Crumbs 109

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Crumbs 109

Fed Again

ScriptureMark 8:1-10 New International Version8 During those days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 2 “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will collapse on the way, because some of them have come a long distance.” 4 His disciples answered, “But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?” 5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied. 6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people, and they did so. 7 They had a few small fish as well; he gave thanks for them also and told the disciples to distribute them. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 9 About four thousand were present. After he had sent them away, 10 he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the region of Dalmanutha.

1. Crumbs I found comparing and contrasting this miracle with the feeding of the five thousand instructive.

The place and time were different. The place was probably Decapolis, a group of ten cities maybe founded by soldiers from Alexander’s armies. The numbers were different. In the feeding of the five thousand the numbers had significance for the Jews., The blessings of the food were different. Here each component is separately blessed. Finally the baskets used to collect the scraps were different. With the feeding of the five thousand they were narrow necked Jewish ones. Here they are square wide necked Gentile ones. All this is making me think that our Lord was venturing into Gentile territory

2. Both situations evoked the compassion of the Lord. Both crowds were told to sit down and both were satisfied. To receive a blessing the crowd had simply to sit down. In this miracle I see that Jesus was not only King of the Jews but Saviour of the world who brings more than happiness but contentment. He is the Lord of creation, master of every situation.

Questions

1. What do we learn about the nature of discipleship?

2. What must we do to receive a blessing from the Lord?.

3. What prevents our satisfaction with Christ and His salvation ?