Jesus the Provider

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Good morning Chapel family. Congrats to Brian and Dan and Charlie and Karen and Jennifer—we celebrate this day of your baptism, and we can’t wait to see what God is going to in your lives.

So…we’re taking this winter to walk through the Gospel of Mark. And we noticed back in chapter one that when Jesus started teaching, his message was all about the Kingdom of God. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is near.” The author Dallas Willard gives an illustration about the kingdom of God from a childhood experience he had. He grew up on a farm way out in mid-America somewhere. It was the 1920s, and they had no electricity yet. And then one day, here came these crews putting up wooden poles and power lines. And if you paid a certain price, you could have your house connected to this brand new electrical grid. And he said you could almost say that the message was: “The kingdom of electricity is near! So repent—repent of your foot-powered sewing machines and your washboards for laundry and your iceboxes with blocks of ice. Repent of all that and connect your life with the kingdom of electricity.” And he said some of his neighbors refused. They were suspicious of the wires and the currents, so they didn’t do it. But he said, “For those of us who did, a whole new power and a whole new way of life opened up to us.”

And it’s the same with the kingdom of God. It’s near—because Jesus brought it near. It’s available! It’s within reach! And when we put our trust in King Jesus and follow him, there’s a whole new power and a whole new way of life that opens up to us. And one of the things that power affects is the way we handle hard things in life.

Now: some of the hard things in life, you can handle on your own. You get a flat tire—it’s a pain, but you can deal with it. Last year I had a tooth crack in half, because apparently I take out my stress by grinding my teeth at night—that was a pain, but I got it extracted and got an implant, and it’s all good (now I’m just grinding the implant). And you can think of all kinds of things that are hard, but you got this—you can handle it. But there are some things in life that are a whole other level of hard. A fiancée who deserts you, or spouse who divorces you. A chronic illness. A child with a chronic illness. A broken relationship in your family. A parent with dementia. An accident that disables you. Those are the hard things that aren’t so simple, because there’s no clear way to fix them. You feel like you’ve been thrown in the deep end and you’re drowning. It just seems impossible.

So in today’s passage, the disciples of Jesus find themselves in a situation that looks impossible. It’s beyond their abilities. And Jesus has them right where he wants them. Because they need to find out how someone who’s connected to the kingdom of God handles something like this.

So—Mark 6, starting in verse 30. Let’s hear God’s Word…

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”

32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. This is the Word of the Lord.

So let’s talk about this under three headings—I want to talk about The Problem, The Solution, and the Point. The problem, the solution, and the point.

Let’s start with The Problem. So leading up to this moment, Jesus has sent the disciples out two by two. They’ve been teaching and healing and inviting people into the kingdom of God. And verse 30 says they gather around Jesus and report to him all that they’ve done an taught. Imagine if you were one of the disciples—you’re feeling excited; you’re exhilarated; but you’re also exhausted. And the popularity of Jesus is growing so fast that a huge crowd starts to gather around you—they just want to be near Jesus. And that’s when Jesus says, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. It’s break time.” And you go, “Yes.” And you get into the boat, and you head for this deserted section on the other side of the lake. And as the boat sails away you see the crowds recede into the distance. And you can’t wait to get across and kick off your sandals and just relax.

Little do you know, the crowd of people you just left is way too excited to let you rest. So they start running along the road that goes around the lake. And as they go along, they run into other people. And the people say, “Where are you going?” And they tell them—“We’re going to see Jesus. You remember my cousin—the one with the bad back? Completely healed, just like that, when Jesus touched him.” And he’s headed over there in that boat.” And more people join the crowd.

So as the boat approaches the beach on the other side of the lake, the disciples see it. A mob of people waiting for them. And the disciples must be thinking, “You’ve got to be kidding me. These people are relentless! I have nothing left to give.”

Verse 34: 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. This is such a glimpse into the heart of Jesus. Because remember—he got tired too. Remember—earlier, he fell asleep in the boat, and slept right through a storm. So Jesus needed a break too. But when he sees the people, it says he “had compassion on them.” The word “compassion” is one of those really rich Greek words. It’s a word that means “guts” or “innards.” Have you ever felt the pain of another person so deeply that you feel it in your guts? I think most of us parents have felt that when we see our kids suffer, right? It physically hurts you. And that’s how Jesus felt toward people all the time. He sees these

people, and he can see in their eyes how lost and hopeless they are—and it twists his guts up. So he gets out of the boat and starts teaching them.

