Mark 6: 30-44

1. Position yourself to hear God

 

2. Pore over the passage and paraphrase the main points

 

3. Pull out the spiritual principles

 

4. Pose the question

 

5. Plan obedience and pin down a date

Mark 6:30-44  New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

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[a]! 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.



Paraphrase

• The disciples reported back to Jesus all that they had done
• Jesus encouraged the disciples to take some time out and rest
• Jesus shows compassion to the crowd that were following Him
• Disciples wanted the people to go and get some food from neighbouring areas
• Jesus wanted the disciples to feed the people but the disciples thought this was impossible
• Jesus took control and organised the people and showed them that He would provide for the people's needs in a miraculous way

Principles

• It is good to have community and share what has been happening
• Rest and times of solitude is vital if we are going to be of any use in ministry
• Jesus knows our needs before we know them ourselves.  We serve a God who is compassionate and is involved in the details or our lives
• We need to learn to trust God with the impossible and not just see the problem that is in front of us.
• Jesus showed that He is faithful to provide for our needs

Questions

• Do we have people in our lives that we can share with?
• Do we take time out of our busy schedules just to enjoy some rest to be recharged for what is ahead?
• Do we believe that God has got our lives in His hands and that we serve a personal and compassionate God?