A HEAVENLY MATH LESSON
MORE THAN FIVE THOUSAND PEOPLE GATHERED TO HEAR JESUS TEACH IN A DESOLATE PLACE. FOR THREE DAYS, HE TAUGHT IN THAT DESOLATE PLACE. BY THE THIRD DAY, THE PEOPLE BEGAN TO SHOW SIGNS OF WEAKNESS IN THIS DESOLATE PLACE. FOR THREE DAYS, THEY WERE THERE WITHOUT FRESH FOOD UNTIL JESUS HAS COMPASSION ON THEM.
JESUS ASKS THE DISCIPLES, "HOW MUCH BREAD DO YOU HAVE"? "SEVEN LOAVES", WAS THE REPLY. THEY ALSO HAD SOME FISH, BUT, SEVEN LOAVES OF BREAD AND A FEW FISH WOULD NOT FEED A CROWD OF OVER 4OOO PEOPLE. IT WOULD BE A MISERABLE ATTEMPT AT FEEDING THE MULTITUDE IN THIS DESOLATE PLACE.
JESUS IGNORED BEING IN A DESOLATE PLACE UNDER MISERABLE CIRCUMSTANCES. HE TOOK THEM AND AFTER HE GAVE THANKS TO GOD, HE BROKE THE BREAD AND FISH.
UP TO THIS POINT THINGS SEEM AS NORMAL AS THINGS ARE WHEN JESUS WAS INVOLVED. ADMIT IT, IT IS NOT OFTEN THAT 4000 OR MORE PEOPLE SHOW UP FOR A MEAL AT SOMEONE’S HOME. MAKING AN ALLOWANCE FOR THAT, THIS EVENT WAS MOSTLY NORMAL.
THE DISCIPLES FOUND SOMEONE WHO WAS WILLING TO SHARE THEIR FISH AND BREAD WITH OTHERS. NOTICE THAT HE USED WHAT WAS AVAILABLE. HE DIDN’T DEMAND A CERTAIN TYPE OR A CERTAIN TYPE OF BREAD. FURTHER, NOTICE THAT Jesus USED A SMALL AMOUNT, TOO SMALL BY NORMAL STANDARDS TO FEED SUCH A LARGE CROWD. JESUS USED THE MATERIALS AT HAND AND THE QUANTITY AT HAND TO ACCOMPLISH THIS MIRACLE. FISH AND BREAD WERE AVAILABLE AND THAT IS WHAT JESUS OFFERED THE MULTITUDE TO EAT.
THE DISCIPLES AND THE CROWDS ARE IN A DESOLATE PLACE, THEY ARE TIRED AND HUNGRY AND THEY NEED JESUS TO HELP THEM. I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU, BUT SOMETHING DOESN’T SEEM RIGHT WITH THIS STORY. DO YOU SEE ANYTHING WRONG WITH THIS DESCRIPTION?
LET’S LOOK AT THE NUMBERS. THERE ARE FOUR THOUSAND OR MORE HUNGRY PEOPLE. JESUS HAS SEVEN LOAVES OF BREAD AND A FEW FISH TO OFFER ALL THESE PEOPLE IN THIS DESOLATE LOCATION. HOW CAN ALL THESE PEOPLE BE FED WITH ONLY SEVEN LOAVES OF BREAD? THE NUMBERS DON’T WORK. TOO MANY PEOPLE AND TOO LITTLE FOOD. THIS IS NOT RIGHT. JESUS IS GOING TO FAIL. HOW COULD JESUS BELIEVE THAT THIS PALTRY AMOUNT OF FOOD COULD FEED ALL THESE PEOPLE?
HOW MANY PEOPLE FIX YOUR THANKSGIVING DINNER, EAT, AND HAVE MORE FOOD LEFTOVER THAN YOU STARTED OUT WITH? HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED TO ANYONE HERE? I WOULD GUESS THAT NOT MANY OF US HERE TODAY HAVE HAD THIS OCCUR. IT HAPPENS TO JESUS TWICE IN MARK’S GOSPEL. FOR THE DISCIPLES, SEEING JESUS FEED HUGE CROWDS IS NOT UNUSUAL. IN THE GOSPELS, THE DISCIPLES REGULARLY SEE MIRACLES IN THE MINISTRY OF JESUS IN THE SAME WAY THAT WE EXPERIENCE NORMAL EVENTS IN OUR LIVES.
WHERE WE LIVE, WE EXPECT TO SEE THE LINE AT LUNCH SUNDAY’S FOR THE PANDA CHINESE RESTAURANT TO BE OUT THE DOOR AND INTO THE PARKING LOT. WE EXPECT TO SEE PEOPLE SITTING OUT IN FRONT OF THE COURTHOUSE BY THE STATUE OF HUEY LONG. WE EXPECT THAT WHEN WE DRIVE THROUGH THE COUNTRY WE ARE GOING TO GET BEHIND A WOOD TRUCK. WE HAVE GROWN ACCUSTOMED TO THESE THINGS HAPPENING IN OUR LIVES.
I IMAGINE THAT FOR THE DISCIPLES MIRACLES SUCH AS THESE WERE FREQUENT OCCURRENCES IN THEIR LIVES JUST LIKE THE NORMAL EVENTS OF OUR LIVES. THE POINT THAT MARK IS TRYING TO MAKE IS THIS, THE DISCIPLES WITNESS REPEATEDLY THE MIRACLES OF JESUS, YET THEY DON’T SEEM TO QUITE GET WHAT’S GOING ON.
THIS IS MADE EVIDENT BY WHAT HAPPENS WHERE OUR SCRIPTURE READING ENDED THIS MORNING. AFTER THE MEAL ENDS, JESUS, AND THE DISCIPLES GET IN THE BOAT AND BEGIN TO CROSS THE SEA OF GALILEE.
WHILE THEY ARE IN THE BOAT, JESUS WARNED THEM TO WATCH OUT FOR THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES AND OF KING HEROD. THE DISCIPLES DON’T GET WHAT Jesus IS TALKING ABOUT TO THEM. INSTEAD, THEY ARGUE OVER WHY SOMEONE DIDN’T BRING BREAD ALONG WITH THEM. WE CAN JUST IMAGINE WHAT THAT MUST HAVE SOUNDED LIKE.
"ANDREW, I THOUGHT YOU WERE IN CHARGE OF THE LEFTOVER BREAD"? "NO. PETER WAS IN CHARGE. I CLEARLY HEARD JESUS TELL HIM TO BRING THE BREAD". "WHY ANDREW YOU MUST BE MISTAKEN I HEARD JESUS TELL JAMES TO BRING THE BREAD."
MAYBE JESUS ROLLED HIS EYES AND SIGHED DEEPLY. I SUSPECT THAT JESUS WAS FRUSTRATED BY DISCUSSION. THE DISCIPLES DID NOT UNDERSTAND JESUS’ WARNING. THEY THOUGHT JESUS WAS TALKING ABOUT LITERAL BREAD.
THEY THOUGHT THAT JESUS DID NOT WANT THEM TO EAT ANY BREAD MADE BY HEROD OR A PHARISEE. HOWEVER, JESUS HAD SOMETHING ELSE IN MIND. THE DISCIPLES WERE MISSING A PART OF THE BIG PICTURE.
JESUS’ RESPONSE TO THEM BEARS THIS OUT. JESUS ASKS THEM AGAIN ABOUT THE MIRACULOUS FEEDINGS. HE REMINDS THEM THAT AT THE FIRST FEEDING 5000 PEOPLE WERE FED WITH FIVE LOAVES OF BREAD WITH 12 BASKETS LEFT OVER. THEN JESUS REMINDS THEM THAT WHEN HE FED THE 4000 HE HAD SEVEN LOAVES OF BREAD WITH 7 BASKETS FULL LEFT AT THE END.
HE ASKS THEM, "DO YOU NOT YET UNDERSTAND?" WE CAN ALMOST HEAR JESUS’ FRUSTRATION WITH HIS SLOW DISCIPLES. LET ME ASK YOU A SIMPLE QUESTION TODAY. IF YOU WERE WITH SOMEONE WHO COULD FEED OVER 4000 PEOPLE AND HAVE MORE BREAD LEFT OVER THAN THE AMOUNT THAT STARTED WITH, WOULD YOU WORRY ABOUT NOT HAVING BREAD IN A DESOLATE PLACE LIKE THE SEA OF GALILEE? NO, YOU WOULDN’T WORRY.
IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT IF JESUS HAD WANTED THE DISCIPLES TO HAVE BREAD TO EAT WHILE ON THE BOAT HE COULD HAVE CREATED BREAD FROM THIN AIR. THE DISCIPLES WERE ARGUING ABOUT WHOSE FAULT IT WAS THAT THEY HAD NO BREAD. WHILE THEY ARGUE, JESUS, THE ONE WHO EASILY FEEDS INCREASINGLY LARGER CROWDS WITH SMALLER AMOUNTS OF BREAD, WARNS THEM TO BE WARY OF THE PHARISEES AND HEROD.
