ON YOUR MARK: WEEK 6 DAY 5

Mark 6:30-44

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

30 The apostles returned to Jesus and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. 35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. 36 Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 And he said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then he commanded them all to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties. 41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the people. And he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

How are you at identifying a problem? Jesus and His disciples both encountered the same problem, but their responses were very different. Jesus wanted to rest with His disciples, but upon landing in what they thought was a solitary place, Jesus was confronted with the crowds. Jesus saw them, and saw that they were in need of guidance, so He taught them. 

The disciples also made an observation. It was late, the crowd was massive, and they were far from town. It seems the disciples may have even had compassion, or at least pity, for the people, but that was it. They stated the problems and the facts, and offered a solution to remove the problem; they were one step short of what Jesus did. Jesus said, “You give them something to eat” (Mark 6:37). If you find yourself spotting a problem and stating it, make sure you follow that up with compassion and effort. Care about the people involved in the problem, and offer yourself as a living sacrifice to help with the solution.