most well-known miracles of Jesus.  Since it’s recording in all four gospels (few stories are) it has been referred to as the feeding of the five thousand.  We really should stop calling it that.  The story itself says that there were five thousand men, but there were women and children present besides.  The story comes from a time that, when talking about an event, the only important attendance number was how many men were there.  However, Jesus miraculously fed not just the men, but everyone there.  Even by conservative estimates, we’re talking more than ten thousand people – the modern day equivalent of a smaller stadium full of folks. 

                Interpretations of this story have varied greatly.  At one extreme, there have been interpreters that downplay the supernatural aspect of this story, suggesting that the “miracle” was that everyone shared food they already had.  In this scenario, it was a miracle of human kindness.  This is highly unlikely because if that was what happened, at least one of the Gospel writers would have described it that way.  At the other end of the interpretation spectrum is that this was purely supernatural spectacle to show Jesus’s power. Jesus manifested thousands of pounds of loaves and fish for the hungry crowd with the same flair that David Copperfield would make the Statue of Liberty disappear.  All four gospel accounts fall short of this interpretation as well.   While no purely logical of scientific explanation has been ever proposed that would convince many that this feat wasn’t spectacularly miraculous, Jesus doesn’t perform this miracle to show off His power.  He does it because people are hungry and need food.  He provides for them in a matter-of-fact way.  He takes what is available and simply begins feeding people and somehow, in the abundance of God’s provision, everyone eats their fill. 

                It’s clear in Matthew’s telling of this story that what he wants to highlight here is the abundance available to those who follow Jesus.  Not only was everyone fed, there were plenty of leftovers.  In addition, Matthew, as we have discussed before, sees this event as one that also shows us the nature of the kingdom of heaven.  God can take whatever little amount of resources are available and somehow, in his miraculous economics of the kingdom, it will be more than enough.  This miraculous provision has been repeated countless times since this feeding occurred. Where humanity sees scarcity, God sees abundance. 

                The encouragement today is to make this kingdom principle personal to you today. All of us encounter situations where we become worried about whether there will be enough.  We see limitation and maybe even dead end.  The invitation of Jesus is to see the situation from Jesus’s perspective. 

 

Question:  Where you see limitation and scarcity right now, what does God see?

 

Prayer:  God of Abundance, give us vison to see our lives, our relationships, and our communities the way you do.  Help us to trust in the resources you will provide to meet the obvious needs around us. Amen.

 

Prayer Focus:  Pray for people who are hungry today.

 

Song: The Lord Will Provide – Matthew Smith

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfTjEMVfqew