God who gives us abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine
Jesus not only healed a deaf and mute man (Mark 7:32-37), but also people brought to Jesus the lame, the crippled, the blind, the mute, and many other sick people, and laid them at His feet, and He healed them all (Matthew 15:30). "The mute spoke, the lame walked, the crippled stood up, and the blind saw, and the people were amazed and praised the God of Israel" (v. 31, Korean Modern Bible). "At that time, another large crowd gathered, but since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them" (Mark 8:1, Korean Modern Bible): "These people have been with me for three days, and they have nothing to eat. I feel sorry for them. Some of them have come a long way, and if I send them away hungry, they will collapse on the way" (vv. 2-3, Korean Modern Bible) (In Matthew 15:32, Korean Modern Bible, Jesus added, "I do not want to send them away hungry"). Then, the disciples replied, "Where in this wilderness can we get enough bread to feed such a large crowd?" And Jesus asked them, "How many loaves do you have?" (Mark 8:4-5). They answered, "Seven loaves and a few small fish" (Matthew 15:34). Jesus then instructed the crowd to sit down on the ground, took the seven loaves and the fish, gave thanks [“after giving thanks” (Korean Modern Bible)], broke them, and gave them to His disciples to distribute to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the leftover pieces were gathered in seven baskets. The number of those who ate, besides women and children, was four thousand (vv. 36-38). As I reflect on these verses, several thoughts come to mind:
(1) Another large crowd that had gathered around Jesus had been with Him for three days without food, and Jesus felt compassion for them (Mark 8:1-2, Korean Modern Bible) [Note: The story of the “feeding of the 5,000” with two fish and five loaves does not contain this detail]. The fact that the crowd had been without food for three days indicates that not only they, but also Jesus and His disciples, had not eaten anything for three days. Saul (Paul), who encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus, also did not eat or drink for three days (Acts 9:9) [The mention of “three days” made me think of the verse, “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40, Korean Modern Bible), and how Jesus spoke to His disciples about being handed over to men to be killed and rising again after three days (Mark 9:31)]. Jesus said that if He sent the “people who had come from a long way” away hungry, they would collapse on the road (Mark 8:3). In this way, Jesus had compassion for those who had been hungry for three days. The Lord has compassion on the poor and needy, and He saves the lives of the destitute (Psalms 72:13).
(2) Apart from women and children, there were about 4,000 men (Matthew 15:38). How could Jesus have fed such a large crowd of people if He did not provide food for them before sending them home? (Mark 8:4). During the Exodus, the Israelites said they were all going to starve to death in the wilderness (Exodus 16:3). At that time, God told Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you" (Exodus 16:4, Korean Modern Bible), and He provided "manna" (Exodus 16:31), which the Israelites did not know (Deuteronomy 8:3), to feed them for 40 years. The purpose was "so that you may know that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3). Physical hunger and poverty are good opportunities for us to learn that we live by every word of God!
(3) When Jesus asked His disciples, "How many loaves do you have?" (Mark 8:5), they replied, "Seven loaves and a few small fish" (Matthew 15:34). In the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, Peter’s brother Andrew brought five barley loaves and two fish and asked, "How can we feed so many people?" (John 6:9, Korean Modern Bible), but in the miracle of the feeding of the 4,000, the disciples did not say anything. I find their silence quite interesting. They could have asked Jesus something, just as they did during the feeding of the 5,000, but they didn’t ask any questions or make any comments. Perhaps the reason for their silence was that they had already witnessed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. Maybe they simply told Jesus about the seven loaves and two fish, and after seeing Jesus perform a miracle with just five loaves and two fish to feed about 5,000 men, they were waiting and expecting to see how He would feed the large crowd with what they had now. Even when situations seem impossible, when we may be tempted to ask God all kinds of questions, I believe that we need to trust and rely on the Almighty Lord, and watch in faith as He makes the impossible possible, even in the silence.
(4) Jesus commanded the large crowd to sit on the ground, and then, taking seven loaves of bread, He gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to His disciples to distribute, and He did the same with a few small fish (Mark 8:6-7). Even when we feel that what we have is very little and insufficient compared to the situation, we must follow Jesus’ example and offer our thanksgiving prayers to God with faith. Before raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me" (John 11:41). When He did this, God raised the dead Lazarus (v. 44). God's amazing work happens when we, with faith, look up to heaven and offer thanksgiving prayers. I pray that the Lord will accomplish the miracle of thanksgiving through us.
(5) A large crowd of about 4,000 men were all fed to satisfaction through Jesus’ miracle of the seven loaves of bread, and there were seven baskets of leftovers (Mark 8:8, Korean Modern Bible) [In the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, twelve baskets were left over (John 6:13)]. How much more did they eat, considering the large crowd had been starving for three days and were fed by Jesus’ miracle of the seven loaves? Yet, there were still seven baskets of leftovers, which leads us to confess that our God is "the God who, by His power at work within us, is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3:20, Korean Modern Bible).