1 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5 And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6 And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8 And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9 And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. 10 And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.
(ESV)
STOP! Think a little 🤔 What is God saying to you?
- What is the writer saying?
- How do I apply this to my life?
Once again Jesus has a large crowd so focussed on His teaching that they forgo food. Jesus has compassion on them because they had been with Him for three days and if they left now they would likely faint on the way home. When He tells his disciples, they can’t think of how they could feed this crowd with bread in such a desolate place. (Have they so quickly forgotten that Jesus recently fed 5,000 men as well as women and children?) Again Jesus asks them how many loaves they have available. They have seven. Jesus again directs the crowd to sit down and again gives thanks, breaks the bread and continually gives to His disciples to distribute to the crowd. There were also a few small fish which Jesus also distributed those after blessing them. Again everyone ate to their satisfaction and there is so much food that seven basketfuls are collected afterward. This crowd likely consisted of both Jews and Gentiles because of the location and while Mark mentions 4,000 people, Matthew confirms it was 4,000 men apart from women and children (Mat 15:38).
Are you like the crowd, would you sit for three days devouring spiritual food while ignoring physical food? Is your hunger for spiritual nourishment that great? Should it be?
Or are you more like the disciples, not really paying enough attention to what God’s doing that you forget or simply don’t let your faith grow as He works in and through you? How could you pay more attention to what God is doing?
I must try be like the people that followed Jesus. They were willing to sacrifice their physical needs to fulfill their spiritual ones.