Jesus: Provider of our Needs

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Scripture Text:  Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:42

 And they all ate and were satisfied.

(ESV)

The source of much of the fear, worry, and depression in our lives is a lack of satisfaction or contentment.  Often the cause of this dissatisfaction is our seeking of contentment or happiness in things other than God.  The first commandment commands us not to have any other gods but the one true God.  We often think of this as one worshipping a heathen god but the other gods in our lives are often anything we place our faith in to supply our needs. 

Jesus feeding of the five thousand is one of the Bible’s best-known miracles.  As I read it, I try to imagine being among that crowd wanting to hear more teaching from the Lord.  However, as I am listening and having my spirit fed, my body begins to feel weak from hunger.  I realize I am in a desolate place and too weak to make it to the next town where I could find food.  I try to imagine being one of the Disciples who are also hungry and ask the Lord to dismiss the crowd only to have the Lord assign them the impossible task of feeding this massive crowd from five loaves and two fish.  The real story, however, is Jesus knew what he was about to do and uses this to test the Disciple’s faith in Him as their provider.  The crowd, Disciples, and Jesus have something to teach us as we learn to trust God to meet our needs.

1)      The crowd (Mark 6:30-34) – Jesus and His disciples had been busy ministering and Jesus orders them to go to a desolate place to rest.  This concept of resting for those in ministry is good for ministers can become weary even in performing good works of ministry (Galatians 6:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:13).  However, the throng following Jesus was so spiritually hungry, they ran ahead while Jesus and the Disciples went in a boat to the other side of the lake, beating them there.  Jesus, God in the flesh full of compassion, could not ignore this level of spiritual hunger and dedication and begins teaching.  However, the lateness of the day causes the crowd to begin experiencing the pangs of hunger which could distract them from hearing and benefiting from the teachings of Jesus. 

2)      The Disciples (Mark 6:35-40) – Seeing the lateness of the day and possibly the hunger of the crowd, the disciples approach Jesus and ask Him to send the crowd away to find food.  While this seemed like the logical thing to do, Jesus instead tells the disciples to feed them causing them to ask for permission to spend the equivalent of a worker’s annual wage to buy food for the crowd.  The truth is that Philip is not seeking permission to spend money but expressing doubt at the impossibility of doing what the Lord has asked the Disciples to do.  However, to the Disciples credit, they do obey when Jesus instead commands them to sit the crowd down in groups on the grass.

3)      Jesus (Mark 6:41-44) – Jesus has tirelessly spent the day teaching an eager crowd of people but is about to provide the greatest teaching of how God can supply our physical needs by feeding a crowd of five thousand from five loaves and two fish.  Jesus honors the dedication and spiritual hunger of the crowd by meeting their basic need for food.  He also teaches His Disciples a valuable lesson to trust God even when the situation seems impossible. 

A hunger to learn more about God through the study of the teachings of the Bible fills the spiritual hole of hunger in one's heart.  However, we still have physical needs to meet.  It would be nice if we could spend all our time in the study of the Bible and have God miraculously deliver fish and bread to feed us.  The truth, however, is we usually need to work to provide income to help meet our needs.  However, this does not negate the need to trust God for we should thank God for His provision of a job to meet our needs and trust Him to give us knowledge, wisdom, and strength to continue working.  Meditation on God’s Word and prayer should not stop after closing our Bibles in the morning but should continue throughout the day as we trust God while doing our work. 

The doubts of the Disciples are indicative of doubts those in ministry may experience when facing a challenge.  The Disciples asking Jesus to dismiss the crowd could have been their reflection on the grumbling of the Israelites in the wilderness and the subsequent rebellion (Exodus 16:1-3).  The Disciples were asking Jesus to cut the sermon short which would have meant the crowd would have missed the greatest teaching of God’s provision by missing the miracle of feeding the five thousand.  While we all, including those in ministry, have time constraints, it is important not to cut short the time God needs to minister to His people.  While ministry has time constraints on Sunday, especially in churches having multiple services, pastors should encourage their congregation to continue the learning through personal study and meditation on scripture and prayer.  Churches also should offer teaching in small groups throughout the week to ensure the Holy Spirit has the time needed to continue the work of ministry in the lives of the congregation.  God is our provider both physically and spiritually, but we must trust and give the Holy Spirit time to work.