Faith . . . Not as Hard as We Thought Pt. 2

Mark 6:35By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. 36Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat."

37But he answered, "You give them something to eat."
They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages^[e]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?"

38"How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see."
When they found out, they said, "Five—and two fish."

My last blog was about something on faith that I had learned (or re-learned) from Mark 5 through the story about the woman with the blood problem. In Mark 6 we see a similar story. Not similar in its content but similar in its relevance to faith.

Earlier in chapter six, Jesus and the disciples had gotten on a boat to find a place where they could rest. (He had just sent them out to spread the Gospel and cast out demons, and they were reporting back to Him.) Anyway, because Jesus is such a celebrity at this point, finding a solitary place to rest is difficult and soon a crowd of over 5,000 people are there wanting to be spiritually fed from Him. Jesus has compassion on them and instead of running from them He decides to teach them. Well, eventually it gets late and the people are all hungry.

What I found so funny about this entire episode is the dialogue above. The disciples have seen Jesus do many miracles to this point. I mean, I know it's only chapter six, but to this point they've seen Him AT LEAST cast out demons, heal Peter's mother-in-law, heal leprosy, heal a paralyzed man, call Levi to be a disciple (this isn't supernatural . . . but in a way it is.), heal a deformed hand, calm a storm, cast demons from a man into swine, heal a woman of a blood affliction, and raise Jairus's daughter from the dead. All those miracles (and more) are recorded in chapters 1-5, and John tells us that Jesus did many more miracles than have even been recorded.

So for the disciples to expect Jesus to solve the hunger problem without a miracle, seems a bit strange to us. Let me factor in a few more variables that should have tipped them off that something miraculous was likely to happen. First of all, they were in the middle of nowhere, so food was not available. That's why they went to Jesus in the first place, because they were trying to be prudent; however, you'd think being in these dire straights would have earmarks of a possible miraculous situation. Secondly, they had just come from performing miracles themselves! Jesus had sent them out to preach and cast out demons. That's why they needed rest in the first place! So you'd think they'd be primed for the supernatural.

However, before I come down on the disciples for being simple-minded, I have to look at my own life. How many times have I just heard a great sermon and fervently prayed along with the pastor at the end that I would have more faith and then two minutes afterward complained about my job or my car or my future? Many times. It's an embarrassingly human trait. The disciples were just being human.

At least they wanted a solution to the problem, right? At least they were thinking of others, right? I think this is an excellent example of how "brotherhood of man" is not the highest goal. True they were thinking of others, but they forgot all about God at that point. This is a backwards mindset. If our minds are fixed on God first, the solution to help others becomes blindingly obvious, but not the other way around.

What I find downright hilarious about this passage is how Jesus answers them. They come to Him telling Him to send the people away for food and Jesus just goes, "You feed them." Jesus is the King of well-placed sarcasm. This was such a great thing to say for a few reasons. First of all, the disciples had JUST been performing miracles themselves, right? I wonder if Jesus is trying to remind them that they probably have this power too if they would just ask for it, "You have just cast out demons. You feed them." Secondly, their request--if they were dealing with a normal rabbi--would have been completely appropriate; however, they are dealing with Jesus. It sounds like Jesus is also chiding them for forgetting His supernatural divinity. "If you are going to come at this problem thinking horizontally, then deal with it horizontally. You feed them then."

Of course after hearing Jesus' instruction and not REALLY listening they all freak out because they don't have money and there are too many people.

Patiently, Jesus sends them out to see if anyone anywhere has any food to offer. What I think is particularly amusing is how he says it, "How many loaves do you have?" Now . . . maybe the word loaves is just a common word for food. Maybe the typical lunch back then was bread and this was a normal question, but I can't help thinking that Jesus is kind of leading them on. This situation reminds me of a mother with a child who can't find his toy. The mother knows the toy is on the top shelf, and the boy starts crying because he doesn't see it. Instead of getting the toy for him, the mother plays the "hot and cold" game with him until he finally looks up and sees the toy on the shelf for himself. This is how Jesus question seems. "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." I wonder if Jesus even looked at the loaves in question as he asked this.

The disciples come back with five small loaves and two fish. The pastor on this podcast study on Mark pointed out something really funny about this situation. According to similar accounts of this story in different gospels, it was probably Andrew who brought this little boy's lunch to Jesus. The pastor explained that the situation probably went like this:

Jesus: How many loaves do you have? Go and see.

Andrew: (seeing a willing little boy volunteer) Five!--

Other disciples: --Not now, Andrew! We're trying to solve a problem, man!

Andrew: ....And two fish.....?

I mean, think about it. There were well over 5,000 people there, and some little punk kid offers his meager little lunch. It's not even a man's lunch. It's a little boy's lunch. The only thing worse for this situation would have been a little girl's lunch.

And yet, Jesus not only fed the crowd, but also created a surplus of 12 full baskets.

Again, the point is not our quantity of faith or strength of will. As my pastor said, "It's not ability; it's availability." If we are but willing to be used, God can do incredible things with us.