In Abundance

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

IN ABUNDANCE

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. 36 Send 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.

NIV

We just were thinking about how Jesus had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began teaching them. Now that compassion which was regarding their spiritual condition has also now included their physical need for food. This appears to be the case, at least on the surface. Matthew gives us a little more details including some healing of some of these people, however, the number of loaves and fish differ so this may be another time or the same but from another point of view. Nevertheless, Jesus is demonstrating his power, not just to the five thousand, and that would be men, for they were the ones who were counted in those days. The actual number would have been far greater taking into account the woman and children that were in that crowd. What we also see here is that Jesus was taking care both of the spiritual and the physical needs of the common people, something the Pharisees or teachers of the law, or high priests, would never consider, as the common people were nothing to them. There was a great chasm in the classes of that day, much like there still exists today. Rather than the leaders serving the people, it is the people who serve the needs of the leaders, or at the very least, the leaders are nothing more than self-serving. So Jesus wants to feed them and his disciples are slow on the uptake. If this is the same event that Matthew records, then it follows Jesus calming the storm. If not perhaps it simply follows all the miracles Jesus had already done, including the raising of that little girl from the dead. However, his disciples still have not gotten the message of his divinity because they are only thinking about how much money it is going to take to feed that many people. Living with Jesus we need to get rid of the idea that money can supply all our needs, and that we do not have enough to supply all of our needs, or that it will take all we have and then some. Jesus proved them wrong or showed them another way. Just take a little bit, those few loaves and fish, and lift them up to God with thanksgiving and he will make them meet all our needs. How the power of God can work in our lives, if only we can see with spiritual eyes rather than with the eyes we only see how little we have available to us in the material sense. Just to think that thousands of people were fed and still with leftovers. It is also interesting that Jesus had them pick up the leftovers, although we are not told why. Could not the people have used them, or taken them home for later? That was not the point, Jesus was showing his disciples when he provides a need, that he does so in abundance. Again, we need to see this as a lesson for life. We can live in comfort from our own efforts or live in abundance from the hand of Jesus. True, this would certainly apply to abundance meaning life-everlasting, but it may well, as in this narrative, mean abundance in the physical sense. We, personally, are evidence of that in so far as we have lived far above our abilities, and have far more than we have received from our own labor. We should not be as slow to remember the power of God as He works in our lives, by always thinking about how we are going to do this, as His disciples were thinking at that time. If they and we just trust that Jesus will get it done, it would make life so much easier. He has told us to come to him if we are burdened and heavy laden, he would give us rest, and to take his yoke upon us. That is being yoked to him, let him take the burden, he will get us through. So we rest in the Lord and allow Him to do that which He does best, feed us both spiritually and physically.