miracles

Left overs, again?

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I feel compassion for them. Mark 8:1-9

OK, I admit it. My first thought after reading about the feeding of the 4,000 was, “Haven’t we been here before? Is there anything more to be learned?”

There has been a large crowd hanging on Jesus’ every word. They have been so caught up that three days have gone by and no one was tending the concessions stand. They ran out of food. Now it was time to pack up and leave.

It is significant that Jesus is the one to bring it up. He saw the obvious and felt compassion for these people who had devoted so much time to him. He didn’t brush them off, head on to the next meeting in the next town and leave them to fend for themselves. He supplied their need.

One might expect that people would react in the same way the Israelites did to Moses during the Exodus. About noon on the first day, stomachs would start to grumble and complaints about the management of the event would begin to be heard. If it was today, the seats would be uncomfortable, the air was too warm, the air was too cold, the sound system was inadequate, parking was a nightmare, and when do we eat? But Mark doesn’t record anything like this. Jesus is the one to notice that something is not good.

And as before, he responds in much the same way he did with the crowd of 5,000. Would anyone expect he would go about it differently? Or are we bored hearing the same details again? If we had been there, we certainly would not have turned up our noses at that same old bread and fish.

Sometimes it is easy to feel that our walk with the Lord is no longer all that exciting or vital. We long to see or hear something new, to see the Lord work in mighty ways, to feel the move of the Spirit, like we did at the first. Is that true? Does he no longer speak or act or show compassion for us? Be assured that he does. Take a look around you and you will see the evidence.

Twelve baskets

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“You feed them” Mark 6:30-44

Once again, the disciples come face to face with an impossible situation. There were 5,000 men plus women and children out here in the wilderness with them. They hadn’t invited them or advertised that Jesus would be there. The people had figured out where Jesus was headed and got there on their own.

Now it was getting late. They had purposely selected a “lonely place” to get away from the crowds and get some needed rest. Now they had a multitude on their hands and no means to provide for them. They had already calculated the amount of provisions needed to feed a crowd like this and five loaves and two fish just weren’t going to cut it. Better send them back to the towns and villages where they could at least get some food.

“You give them something to eat.” Why did it seem at times that Jesus was completely out of touch with reality? They didn’t have enough food and had just recommended that the people be sent to town to get some. Instead, Jesus has them sit in groups of hundreds and fifties. That made it worse. Now they knew for certain how many people were there. And not a morsel more to feed them with.

Jesus gave thanks and broke off a piece of bread and gave it to Peter. Then he broke off another piece and gave it to John. Peter passed it on to someone in the crowd and John did likewise. They returned to Jesus and had to wait in line while Jesus gave more bread to the other disciples. This could take all night! Soon they were carrying armloads of fish and bread and running out to the fringes of the crowd delivering food.

When did it dawn on them what was happening? Or were they too busy serving to realize Jesus had just performed a major miracle? Were they just settling down to eat their own portions when the call came to start cleaning up and pick up the leftovers?

One of the greatest disappointments of my early Christian life was discovering that there were people who could – and would – explain away the supernatural miracles of Jesus with rational and natural means. These things were to be seen as nothing more than the fortuitous coincidence of favorable circumstances. I naively thought that a miracle would be indisputable, that there could be no possible explanation for it other than that God had intervened in the lives of us here on earth with heavenly power.

But that is hardly ever the case. There always seems to be a gap, a missing piece in the otherwise incontestable evidence. A gap that allows for a rationalistic or scientific explanation, negating the need for faith or God. In reality, these gaps are meant for us to bridge them with faith.

Are we ready to embrace even the little miracles of God? Do we continue to see his hand at work in our lives and praise and thank him for his care?

Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley