...who are you listening to?...

Feeding the Five Thousand

“30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. 31 He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. 32 And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. 33 Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. 35 When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ 37 But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ 38 And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ 39 Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. 42 And all ate and were filled; 43 and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. 44 Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

Jesus Walks on the Water

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

47 When evening came, the boat was out on the lake, and he was alone on the land. 48 When he saw that they were straining at the oars against an adverse wind, he came towards them early in the morning, walking on the lake. He intended to pass them by. 49 But when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought it was a ghost and cried out; 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.’ 51 Then he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

Healing the Sick in Gennesaret

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54 When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, 55 and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the market-places, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed” Mark 6:30-56.

I have to tell you, I have always loved these verses because, in only twenty-seven verses, Mark leads us, his readers, through a series of rapid changes of scenery: on land, across the lake, up onto the shore, down on the grass, up into the hills, back onto the lake, back up again on the shore, into villages, towns, countryside, and marketplaces.

But beneath the surface something else is happening. Though the stories move rapidly and the locations change with speed, there are details that make us, the readers, pause and reflect. You see, Jesus makes his hungry, exhausted disciples wait all day while He teaches the crowd. He leaves them fighting the waves all night while He prays. Why? Because the disciples are blind to what is truly going on. They misunderstand what is happening when Jesus walks on the sea and identifies himself to his disciples.

The hero of all the stories is the miracle-working Jesus. The supporting roles — although they are not always supportive! — are played by the uncomprehending disciples. They are present when it happens, they participate, they see and hear, but they don’t understand.

Friends, so often, if not always, we are just like the disciples. Things happen in our life and we have no idea why they happened! God is trying to show us something, and He is often trying to say something to us, and we just don’t understand! We are asking, “Who is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  As the miracles continue in our life, so do our questions: “Who is this? Who heals the sick, who casts out evil in our life (demons”, who multiplies loaves and fish, walks on water, teaches and feeds and heals and saves. Who is this?”

I think we see the miracles all the time, and we don’t recognize them as the hand of God. We listen so much to Instagram and FaceBook and X, that when God speaks, His voice goes right over our heads.

So today, ask God to help you listen to Him every day.

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.