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THE GOSPEL OF MARK – SEND THEM HOME?

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SEND THEM HOME?

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. 36 Send the people away so that 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 more than half a year’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 distribute to 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. Mark 6:35-44

How many times have we read this story and yet there is always something new to learn from it? This incident is another window into the heart of Jesus. This story illustrates Jesus’ concern for the whole person. These people were so eager to hear Him that most of them had made no provision for their physical needs that day. When they heard where He was going, they outran Him to be there when He arrived. Forgotten were the picnic baskets and the snacks for the day.

Surely the disciples had made provision for themselves but it was never enough to feed a crowd like this. Their best solution was, “Send them home.” Let someone else take care of their needs. We don’t have the resources.

Jesus thought differently. If He sent them away, He would be saying, “You will have to find another source because God isn’t big enough to supply your need this time.” To do that would be going against everything He was and everything He stood for. He and His Father were one. That meant that His Father would do what He asked because it was the Father’s desire to be God to all these people. Jesus didn’t even ask God what to do or to multiply the bread. All He did was express His confidence in His Father by saying thank you. He was so ECHAD with God that He instinctively knew that God would back up whatever He did.

Does that mean that God will bypass the normal avenues of getting food when they are available, just to do a miracle? I don’t think so. I think it means that God is so passionate about meeting His people’s needs that He will use whatever resources are available and multiply them if necessary so that He can be God to those who put their trust in Him.

Once again this is a revelation of Jesus’ compassion, His selflessness and His oneness with the Father. He came to show us the true God. He brushed aside all the petty trivia of people’s interpretations of the law to expose the heart of a merciful and loving Father.

Love In Action

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LOVE IN ACTION

During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, 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. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.’ His disciples answered, ‘But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?’ (Mark 8: 1-4).

Why did Mark include this story in his gospel record? It certainly gives us an insight into the heart of Jesus. Some other popular rabbi might have dismissed the crowd with not a thought for their physical well-being. Not Jesus! He cared as much for their bodies as for their souls. He was not holding a preaching and healing campaign out in the hills to gain more renown for Himself; He was there to minister to people, and that included the whole person.

He was first and foremost their rabbi. He wanted them to understand their role as His followers. If they were to be true disciples, they were to be like Him in every way, including His compassion for people as real people, with physical as well as spiritual needs. He could not send people away to walk long distances without sustenance. Since they had come after Him, it was His responsibility to see that they arrived home safely.

 ‘How many loaves do you have,’ Jesus asked. ‘Seven,’ they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When He had taken the loaves and given thanks, He broke them and gave them to His disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. They had a few small fish as well; He gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketsful of broken pieces that were left over. About four thousand were present. After He sent them away, He got into a boat with His disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha. (Mark 8: 5-10).

This is a puzzling event. Was Mark simply retelling the story of the feeding of the five thousand with a few changes in the details? If it was a different situation, why were the disciples so forgetful that they were stuck with the same problem they faced on the previous occasion without even one of them remembering Jesus’ solution? Why did they not simply say to Jesus, ‘You fed them last time; do it again’?

This incident not only gives us an insight into the depth of Jesus’ love for people but also the extent of the disciples’ unbelief. How true was Jesus’ understanding of the way people responded to His word. At this point, the disciples were like the hard ground of the footpath in the parable of the sower and the seed. For them to have forgotten the miracle of feeding five thousand people with five barley loaves no bigger than a hamburger bun and two fish the size of a sardine, was indeed surprising.

How did Jesus feel about them? He must have been quite disheartened by their response. Obviously He still had a long way to go with them before they would be ready to pick up where He left off. To these men He would have to entrust the mission for which He had come to give His life. It was crucial that they not only understand His teaching, but that they also relate to the Father as He did with perfect confidence in Him and obedience to His word.

We know this is not just a repeat record of the previous incident because Jesus referred to both events in conversation with His disciples on another occasion. Although Mark was the only one who recorded both miracles, he had a purpose for doing so. This story highlights Jesus’ relationship with His disciples and gives us an insight into the depth and intensity of His training for their mission in the future. Early in His ministry, when Jesus first called His disciples, Mark recorded that His modus operandi was twofold – that they might be with Him and that He might sent them out to preach.

As apostles and representatives of Jesus, they would encounter many different situations for which they would have no answer unless they were equipped with the kind of faith in the Father that Jesus had. It was His role to show them how to act and how to trust on their journey of faith with God. Jesus did not do magic. He did not turn stones into bread. He used the little He had and multiplied it into much so that there was much left over.

This is a lesson for us as well. He has called us to give what little we have and we shall receive back what we gave away and much more. God’s principle is always the same – the measure we use will be measured to us again.

 Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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