Wednesday 10 November 2021

Psalm 104:24-35

Background

In the gospel writer Mark’s usual rapid style, our verses today take us from the moment in which the disciples report back on their ‘sending out’ to a miracle via a boat trip. The swift movement from one scene to another helps give the story a sense of urgency and mirrors the chaotic nature that ministry and life can sometimes take.

When faced with an enormous number of hungry people, the disciples can’t work out how to feed them so they try to encourage Jesus to send them away to find food for themselves. It’s a logical thing to suggest – there was no way they could afford to feed all these people or find the amount of food needed to do so. Jesus’ response to their request must have left them opened-mouthed.

"You give them something to eat"! The disciples list their already thought-through logic of why this was never going to happen, so Jesus takes over. He asks them what food they do have, and a few loaves and fishes are produced. It is such a small amount and yet in Jesus’ hands it is more than enough.

The food is blessed and shared out amongst the people and all are fed with 12  baskets left over. This miracle contains many aspects but at its simplest it reminds us that, when we give God the little we have, great and unbelievable things can happen. As we respond to his call to be disciples there will be times when we need to look beyond our logic and allow God to work – as happened in this passage.

To Ponder: 

• Were you ever faced with feeding a group with not very much? What happened?
• What has been your experience of being provided for in miraculous ways?

First published in 2018