Don’t Understand

AM Psalm [83] or 42, 43 • PM Psalm 85, 86
Gen. 46:1-7,28-34 • 1 Cor. 9:1-15 • Mark 6:30-46

One day Jesus fed thousands of people all at once. He had his disciples give them bread and fish. You can read about it in Mark (6:30-46) or Matthew (14:13-21) or Luke (9:10-17) or even John (6:1-15) because all four gospels record this incredible event.

It was a miracle.

Mark emphasizes the solitude that Jesus encouraged his followers to find. The story begins with Jesus saying:

“Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.”

His disciples had been so busy they hadn’t even been eating. So they do as they’re told

...And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves.

And after the event, when everyone is fed, and each of the Twelve disciples has gathered up a basket of leftovers, Jesus sends everyone away and follows his own teaching:

After saying farewell to them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

And if you stop reading Mark’s account where you’re supposed to today, you might miss one little detail that is very unique about the disciples and the bread.

It happens after the storm.

The disciples are caught in a storm and then miraculously saved by Jesus from the waves and the wind and the chaos. They have no idea how to respond.

As Mark puts it:

They were utterly astounded, for they did not understand about the bread, their hearts were hard. – Mark 6:52

That’s where Mark gets to me. This Lenten season I am aware of the hardness in myself and around me. It’s been a tough couple of years. Hungry in the crowd or all alone in the middle of nowhere, scared to death in the middle of a crisis—am I aware of the miracle of how I am fed? Do I understand just how often I am saved from the chaos all around? And why? When so many others are hungry and drowning?

I do not understand. I am, in fact, utterly astounded.

A good prayer for a hard heart might be found in Psalm 86:

Gladden the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. – v.4

Written by Troy Schremmer

Troy works with preschool age children as an enrichment teacher in music and movement. He volunteers as a teacher-helper in Children’s Sunday School.