It doesn’t say how much time goes by, but it starts getting late. And the disciples are just done. So they pull Jesus aside, and they say, “Look—we’re in the middle of nowhere. And it’s late. Please, send the people away to buy some food.” It’s a completely reasonable request. But Jesus has a different plan.

Verse 37: 37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take eight months of a man’s wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” I would call this an impossible situation—wouldn’t you? It wasn’t life and death. But Jesus was putting them in a situation that was beyond them. I think there’s some sarcasm in the disciples’ response. “Okay, Jesus, you want us to go spend (in today’s money) $60,000 to buy dinner for the crowd? Yeah—sure—we’ll do that.” But really their response is very rational and logical. They’re good accountants. They work the numbers. And you know what? We need people like that. Every church needs people like that. Highly practical, highly logical. “Here’s what it’s going to cost. This is an impossible situation; an impossible idea; an impossible ministry proposal, and we shouldn’t do it.” We need people like that.

But here’s the danger: being practical, and being responsible, and being prudent, can sometimes get in the way of faith. Here at The Chapel, we talk a lot about the difference between an abundance mentality and a scarcity mentality. And sometimes when we’re very logical and very practical, it just means we’re operating with a scarcity mentality—which closes us off to what God wants to do. And when Jesus is involved—when we’re connected with his kingdom—there has to be another dimension to our thinking.

So…that was the problem. From everything they could see, this was impossible.

Point number 2: The Solution. When I look at the way Jesus solves this problem, I see three big lessons.

First, God uses what we offer. So Jesus says, “How many loaves do you have?” The disciples go out the crowd: “Okay—who’s got food?” And almost everyone says, “We didn’t even think about bringing food. We’ve got nothing.” This same story is told in all four Gospels, and different Gospels include different details. So when you put them all together, you find out that it was actually one little boy, who pushes his way through the crowd, and he says, “I brought this.” Little basket. Five little flat loaves of unleavened bread; two little fish. And he was willing to offer it. Probably thought it was for Jesus—right? At least we can feed the teacher. So he hands it over.

Jesus uses what we offer. Even when we feel like we don’t have very much to offer.

Remember when God called Moses? “Go down to Egypt and let my people go!” And Moses had all kinds of excuses—I can’t do it; I’m a terrible public speaker; I’m not qualified; they won’t listen to me…Impossible!” And remember what God asks Moses? “What’s that in your hand?” Moses says, “It’s my staff. My walking stick.” And God says, “Throw it on the ground.” And the staff miraculously turns into a snake, and then he picks it up and it turns back into a staff. And God says, “When you go down to Egypt and you stand before Pharaoh, bring this stick along—because I’m going to show my power through the thing you’re holding in your hand.”

What do you have in your hand? What has God given you?

Elizabeth Elliot lost her husband tragically, at a very young age. Left alone with their young daughter. She wrote this:

If the only thing you have to offer is a broken heart, you offer a broken heart. So in a time of grief, the recognition that this is material for sacrifice has been a very great strength for me. Realizing that nothing I have, nothing I am will be refused on the part of Christ, I simply give it to him as the little boy gave Jesus his five loaves and two fishes—with the same feeling of the disciples when they said, “What is the good of that for such a crowd?”

Naturally in almost anything I offer to Christ, my reaction would be, “What is the good of that?” The point is, the use he makes of it is none of my business; it is his business, it is his blessing. So this grief, this loss, this suffering, this pain—whatever it is, which at the moment is God’s means of testing my faith and bringing me to the recognition of who he is—that is the thing I can offer.”

Maybe you don’t feel like you have much to offer! But whatever you have, just say, “Lord, here it is. Use it for your purposes. I’m putting it in your hands.”

Here’s the second lesson: God uses a delivery system. In the Gospel of John, reporting on the same event, it says Jesus gave the food to the crowd. But here in Mark, it adds another detail: it says Jesus actually gave the bread to the disciples, and the disciples gave it out to the people. So does John contradict Mark? No.

Your son comes home from his last soccer game, and he says, “The coach gave every kid a trophy.” And then his little brother, who’s also on the team, says, “Well, actually, the coach handed the trophies to his wife, and his wife passed them out to the kids. That’s what really happened.” Are the two boys contradicting each other? Of course not! One kid emphasizes that the coach is the real source of the trophies. His brother adds the extra detail that it was technically the coach’s wife who handed them to the kids. You follow me?

