Daily Devotions
Mark
2 Peter 1:4a "By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises..."
Day 149 – Mark 6
“By which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises…” 2 Peter 1:4a
A TEST
Jesus knew exactly what He was about to do. He raised the matter of feeding of the multitudes as a test (Cf. John 6:6). The disciples did not fare too well on this test at all. Another manifestation of the Person of Jesus was about to be manifested!
FEEDING THE MULTITUDE
All four gospels recorded this most significant sign-miracle. Let us ponder Mark’s account. What a lesson the Disciples were about to participate in!
1. Organising the multitude
Even if Jesus were to perform this great miracle, the people had to be well-organised (Mark 6:39-40).
a) The people were asked to sit down.
b) They were then organized into groups of fifties and hundreds.
2. Blessing the bread and the fish
In open view of all, Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, and He
“looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves,
and gave them to /his disciples to set before them;
and the two fish He divided among them all.”
MARK 6:41
3. Partaking of this simple meal
Mark noted that the thousands were indeed fed.
“So they all ate and were filled.”
MARK 6:42
4. Gathering up the leftovers
The bread and the fish came from a special source- the Lord God Himself. Nothing was to be taken for granted or wasted.
“And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments
and of the fish.”
MARK 6:43
5. The people who made up the multitude
As the Disciples organized the multitudes, they could not help but count the number of people Jesus had just fed.
“Now those who had eaten the loaves were
about five thousand men.”
MARK 6:44
The number did not include the women and the children! The Disciples, on hind sight, then understood what Jesus had in mind when He said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.” They stood in awe of yet another mighty miracle performed!