The apostles had returned to Jesus from having been sent out by him, and told him all they had done and taught.
When John the baptists disciples heard of his death, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Jesus was not training his disciples to do likewise. Jesus was training his disciples so that when he was no longer physically upon this earth they would continue to do and teach.
What follows is an incredible dynamic!
Jesus calls his apostles to ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while’. This was because so many people had been around them, coming and going that they had no leisure even to eat.
Well, praise God! The Word of God approves of the leisure of eating, amen.
God has designed rest and leisure to be a part of are ordinary lives.
So they departed together with Jesus to a desolate place. This was intended to be a retreat, a furlough.
Many saw them going and ran there on foot & got there ahead of them.
They saw him, and he saw them, the crowd. And he saw the crowd as individuals.
And he had compassion on them and began to teach them many things. Jesus put teaching above miracles and food, and above miracles and food combined. The disciples saw Jesus prioritize teaching the people above all else.
So, the disciples had come away with their master to be alone and relax, and they had done this under his instructions. Yet, when he was confronted by a crowd that was so hungry they had outrun their boat, he began to teach them things.
One of the many things being taught, was to his apostles, who later on would not serve tables, as they knew the priority was waiting upon the Lord and obtaining his Word for the people.
He began to teach them, his apostles that people needed shepherding, that when he had ceased his earthly ministry they were called to be shepherds to Gods flock.
And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late’. ‘Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat’.
The disciples appear to have a genuine concern for the crowd and their welfare, their statement appears not to different to Jesus instructing them to ‘Come away by yourselves’ so that they could eat and be refreshed and have some downtime.
Jesus answered them, ‘You give them something to eat’.
Wow! They had gone out and done great deeds amongst the villages and towns and taught them, and they had done this based on their discipleship program, he had sent them out. But now the tables are turned again…..Had he not called them aside because they themselves had not had time to eat, and now he was instructing them to feed this crowd! Instead of the people being sent away to do this themselves, now they were tasked with it, during what was meant to be their own ‘downtime’.
This juncture in their discipleship is unique.
They have seen Jesus respond to a leper’s plea, and the four friends who lowered a paralytic. They had watched Jesus like a hawk, as he did not hold back his compassion on the Sabbath, despite knowing that the religious were also watching him like a hawk, as he commanded the man with a withered hand to ‘Stretch out his hand’.
And they had noted how he had completely ignored their lack of awareness and insensitivity to the Spirit, when seeking out the women who he knew had been healed, within the press of the crowd.
But this was something altogether new.
This was beyond their current comprehension and understanding.
Had he not asked them to ‘Come away, to a desolate place’? And was it not due to all the pressure and time spent with the crowds and their needs, that they were escaping!
Well, they understood him enough by now to have no issue with him having compassion on that crowd. They understood that they had run ahead to be with him. They themselves had left all to follow and the journey had not been a disappointment unto them.
But now they were being tasked with feeding this multitude.
Did he not understand the natural dynamics, of a stable daily diet, they themselves again had not eaten.
This juncture is of interest theologically, as God is sovereign and has full knowledge of the future.
So when Jesus had asked them to come away, had his intention been that they have a downtime or not?
The text itself implies that the situation shifted due to the peoples hunger for more of him and his message.
Obviously, what had unfolded was sovereign. The Father was fully engaged in his Sons ministry and in the apostolic moulding and development of the twelve.
Jesus, did Jesus know that a crowd would meet him at the shore? Personally, I don’t think in his natural man that he did, but it did not surprise or unsettle him, as Jesus was always in sync with that which His Father was doing.
And he began to teach them many things! Was this not the primary lesson? Despite having given them instructions and yet now finding that the situation on the ground has changed once they arrived, Jesus did not panic nor did he lean upon his natural understanding or judgement.
Jesus was as apt at math as all his disciples. And Jesus could have dismissed the crowd before his disciples stomachs rumbled again, in the evening hour.
Jesus had embraced that whole crowd, and Jesus was teaching that whole crowd.
His disciples knew that he had wanted to be alone with them, yet his primary purpose as a Shepherd, seeing sheep without a shepherd was to spiritually feed them, first.
