In Mark 6:30-44 we see Jesus feeding the people’s souls with his teaching and then feeding their bodies with bread and fish. Jesus is the Feeder of the People. Now let’s take a closer look at this account of Jesus feeding five-thousand men by the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus had sent his twelve disciples out into the villages and towns in pairs to teach, to cast out demons and to anoint the sick (Mark 6: 7-13). In verse 30 the disciples have returned and are reporting on their efforts. Jesus told his disciples that should go away from where they were to a place where they could rest apart from the crowds of people. Time for rest and renewal is demonstrated many times in the Gospels by our Lord as an important part of the Christian life. Jesus and the twelve disciples got into a boat and began to cross the Sea of Galilee to a quiet place. This was not unnoticed by the people along the shore and the word spread and people came from all around the Galilee to get to where Jesus was going. The people made it to the shore before Jesus and his disciples. Upon seeing the crowd, Jesus had compassion on them and began to teach them: feed their souls.
Jesus did not give them a twenty minute sermon and have them sing a closing hymn. He taught them for a long time. His disciples came to him and told him that it was getting late and the people needed to find food for their bodies. Jesus makes an interesting response. He said, “You give them something to eat.” Now imagine this: You are sitting in the Church Council meeting and Jesus tells the members of the Council to feed the people who are hungry in Fort Pierce now. What would be your first thought? Would it be that this is such a huge undertaking that we need to appoint a committee to plan the menu, arrange for a place to feed them, gather the cooks, servers, tables, chairs, plates cups, table ware, and a good date that gives us time to get all this together and the money to pay for it all? Would the response be that this is just too big an undertaking for just one church? Would it be “Jesus, I know you can do miracles but I can’t pull this off”?
Jesus is the Feeder of the People