"Say what?" (A meditation on Mark 6:30-44)

 "You give them something to eat." 

(Mark 6:37, NIV)

Among the outrageous things Jesus was noted as saying this ranks up there as one of the more audacious ones. The setting is what the NLT describes as a "solitary place". It's way outside of town in an age that knows no convenient store or 24-hour Walmart. Jesus had led his disciples to this locale in order to give them time to process their recent ministry trip during which all of them had been used in preaching, healing and casting out unclean spirits just as Jesus had taught them how to do. Now they needed rest and time to talk about all the remarkable things they had witnessed with their rabbi, mentor and coach.

But the crowd. The crowd in the Gospels is always getting in the way of whatever Jesus has in mind to do. And the more he cares for them, the larger the crowds grow. No sooner do they arrive to where their retreat is slated to begin, the multitude has beat them there and like a hungry flock await the feed he will give them. Whatever he had planned to do in this place is set aside. These sheep need a shepherd's care and straightway he set to it. All day long.

As the afternoon sun begins to sink toward the horizon, someone among the Twelve finally speaks up: "If we're hungry they must be to. Send them away while it's still light or else they'll be traveling in the dark" (my paraphrase of Mark 6:36). And then he says to them without so much as blinking an eye: "You give them something to eat."

In my mind his statement hits them much like his statement to his mother when she and his brothers had come to collect Jesus - "here are my mother and brothers and sisters" - must have hit her. "Say what? You're asking the impossible. Do you realize just how much that would cost us?" (again, my paraphrase of 6:37).

Who among us might not have said the same? Feed over 10,000 people from the meager supplies they had on them? That's crazy! But is it? I mean, think of what these guys have been witnessing first hand for the many months they have been following Jesus: remarkable healings (the paralyzed guy who came through the roof and walked home), incredible exorcisms (the wild man in the tombs with a thousand demons in him delivered in an instant), a dead little girl raised to life, a tumultuous storm instantly ceased at his command to say nothing of the amazing things they themselves had done in his name over the last few weeks. They keep asking themselves, "who is this guy?" and yet can't seem to connect all the dots. 

We know the rest of the story. He asked them for what they had

and told the guys to have the people sit in orderly groups. He then gave thanks and what followed was simply miraculous: not only was everyone fed; they were stuffed, so much so that there was an abundance of left-overs. This is something only God can do and yet, as the next story shows, they still don't get it.

What would have been a better response to Jesus' outrageous statement? In his commentary on Mark, Chuck Swindoll has one suggestion:

"When an impossible situation drags on, our whole lives become consumed by our human, horizontal perspective of the world...Jesus saw the hunger of the multitude completely different from the way the Twelve did. Where they saw an impossible situation, Jesus saw a magnificent opportunity. We would do well to keep this reminder close at hand when a situation becomes unbearable: We face magnificent opportunities throughout our lives, each one brilliantly disguised as an impossible situation" (Living Insights on Mark).

So what to do? Maybe its as simple as discerning what he wants us to do, placing into his hands what we have available - our money, our possessions, our time, our skills - and then trust him to do what only he can do. I won't speak for you but I know all too often I list all the things that will never happen or can't happen because, frankly, the need exceeds my ability to believe that he can meet this need. Like - for example - replacing the carpet in our fellowship's sanctuary. Don't laugh! Our carpet is over 25 years old and has seen way better days. Sure we can live with all the stains and yes in the scheme of things it's not really a need. But we should take care of God's house and take pride in it. Same goes for painting the exterior and making our entryway with all its steps accessible to all of us.

I'm struck by the fact that while we the readers are aware that a miracle is taking place everyone in this story is otherwise clueless: not the ones who are being fed nor the ones who are distributing the meal pauses to query, "Hey, what's going on here? How is this happening?" People receive the food with gratefulness and the disciples keep handing it out. Just how long would it take to feed over 10,000 people with only 12 volunteers? Long enough, you'd think, for someone among the staff to be bewildered by the math of it all. But nothing. The people go home satisfied, the disciples pick up the twelve baskets of leftovers and in the next story (6:45-52) when they see Jesus walking on the water toward them they are terrified for (we're told) "they had not understood about the loaves" (v. 52, NIV).

This story inspires me to have greater faith in God. As Jeremiah once proclaimed, ‘Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You" (Jeremiah 32:17, NKJV). Instead of focusing on whatever the great need may be I want train my eyes to look first to the only One who can meet that need - and trust him fully for the answers that he brings.