‘This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late’? They had obediently followed him, their Shepherd. They were in a desolate place because of obedience to Him & again their stomachs rumbled as they had been given to the crowd and in listening to Jesus themselves.
Therefore, because they as sheep had obeyed their Shepherd, they were in a position to impart unto others that which they themselves had received.
They had returned to Jesus and delighted in telling him of those things they had done and taught. Therefore, following him to the desolate place, they themselves had to be a part of the solution unto this crowd that were as sheep without a shepherd.
And this was a Spiritual principle that their Rabbi understood. Despite Jesus having called them aside for ‘downtime’, the crowd greeting him at the shore due to their hunger, Jesus already knew that his apostles were to be a part in providing the solution to their need.
This is discipleship, obeying the Lord and following him, equates to being a shepherd unto others. Jesus after he had rose again from the tomb made his final commandment very clear, it was the summation of all he had done & taught them: Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’.
As they had followed him, Jesus knew that this crowd was part of their discipleship.
Their ‘downtime’, became a shared ministry with Jesus.
Their ‘downtime’, became a shared ministry with Jesus.
Jesus does fellowship with food, and Jesus does the multiplication.
‘Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat’?
How did they ask this question? I don’t think it had any cynicism or edge, in their minds their initial request of Jesus was logical and good planning, and Jesus response to them had been sincere and direct.
Their question back again was simply an awareness that they knew logically that they did not have enough food to feed them and that it would require a significant amount of money to buy bread for them.
I guess they were checking with him whether he was really comprehending the scale of what he had just asked them to do. I mean being sent out in pairs of two without bread was one thing, but feeding this crowd was another realm of faith altogether.
This crowd was in part made up of people who had been touched by what the apostles hand done and taught. Some of them in this crowd, had provided their daily dread, some in this crowd had shared their bread with the apostles.
The apostles had already been supplied with bread by this crowd.
Jesus only gets them to apply the very same principle again.
Jesus is no respecter of economies of scale, when it comes to his Fathers faithfulness. Jesus was about his Fathers business, and knew that his Father would provide.
And they all ate and were satisfied. They all got to enjoy the moment, the relaxation of food and fellowship. They all got to wonder at this miracle being witnessed within each group of 100 and 50.
I guess their must have been at least 12,000 fed, given their was 5000 men. So each apostle must have shared 1/6 of a fish with at least 1000 people and .41 of a loaf of bread with 1000 people.
Verse 39: Mark refers to green grass intentionally, Marks intention is the association of verse 34 the Shepherd and Psalm 23, all their hearts were refreshed in this downtime, having been lead to green pastures, they were all refreshed and ready to go again.
I’m inclined to think that the multiplication must have occurred within the groups of 50 and 100, as the bread and fish continued to be shared amongst themselves, one unto another. As the text gives no impression of the individual apostles laboring for hours into the even later hours breaking the bread and fish for each person in the crowd.
Smaller groups are strategically their for a greater multiplication.
Again this is a reinforcement of all Jesus taught in the parables of the sower, to date in Marks gospel the only concentrated teaching. Mark does not document that which was being specifically taught here, with the feeding of the 5,000 as the main lesson was applied learning. The apostles had obeyed their master & kept his word, and this was a Spiritual principle required for multiplication.
They took up, twelve full baskets of broken pieces of bread and fish.
Their downtime become a shared ministry with Jesus.
The crowd had again provided them with sufficient food, Jesus had showed them that through obedience we can prove Gods faithfulness whether in a large City or out in an wilderness
Jesus was training his disciples in the provisions of God, that they could cast their bread upon the waters & that their would be a return – Ecclesiastes 11:1 – a principle of multiplication had already come from them returning unto Jesus to report their obedience to his deeds and teachings.
Jesus knew that the feeding of the 5,000 had been a significant moment in their discipleship, as Mark did to, and as the apostle who informed Mark knew to & hence why the actual many things taught are consigned to the application only.
Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.
When the disciples had crossed over to the other side, they would know precisely what to do, while they waited for their master, they could repeat that which they had done when they had been sent out, accept this time they could share some of the left over bread and fish and pass on the Spiritual excitement and wonder and principles of the feeding of the five thousand men, women and children.