So in this case, John emphasizes that the bread came from Jesus; Mark adds the detail that he distributed the food through the disciples. And here’s the point: Jesus utilizes a delivery system. It’s his miracle! It’s his provision! But he delivers it through people!

I remember a conversation with someone who was struggling with a medical issue. And she said, I’ve been taking this medicine, but I feel so guilty, because I feel like I’m not trusting God.” Have you ever heard that kind of thinking? In other words, “If God’s going help me, he has to do it directly! He can’t use people, or medicine, or anything else—he has to just zap me and heal me.” You know what I said to her, “Thank God for the medicine! It sounds to me like that’s how God is providing for you.” If I were a little more blunt, I would have said, “Stop overspiritualizing this, and just say ‘Thank you’ to God, because he’s the giver of all good things.

Is it possible that you’re in a hard situation, but you have so narrowly defined how God can work, that you don’t see the solution he’s bringing? Lift up your head and open your mind to how God may be bringing you a solution through a delivery system.

So…he uses what we offer. He uses a delivery system.

Here’s the third lesson: God responds to our obedience. You know, there’s some mystery to how this miracle actually happened. Right? But it seems like the food didn’t multiply right after Jesus prayed. They didn’t say “Amen” and open their eyes, and just “bam”—there was this giant pile of bread and

fish. I think probably, the disciples each got a basket with some bread and fish in it, and every time they reached into the basket, there just kept being more.

In other words: the miracle didn’t start happening until they started…what? Obeying. As they offered what they had, and they started stepping into the crowd of hungry people—something beyond them started to kick in.

Have you ever noticed in Scripture, many times God’s power is contingent on people taking the first step?

Back in the book of Joshua, chapter three, God’s people are heading toward the Promised Land under Joshua’s leadership, and they have to cross the Jordan River at flood stage. And God tells them, “Walk right into the river.” That’s a scary command—“Walk into the raging river!” But they take God at His Word, and as soon as they take one step into the water, the river stops, and they’re able to cross over. But they had to take the first step!

Or Peter in the boat—remember? Jesus says, “Come to me on the water.” And Peter holds onto the side of the boat, and lowers one foot over the side. And I always think about that moment when Peter took his weight off the boat foot, and shifted his weight onto the water foot. That’s where faith kicked in—right? And by the way, all the other disciples were very rational and very logical, and they were cowering in the back of the boat. But as Peter obeyed Jesus and put his weight onto the water foot, something incredible happened. It held! And he started walking on the water toward Jesus.

So many times, we don’t see God’s miracles or God’s provision until we start obeying! That’s just the way he works! Maybe you say, “I’ve never seen God do anything great in my life!” Here’s my question: Have you ever trusted him enough to step out in obedience? When is the last time you took a scary step of faith—and you knew it was kind of impossible!—but you went for it anyway?

So…we’ve talked about the problem and the solution. What’s The Point of all this?

What do you think the people in the crowd were saying, after all this had happened? Man, that was good bread!? Maybe some people. But in John’s Gospel, it tells us what was really rippling through the crowd. John 6:14 says After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

At the end of the day, ultimately, this was about Jesus. And everybody knew it! It was his teaching and healing that drew the crowd in the first place, and it was his miracle that fed the crowd. And they walked away from that day, and went back around the lake to their families, and they said, “I’ve never seen anything like this. Surely, this is the One—the prophet who is to come into the world—the Messiah—the Savior.”

Fast-forward almost to the end of Jesus’ life on earth. The night before Good Friday. He’s in the upper room with his disciples. And once again, he takes a loaf of bread. And just like on that day by the lake, he looks up and gives thanks. And he breaks the bread. But this time he says, “This bread is my body, which is given for you.” And the next day, he goes to the cross and he allows his body to be broken, so we could be made whole.

You know what that means? Jesus has already solved our most impossible situation. Our biggest, most ridiculous, unsolvable problem is our sin. Because that’s the thing that messes up our lives and our families and separates us from our Creator. And on the cross, Jesus did what was required, so we could be forgiven.

He already solved our most impossible situation.

And the more you know that, and the more you believe that, and the more you form your identity by the cross of Christ, the more you will be able to face any situation—an emergency room…a cancer diagnosis…a financial crisis…a hard family problem…a breakup or divorce—you will be able to face any situation with composure and hope, because Jesus is with you. And if he’s already solved your biggest problem, he’s going to come up with a way to solve this one too.

Offer him whatever you have. Open your eyes to the delivery system he may want to use. And step out in obedience. And he will get you through it.