God just showed me something in the Gospel of Mark that was too good not to share. I've read the story of Jesus feeding the 5000 thousands of times before, and I've heard it preached just as many times, but I've never seen it in the way that God showed it to me tonight. First of all, the story begins in Mark 6:30-34. In this passage we learn that Jesus was tired and hungry. He just wanted to go off to a quiet spot and rest for a while with His disciples, but when He saw the 5000 people standing on the other side of the shore waiting on Him, He had compassion on them. A few verses earlier, in verses 1-6, we learned that Jesus had been in Nazareth where He couldn't teach or do any miracles because the people there didn't believe Him. But in this passage Jesus comes in contact with people who are
spiritually hungry, and even though He is tired and hungry Himself, He doesn't turn them away. Jesus begins teaching them many different things, and later (v. 35-36) the disciples tell Jesus that He needs to send the people away so they can find their own food, but Jesus says no. When you trust Christ, and when you're earnestly seeking Him, HE WON'T SEND YOU AWAY HUNGRY! Jesus left Nazareth because the people weren't hungry, but He stayed with the 5000 until they were all filled! Whatever your need, God will provide. Just believe. He'll make a way where there seems to be no way.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."
~ Matthew 5:6 ~
It doesn't end there. It gets even better. Jesus took what little amount of food the disciples had (5 loaves and 2 fish), and He looked up toward Heaven and blessed it. Next, the disciples began distributing the food. Every other time I've read or heard this message, I've always imagined the disciples walking around with individual baskets passing out the food, and the food miraculously kept appearing in the baskets. But according to scripture, that's not what happened. According to scripture, Jesus was the one holding the food! Verse 41 says that Jesus broke the bread into pieces, and He kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. Jesus was the source of supply, and the disciples were just passing out what He offered them. When you put all you have in the hands of Jesus, THE BLESSING NEVER ENDS! As long as the bread stayed in the hands of Jesus, there was an endless supply!
"Cast all your cares upon the Lord, for He cares for you."
~ 1 Peter 5:7 ~
"But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus."
~ Phillipians 4:19 ~
