This familiar story—feeding the five thousand—is one of the very few miracle accounts that appear in all four gospel collections, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We recognize it as a sign of Jesus’ great compassion (v. 34) and His desire to help this crowd with His teaching (v. 34). We certainly recognize that God is able to do a lot with what we consider “just a little.”
But, I want to zero in on an often forgotten dimension to this incident. The report of the miraculous meal is held in place, surrounded by two similar references. Mark 6:31 says that Jesus wanted the disciples to get off by themselves to take a break. Mark 6:45-46 tells us that when the feeding was over, Jesus still wanted the disciples (and Himself) to get some “away time” for prayer. In between these two appeals for quiet time comes the power of the miracle.
Yet, it is important to note that even our Lord and His closest followers needed time to downshift, relax, and get away. Jesus even went off by himself to pray (Mark 6:46).
I have to ask myself: Am I staying too busy? All the ways I spend my time are good. Relationships with others are important. And preaching and writing and teaching are good uses of my time. But, in light of how Jesus and the disciples used their time, do I have the rhythm of being busy and being quiet? I suspect most of us are busy being busy and do not have the experiences desired in Mark 6:31 (“...Rest a while”) and Mark 6:46 (“He went up on the mountain to pray”).
When was the last time you did nothing? When we the last time you read the Scriptures when they were not assigned for a duty? When was the last time you stopped everything you were doing and had quiet, personal prayer? When was the last time you said “Not now” to an invitation to undertake some helpful task? When was the last time you enjoyed a ball game or a movie or a concert just because you wanted to? When was the last time you thumbed through the hymnal so you could sing some old favorites?
Feeding the five thousand is certainly telling us a lot about our Lord and His values. But, to tell the whole story, we need to acknowledge the context of that miracle: quiet, apart time.
What Someone Else Has Said: In The Extraordinariness of the Christian Life (National Student Christian Federation), Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote: “Strict exercise of self-control is an essential feature of the Christian’s life. Such customs have only one purpose—to make the disciples more ready and cheerful to accomplish those things which God would have done.”
Prayer: As you prepare this lesson, let your prayer begin: “Come apart with me, Lord...”