No doubts the crowd would grow bigger, not a problem, the same faithful God was sovereign over all
Now right here is a really interesting moment. But for Jesus it was not unique, Mark Ch 1 v35-39.
Jesus had called his disciples to go with him to a desolate place to rest, and yet the crowd had become the focus & Jesus gave himself (the Shepherd) and his disciples to the need of the crowd.
Yet, Jesus himself kept on schedule to the original purpose of retreating into a desolate place. He went up on the mountain to pray. And he was alone on the land.
Jesus was alone on the land. We could surmise that he asked his disciples to carry on in their current status as he knew that they could not join him truly in prayer yet.
Jesus could see that they where making progress painfully against the headwind. Jesus’s focus in prayer would have been on his apostles development.
He came to them and meant to pass them by.
When they got to the other side, the people of Gennesaret just like the man of Gerasenes, immediately they recognized him.
So the question has to be asked, why did not his twelve apostles who where most familiar with him, know that it was their master walking passed them upon the water.
Jesus, as he walked upon the water, was walking against the very same headwind that was making the progress in the boat painful to watch.
Was Jesus’s hair, blown back, as his forehead purposefully moved forward?
They all saw him, and they all thought it was ghost and they cried out, terrified.
They had obeyed his instructions as good sheep and disciples, yet they hadn’t understood the Spiritual lesson being taught, they didn’t have confidence in his word.
Had they recognized their master walking passed them to the other side, they could have spoken confidence and faith one unto the other. They were sent out two by two for this reason.
In the midst of the storm they could have obtained assurance in Gods sovereignty and his Shepherd heart over their discipleship, had they understood him rather than seeing a ghost.
When his disciples heard of it, they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb. Jesus was training his disciples to go beyond the ministry of John, a ministry that would Shepherd the Church and bride of Christ until his return. His mission for them was not fear within the realm of the supernatural, or lack of confidence when facing death. Rather his mission was total confidence in any circumstance Gods sovereign hand allowed.
Something in the manner of their own strength was the painful thing to watch.
This was the exact same root that defaulted to 200 denarii worth of bread, 200 days of labour, when confronted with joining Jesus in the ministry.
Their hearts were hardened, they had not moved out of their own reliance and abandoned themselves unto God, as unto a faithful Creator and Shepherd.
Yet the crowd on the other side was learning from all the testimony and teaching.
Like those who had been feed, they ‘ran’ throughout the whole region to bring the sick and those on beds, to wherever they heard he was. They had all learned about the man whoes sins had been forgiven, and of a women who had individually pressed through the crowd and touched the hem of his garment.
The crowd were better disciples than the apostles, and this was painful for Jesus to watch, as they trusted in all their years out on the seas as fishermen, and had not like Johan learned to cry out for help if consumed by the mission. Peter had been called to catch men, but began to sink beneath the elements – Jesus had to stretch out his hand again, as Peter was sinking instead of stretching out his own hand to get the others out the boat to.
Johan was swallowed by a big fish, when his mission had been teaching within a City that believed a god man fish was a significant deity. He considered the hardness of this peoples hearts rather than the heart of God that fed those who had no knowledge or understanding of the Good Shepherd of Israel, who fed over a thousand with 1/6 of a small fish.
The apostles failed to apply their learning, that God had them in the hollow of his hand. When Jesus would have passed them, they should have been assured of their destination, and ceased from striving and rowed trusting. The terrified state in which the looked upon Jesus revealed their lack of trust in the Word that has procured eternal salvation, conquering death add all its sting. The sure mercies of David.
But thank God for the Syrophoenician women, who understood that it only required one small crumb, for heredity and demons to be gone not to disturb the ‘downtime’.
Are weakness doesn’t diminish his power, just one crumb, faith as small as a mustard seed is sufficient to feed a multitude. Peter, lifted up his voice and three thousand ran into the fold, having cursed himself before a little girl, that he hadn’t been a follower of the Shepherd of his soul. Peter hadn’t understood that Jesus would never be a ghost in that respect, fear not was a 365 days a year assurance. Peter, needed to understand that it is not by might nor even by power, but the spirit of the Lord, not ones own strength but in Gods grace we stand.
Only takes an if of half a verse.
And no doubts thou it be tested by fire, some in the Ukraine can say ‘No in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
eternalrays 