Unlimited: Jesus Fed 4000 | Good News Unlimited
Unlimited: Jesus Fed 4000
Apr 29, 2024 1207
During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them” (Mark 8:1–4, NIV)?
Jesus was still in the Gentile region of the Decapolis, and the crowds gathered around him again to hear his teachings. They came to see Jesus but never thought they would be as captivated by him as they were. They stayed much longer than they thought they would, but they hadn’t brought food with them.
A little while ago, Jesus fed 5000. They were Jewish people. This time, Jesus fed 4000. These were Gentiles.
You see, Jesus repeated this miracle for two reasons. The first was to show that he didn’t have favourites and that his blessings were for all. The second reason was because, as we’ll find out later, the twelve disciples hadn’t learnt the spiritual lesson Jesus was trying to teach them.
One of the biggest problems that we face in our lives is the delusion of self-sufficiency. Before the Lord stepped in, he made the disciples confront the problem first. He does it so that they will understand the hopelessness of their situation and their total need for him. It’s only when they admit their helplessness that he intervenes.
The Lord does the same thing in our lives, too. If he always stepped in and resolved all our problems before we even knew we had a problem, we’d never learn to trust him; we’d never grow to have more faith or to know him better. Often, he lets us feel the weight of the problem we face first.
– Eliezer Gonzalez
Eli’s Reflection: Is there a crisis you are facing right now that you cannot deal with? Have you accepted that there is nothing you can do to bring resolution beyond what you have already done? Are you prepared to hand it over to Jesus and trust in him?
