It's Not About the Miracle
Jesus' impatience with Pharisees and disciples alike.
Mark 8:1-21
Some notes as you read this passage this morning:
Jesus sure gets around that lake (Galilee). It was clearly a main thoroughfare of travel.
Scholars do not know where Dalmanutha was.
This is the second time Jesus multiplies food in Mark’s gospel. Other than the resurrection, the multiplication of food is the only miracle that occurs in each gospel.
These numbers have meaning. Seven is a number of divine fullness. Twelve is a number of communal completeness. Both imply, It’s enough. Complete. Full. Satisfied.
Jesus never performs on demand. He always acts with genuine compassion to genuine requests for help (which sometimes involves a miracle). Jesus did not come to perform circus acts. It’s not about the miraculous sign. (Read this bullet again and consider these parameters both for then (Jesus’ time on earth) and for today.)
There’s clearly something different in his miraculous signs that Jesus wants the disciples to see. It’s not about the miracle. What do you think is going on?
Mark 8:1-21
In those days there was another large crowd with nothing to eat. Jesus called his disciples and told them, “I feel sorry for the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they won’t have enough strength to travel, for some have come a long distance.”
His disciples responded, “How can anyone get enough food in this wilderness to satisfy these people?”
Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
They said, “Seven loaves.”
He told the crowd to sit on the ground. He took the seven loaves, gave thanks, broke them apart, and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they gave the bread to the crowd. They also had a few fish. He said a blessing over them, then gave them to the disciples to hand out also. They ate until they were full. They collected seven baskets full of leftovers. This was a crowd of about four thousand people! Jesus sent them away, then got into a boat with his disciples and went over to the region of Dalmanutha.
The Pharisees showed up and began to argue with Jesus. To test him, they asked for a sign from heaven. With an impatient sigh, Jesus said, “Why does this generation look for a sign? I assure you that no sign will be given to it.” Leaving them, he got back in the boat and crossed to the other side of the lake.
Jesus’ disciples had forgotten to bring any bread, so they had only one loaf with them in the boat. He gave them strict orders: “Watch out and be on your guard for the yeast of the Pharisees as well as the yeast of Herod.”
The disciples discussed this among themselves, “He said this because we have no bread.”
Jesus knew what they were discussing and said, “Why are you talking about the fact that you don’t have any bread? Don’t you grasp what has happened? Don’t you understand? Are your hearts so resistant to what God is doing? Don’t you have eyes? Why can’t you see? Don’t you have ears? Why can’t you hear? Don’t you remember? When I broke five loaves of bread for those five thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?”
They answered, “Twelve.”
“And when I broke seven loaves of bread for those four thousand people, how many baskets full of leftovers did you gather?”
They answered, “Seven.”
Jesus said to them, “And you still don’t understand?”
Prayer
God,
Honestly, I’ve always struggled with miracles. Well, at least ever since I became an adult. It’s not simply the fancifulness. Nor is it simply the breaking of scientific standards. It’s the temporary nature of their result. They seem fleeting.
I’m assuming Lazarus is now dead. The food Jesus multiplied lasted only for one meal. Miracles seem to deal mostly with physical things, matter like food and flesh. Honestly, God, I’m not trying to downplay what Jesus did or didn’t do. It’s just that in the end, I feel like you care more about things that are lasting. And I want to, too.
I guess that’s why I value the resurrection differently, because it’s about life and restoration. Fullness.
So God, help me strive for things that last.
By your spirit & in Christ,
Amen.