Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Mark 8:6-9 records the completion of another miracle by Jesus: “And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and He took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and He blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat [food] that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and He sent them away.” Some skeptics have suggested that this account is merely a repetition of a previous event (Mark 6:30-44). Rather, the differences remind us of the historical accuracy of the Bible. The first miracle of multiplication involved around 5,000 Jewish men (plus women and children), took place in Galilee (northeast of the Sea of Galilee), began with five loaves and two fish, ended with twelve small baskets of left-over food, and occurred after one day of preaching. This second miracle included around 4,000 Gentile men (plus women and children – Matthew 15:38), occurred in Decapolis (southeast of the Sea of Galilee), started with seven loaves and a few fish, and took place after three days. The outcomes were quite different, as well, for after the first feeding there was an attempt to make Jesus king, whereas there was no such popular response after the second. If the Bible were propaganda, the second miracle would have to be larger, involving more people and having a greater response to Jesus. A simple application for us is that the Word of God can always be trusted.