| Matthew 14:13 When Jesus heard of
it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the
people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. 16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18 He said, Bring them hither to me. 19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. |
Mark 6:30 And the apostles
gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what
they had done, and what they had taught. 31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. 32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. 33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him. 34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. 35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: 36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. 37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? 38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. 39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. 40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. 41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. 42 And they did all eat, and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. 44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men. |
Luke 9:10 And the apostles, when
they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and
went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called
Bethsaida. 11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. 12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. 13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. 14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets. |
| Jesus went off
to a desert place after John's death to mourn, but he was not allowed the
privilege. Wherever he went, the people found him out. Rather
than getting upset, though, as we would have, he reacted with compassion in
seeing such great need. That is the essence of godly love, recognition
of, and compassion for, the needs of others, compassion that evokes a
response of action. He ministered to the physical and spiritual needs
of those there, then turned his attention to their immediate physical needs.
God cares about our whole person -- body, soul, and spirit -- not just one
part to the exclusion of the others. Doctors treat our bodies,
psychologists attempt to treat our minds, and preachers try to address our
spiritual needs, but God makes no such distinction. A church with a
complete ministry should minister to all three as well. Even as Christians, we think no further than the resources in our checking accounts, or our wallets. God knows no such limits; his resources are infinite. He is able to use both what is there, in the physical world, and to create that which is not there when the need arises. He is the creator, through Christ, the Word, so it is no great surprise, though an endless wonder, that he can make something out of nothing. When Jesus told the disciples to feed the great multitude with the small amount of available food, he spoke into existence the food the crowd consumed. I have seen a crowd of fifty people or better fed on two small pots of food that shouldn't have fed five; God is not constrained when he chooses to act in his sovereign power. He is able to create new bodies when the existing ones are damaged beyond repair, restore the broken bonds of relationships, and provide financial resources to meet a need where no money exists. |
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| Matthew 14:22 And
straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go
before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away. 23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. 24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. 27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. 28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. 29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? 32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased. 33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a truth thou art the Son of God. 34 And when they were gone over, they came into the land of Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place had knowledge of him, they sent out into all that country round about, and brought unto him all that were diseased; 36 And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole. |
Mark 6:45 And
straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to
the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. 46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. 47 And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. 48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. 49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: 50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. 51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered. 52 For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened. 53 And when they had passed over, they came into the land of Gennesaret, and drew to the shore. 54 And when they were come out of the ship, straightway they knew him, 55 And ran through that whole region round about, and began to carry about in beds those that were sick, where they heard he was. 56 And whithersoever he entered, into villages, or cities, or country, they laid the sick in the streets, and besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garment: and as many as touched him were made whole. |
| Jesus at last had
the opportunity to go off, commune with the Father, and regain a measure of
spiritual and physical strength drained out by grief, and by ministering to
the huge crowd. Not concerned that he had "missed the boat", and that
it was seemingly to late to join the disciples when they arrived at the far
side of the late, he lingered to do what he needed to do. We often
question God's timing when it is seemingly to late to accomplish something
he wants to be done, but God is never late. Later, Jesus arrived after
his friend Lazarus died, and the man's sisters said their brother would not
have died if only he had been there sooner. As it turned out, of
course, he arrived exactly when he should have, and accomplished the
Father's will in calling Lazarus forth from the grave. Our part is to
have faith and confidence that God will do what he says he will do, even
though he doesn't keep our timetable. Peter's experience illustrates what faith is about: keeping our eyes on Jesus. As long as he did that, he was fine, but once he started looking around at the circumstances of the storm and the raging sea, his faith disappeared. Even though he lost faith, though, as he also did when Jesus was arrested, Christ was still there to take hold of his hand, and lift him out of deep trouble and despair. That is true for us as well; our obedience to God requires that we continue to have faith in him. In those inevitable times when we take our eyes off Jesus, though, he is always willing to take our hand and lift us out of trouble and despair, when we cry out to him in prayer. |
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