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 intensity of Jesus’ ministry continues in Mark 8:1-4: “In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them, ‘I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: and if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.’ And His disciples answered Him, ‘From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness?’” This passage is a good reminder of how many people had the opportunity to hear the words of Jesus and observe His miraculous works. Despite the overwhelming crush of large numbers of folks approaching Him in waves, Jesus never became jaded or perfunctory in His dealings with them. He continued to actively love them: “I have compassion on the multitude.” Jesus’ general characteristic of “compassion” was directed to numerous specific individuals and their specific needs. Here, all of these people had the same immediate problem: they were hungry, and they required food quickly. He knew what they needed and how He would meet their needs. His question to the disciples was intended to include them in His solution. Their lack of an answer is hard for us to comprehend. Perhaps they were simply so tired that they could not think clearly. Their inability to recall the feeding of the 5,000 men (and many more women and children) and apply the principle to the present circumstance is a warning to us. Wisdom is the practical application of knowledge to any situation. Let us thus rely on the promise of our Savior God: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, [Who] giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).