Recently I was surprised yet again by God when I suddenly saw a story from the Bible in a whole new light.
Jesus sent his disciples two by two into the villages to call people to repentance, cast out demons, and anoint and heal the sick. This is where our text comes in:
30 The apostles gathered again with Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught. 31 Then he said to them, Come with me to a lonely place where we are alone and rest a little. For they could not even find time to eat, so numerous were the people who came and went. 32 So they went by boat to a deserted place to be alone. 33 But they were seen leaving, and many heard of it; they ran there on foot from all the cities and arrived ahead of them. 34 As he got out, he saw the crowd and felt sorry for them; for they were like sheep that have no shepherd. And he taught her for a long time. 35 Towards evening his disciples came to him and said, The place is remote and it is getting late. 36 Send them away so that they can go to the surrounding farms and villages and buy something to eat! 37 He said, Give them something to eat. They said to him, Shall we go and buy bread for two hundred denarii and give it to them to eat? 38 He said to them, How many loaves do you have? Go and see! They looked and reported: Five loaves of bread and also two fish. 39 Then he commanded them to sit down in fellowships on the green grass. 40 And they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifty. 41 Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, gave praise, broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. He also had the two fish distributed among everyone. 42 And all ate and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments, and the scraps of the fish. 44 There were five thousand men who had eaten the loaves. (Mark 6:30-44)
Up until now, I've always had a little trouble with this story because I felt sorry for the disciples. These poor guys were exhausted, tired and hungry. How nice that Jesus wanted to give them a break, go to a lonely place with them and just spend time with them. But then there are hundreds of people on the shore again. So I wouldn't have been thrilled at all. But on the contrary! And what does Jesus do? He feels sorry for the people because they were so disoriented, without protection and care. That's very loving of Jesus, but did he totally forget about his disciples? Didn't he want to spend time with them all alone and give them a break? And then they have to spend hours, still hungry, listening to Jesus teach and then making sure that over 10,000 people get something to eat. To be honest, I always thought that was totally unfair!
And then God spoke to me in a completely new way, precisely through this story. I was allowed to take part in quiet days. The preacher had asked us to close our eyes and listen carefully to this story, which he read very slowly.
This scene played out before my inner eyes like a movie.
I saw how the disciples could get some rest already on the boat. After all, not all twelve had to row all the time.
When they arrived on the other bank and Jesus saw the crowds, a new possibility suddenly sparkled. Could it be that Jesus had not forgotten his disciples at all, but had both groups in mind, both the many pastorless people and his disciples? The disciples must have known their Master's teachings quite well because they had listened to them many times. Did you perhaps lie a little apart under a tree during these hours and were you able to rest? One of the things Jesus taught the people so extensively was so that the disciples could take a breather? Perhaps they had already been able to eat something during this time. Jesus then asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see!” Is he asking because he doesn't know how much of the supplies they've eaten in the meantime?
Anyway, this suddenly whole new perspective helped me. Jesus not only had compassion for the crowds, but also for his disciples. He has not forgotten her and her needs. And so it is with each and every one of us, every day. He does not forget us; it's not suddenly something else that's more important. He knows our needs and desires and sees our heart. Our needs are not always satisfied as we would like - but sometimes they are and God never, ever forgets us!
Amen!
Guest Author: Esther Müller, Basel
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