Showing Off His Love with Fish and Chips
[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.
Mark 6:41–44 ESV Read More
So many of Jesus’ miracles are for one person at a time: one person is healed of a disease, another freed from demons, etc. This time Jesus works a miracle that affects 5,000 men and all of their women and children at once. The amount of food it would take to feed all of these people would cost 200 denarii according to the disciples. With the average US wage $24.57 per hour, at 8 hours a day, that dinner would cost about $40,000!
There are a lot of times that we have just what we need and it is easy to say “What a coincidence!” or a naive “I’m glad I saved just enough.” But this time Jesus makes it very clear: all that we have comes from Him. There is no possible way the disciples or any other person could have done this. Even Caesar with his army would have a logistical nightmare of catching, hauling, and serving 5,000 men.
My favorite part of this whole event is that the disciples told Jesus to send the people home so they could eat, but after feeding all of them, He sends them all home. It’s clear at this point that Jesus is just showing off to convince people of who He is.
He loves every one of those people very much and He wants them to know He cares about them. Remember in the boat during the storm when the disciples said “Don’t you care?” and Jesus wanted them to believe that He cared. Calming the storm was the outward act to show that He cared. Feeding the 5,000 men was the outward act to show them that He can provide for all of their needs.
Jesus still acts deliberately to increase our faith and trust in Him. Watch for it, ask for it, and you’ll see it.
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