“You give them something to eat.”
If I had been there, I would have said, “What?!” Oh, excuse me. Getting ahead of myself. I’m thinking about this Sunday’s Gospel lesson. Jesus went off for some time alone with His Father, but a crowd wouldn’t let Him, 5000 men, plus women and children. “He had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat’” (Matthew 14:15).
“If I had been there….” Thinking about it, I am there. I am in that story. This happens to me all the time. I think, “I don’t have the wherewithal to deal with this.” How about you? The Gospel lesson is about hungry people, but there were villages where they could have bought some food. America is in the midst of a graver crisis. Many in the crowd have lost their jobs. Many in the crowd face losing their homes. Many in the crowd are sick. 5000? 30 times that have died. “You give them something to eat?”
Spirit, give me more trust in Jesus! Sometime later, Jesus fed a crowd of 4000. Then they got into a boat and, wouldn’t you know it, the disciples had no bread! Jesus: “‘Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears to you not hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?’ They said to him, ‘Twelve.’ “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?’ And they said to him, “Seven.’ And he said to them, ‘Do you not yet understand?’” (Mark 8:17-21).
Yup, I’m in the boat with them. I’ve seen and learned wondrous things from God, but when I face trouble, I forget all Jesus can do. I need to live more in the Bible, to time travel into those stories, to see myself as a disciple who usually doesn’t get it, to see myself in the crowd needing a miracle. Jesus is my wherewithal. You know?
Comments