IF WE WERE TO MAKE THIS INTO AN MATH EQUATION IT WOULD STATE THAT, FOR JESUS, THE LARGER THE MULTITUDE THAT NEEDS TO BE FED, THE LESS BREAD JESUS NEEDS TO ACCOMPLISH HIS GOAL. JESUS IS NOT LIMITED BY HUMAN MATH, NATURAL LAWS, OR ANY EARTHLY RULES. LOOK AT THE NUMBERS AT THE BOTTOM OF YOUR BULLETIN TO HELP YOU SEE THE HEAVENLY MATH. JESUS FED 5000 PEOPLE WITH FIVE LOAVES OF BREAD AND HAD12 BASKETFULS OF UNEATEN BREAD. THEN HE FED 4000 PEOPLE WITH SEVEN LOAVES OF BREAD.
THE IMPORTANT QUESTION TODAY IS, IF JESUS HAD ONLY ONE LOAF OF BREAD HOW MANY PEOPLE COULD HE FEED? JESUS SAID IN JOHN 6:48, "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE". WITH JESUS, IT ONLY TAKES ONE LOAF OF BREAD TO FEED THE ENTIRE WORLD.
IS THERE ANYONE HERE TODAY WHO IS IN A DISMAL PLACE? IS THERE ANYONE HERE WHO FEELS LIKE HE OR SHE IS IN A WILDERNESS, WITHOUT SUPPLIES, GROWING WEAK FROM HUNGER? THIS WORLD CAN BE A DISMAL PLACE FOR PEOPLE. ALL IT TAKES TO TRANSPORT SOMEONE FROM A LUSH GREEN GARDEN TO A DISMAL PLACE IS ONE SIMPLE WORD. CANCER, AIDS, UNEMPLOYMENT, DIVORCE, OR SUICIDE. I BET IF WE THOUGHT ABOUT IT LONG ENOUGH WE COULD THINK OF OTHER WORDS.
IT’S SO EASY WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF IN A DISMAL PLACE TO GIVE UP. IT’S SO EASY IN THE DISMAL PLACES IN OUR LIVES TO LOOK AROUND, NOT SEE ANY FOOD, AND FAINT FROM WEAKNESS. EVEN WORSE, SOMETIME WE LOOK AROUND AND SEE ONE PERSON STANDING THERE HOLDING A FEW FISH AND A LOAF OF BREAD. HOW CAN WE BE FED BY ONE LOAF OF BREAD WHEN WE ARE IN OUR DISMAL PLACES? IT DEPENDS ON WHO IS THE BREAD.
FOR CHRISTIANS, JESUS IS OUR BREAD. HE IS THE BREAD OF LIFE. WE ARE NOURISHED BY HIM EVERY TIME WE RECEIVE THE BREAD OF THE LORD’S SUPPER. FOR IF JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE AND ALL THE WORLD NEEDS TO PARTAKE OF THIS BREAD TO BE NOURISHED, THEN, WITH JESUS, IT ONLY TAKES ONE LOAF OF BREAD TO FEED THE MULTITUDE IN A DESOLATE PLACE.
THIS MORNING, AS WE PREPARE TO CELEBRATE THE LORD’S SUPPER YOU MIGHT BE IN A DESOLATE PLACE. YOU MAY NOT BE IN THE WILDERNESS OF PALESTINE LIKE THE DISCIPLES, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO BE ALONE, ALIENATED FROM YOUR COMMUNITY. YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO HAVE BROKEN FRIENDSHIPS AND MARRIAGES. YOU HAVE FELT THE STING OF ABANDONMENT AND BETRAYAL. YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO HAVE YOUR CHILDREN TURN THEIR BACKS ON ALL THAT YOU HOLD DEAR. YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE DISMAL IN A DESOLATE PLACE.
CHRISTIAN FRIENDS, JESUS WILL BE WITH YOU IN THAT DESOLATE PLACE. HE BRINGS NOURISHMENT AND COMFORT TO YOU THERE. REMEMBER THE DISCIPLES. THEY SAW JESUS’ MIRACLES YET WERE NOT ABLE TO BELIEVE. WE HAVE NOT SEEN JESUS’ MIRACLES, YET WE CAN BELIEVE.
WE HAVE EARS TO HEAR, EYES TO SEE, AND WE CAN REMEMBER WHAT THE DISCIPLES DID NOT. JESUS IS OUR BREAD TODAY AND EVERY DAY EVEN IN A DISMAL AND DESOLATE PLACE.
TO THE GREATER GLORY OF GOD, NOW AND FOREVER MORE. COME, LORD JESUS, COME. AMEN
