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.)
The account of the miraculous feeding of more than five thousand people concludes in Mark 6:39-44: “And He commanded them [the disciples] to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, He looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided He among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.” We should note again the historical detail of God’s Word, including the specific number of loaves, fish, and baskets and the rounded figure of “about five thousand men.” Since the latter number is so large (and does not include the women and children – see Matthew 14:21), we would expect a general estimate, for no one would have taken the time to count the exact number of individuals. For one thing, the disciples were far too busy serving all of them! We should also note that each time we partake of food we are receiving an answer to the prayer that Jesus taught: “Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11). He provides for our needs now just as He provided for the thousands then.