Look at the Loaves

Mark 6:45-52

Mark 6:45–52 NKJV

45 Immediately He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. 46 And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray. 47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and would have passed them by. 49 And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” 51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind ceased. And they were greatly amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. 52 For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened.

“For they had not understood about the loaves...”

The Lesson of the Loaves

Mark 6:32-44

Mark 6:32–44 NKJV

32 So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. 33 But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. 34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. 35 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. 36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” 37 But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” 38 But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. 41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 42 So they all ate and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

Every Christ follower needs to look at the loaves and celebrate the fact that only Jesus can bring into existence something new when there are no ingredients because of the following reasons:

1. You Can’t

What the disciples COULD do

Send the crowd home

Because they didn’t have enough bread with which to feed them

V.36

Because they didn’t have 200 denarii

8 month’s worth of wages

V.37

When the disciples were only thinking of what they had, their response was harsh: “Send them away”

V.38

When Jesus asked them how many loaves they had, they answered

Five

PLUS two fish

Even their “surplus” was pretty skimpy

Row like crazy

V.45

Jesus made them get into a boat and “go before Him” to the other side

V.48

The rowing against this wind was “torture”

So they rowed like crazy

Got them nowhere

Reason we need to remember the Loaves

We cannot bring into existence something new without any ingredients

Yet we try to manage

With little to no success

2. You Will Hit a Storm

We are all in one of three conditions:

In a storm

Coming out of a storm

About to enter a storm

Disciples were in a storm

V.47

Evening

Roughly 6 pm

V.48

Fourth watch

3-6 am

Straining at rowing

βασανίζω

“torture”

Wind was against them

3. You Won’t Be Facing it Alone

Jesus comes to you in your storm

V.48

Jesus saw them

They were tortured at the rowing

Against the wind

Going nowhere

Jesus came to them at the darkest time

Fourth watch of the night (3 am)

Jesus would have passed them by

Would have

θέλω—“to want”

Passed them by

παρέρχομαι—can mean “to come near, come alongside”

Jesus wanted to come near them

Jesus talked with them

“Courage!”

“I AM THAT I AM”

“Stop being afraid!”

Jesus got into the boat WITH THEM

Now What?

What was the “great and unsearchable thing I did not know?”

Me

I was that “great and unsearchable thing that I did not know”

All of the things the Lord had been breaking down and remaking

The work I was doing…means to an end

In the end

It came down to the transformation of me

The same is true for each one of you

Lord does not need this church for His name to be made great

It already is great

But He has been working…on you

But you will not see it or appreciate it without looking at the loaves

Jesus can create something new when there are no ingredients

He can do it at the darkest hour

My prayer for you

Is that you would love Jesus and desire Jesus

For who He is

Not so much for what He can do in a jam

That your greatest desire would be for Him

That you would come together as His church to simply pray and seek His face, not His hand

Because if You seek His face, He will definitely bring His hand

That there would be as many people coming together to pray in this way as there are people coming together for a business meeting

Jesus is your greatest need

When you realize this

And when you realize that He is waiting for you to seek Him

You will find that you can hear Him say to you…in the darkest hour of the storm...

Courage!

It is Me…the I AM

Stop Being Afraid!