Week 3

BREAD AMONG THE MULTITUDES

By Rev. Mark Price

For Reading
Mark 6:32-44

For Reflection 

The disciples considered the crowd of people a nuisance to be dismissed before their growling hunger attached itself to Jesus. They never considered that they had food enough for that many people, not that it might be their privilege as hosts to entertain the multitude. Jesus, though, was aware that indeed he and his disciples had more than enough to give to meet the needs of the crowd. "They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat." He assured them that the crowds did not need to leave simply because they needed food. He was confident in the resources of God and in his ability to draw upon the storehouse of love in whatever form was required. His disciples could spread a feast in the desert. Gospel hospitality begins by realizing that we have access to something people want and need.

(Gerrit S. Dawson, "Feasts In the Desert and Other Unlikely Places," Weavings IX, Jan/Feb 1994, p 31.)

For Understanding

It was a miracle, plain and simple. No matter how much we might wish to reenact this all too famous biblical event, we must confess that our imperfect hospitality will never suffice. These days, the only meals we have time to cook have to fit into a microwave. Breakfast comes out of a box; lunch comes in a sack; and supper, well, did somebody say McDonald's?
 
 At first glance it is tempting to distance ourselves from Jesus' disciples that day on the deserted hillside. They had committed themselves to following Jesus. They had left their jobs and families to be itinerant missionaries with a homeless carpenter. We, on the other hand, have jobs, families, church activities, school functions, Sara's dental appointment, Jerry's soccer game, and we pray mostly at stop lights. We don't sit still long enough to eat with our own families, not to mention with a multitude. Like most of us most of the time, the disciples actually had been busy and probably were exhausted by dinnertime. So they responded out of their own self-assessment not Jesus'-Gee, we're bushed; let these people find their own food; we'd rather not go to the trouble.
 
 Jesus, however, was confident that his disciples had enough of whatever was needed for the people who gathered on that hillside. And as always, not only does Jesus see his disciples' capacity to feed the multitude, he also takes the initiative in blessing that capacity, however meager. Perhaps the real miracle on the hillside that day was not so much what Jesus did to a small lunch, but what he did to redefine and enlarge his disciples' own capacity to be hosts to the hungry in the kingdom of God. We could use the same miracle.

• When have you refused or deferred an opportunity for hospitality because you thought you did not have enough resources or time?
  
• What is it that you have access to in your life as a Christian that others might want or need?
  
• Recall a time that God multiplied your or another's efforts to share God's presence to others.

The Rev. Mark Price is Senior Editor of Disciple Bible Study Resources at The United Methodist Publishing House in Nashville, Tenn.