An Appointment with Christ: Multiplication of the loaves and fishes (Mark 6:30) Part 7

On this occasion we are going to conclude this long study of Chapter 6 of the Gospel according to Saint Mark, beginning with verse 30, where we see the multiplication of the loaves and fish, this well-known miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have gone through a very large amount of profound biblical teaching and today we are concluding seeing the miracle itself.

The crowd is hungry, the day has passed, the night is coming, the disciples say to our Lord Jesus Christ: “Lord, send them away now, they have to go and buy food”. The Lord surprises the disciples by saying: "Give him something to eat." The disciples are horrified saying: "How is it possible that we feed such a large crowd?"

The Lord sends them into the crowd and the disciples discover that they have 5 loaves and 2 fish, minimum, ridiculously little to feed such a large crowd, but the Word says that then the Lord takes those loaves and tells them to the disciples in verse 39: “and he commanded them to make everyone sit down in groups on the green grass. And they reclined by groups of a hundred by a hundred, and by fifty by fifty. Then he took the 5 loaves and the 2 fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them. And he divided the two fish among all, and they all ate and were satisfied and picked up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces and what was left of the fish. And those who ate were 5,000 men without counting the women and children.”

What a wonderful passage, what a wonderful conclusion to this story that we started a while ago. The Lord takes the loaves and fish and tells the disciples, divide the crowd one hundred by one hundred and then fifty and fifty, into groups. I imagine that while the disciples were carrying out the task that the Lord had entrusted to them, they would be angry and felt insecure because they thought: "What madness, why are we dividing all these people into groups if there are only 5 loaves and two fishes." They were afraid of being ridiculous. They feared perhaps the wrath of the crowd when the crowd discovered that there was not enough food for all of them.

I believe the Lord put them to do this before performing the miracle because He wanted to strengthen their faith. You know that many times there will be situations in our life where the need will be so great and the resources so small that our tendency will simply be to lament and sit inactive and freeze in fear, doing nothing, and letting the problem continue. But many times God wants us to jump out in faith, take one small step, and then see the Lord begin to work and part the sea before us.

If we wait for the conditions to be propitious, we will never pray. Many times we are required to begin by faith knocking on doors and making gestures in the Lord and looking for a solution. We must never freeze due to the limitations of life. Let's not get so obsessed with the problems and the magnitude of the problems that we sit in a corner wringing our hands and lamenting our bad conditions. God wants us to launch ourselves in the name of Jesus to do something, to find a solution, to be active, dynamic, enterprising people, who do not allow ourselves to be overwhelmed by problems but rather in the name of Jesus we launch ourselves believing that in the process of striving the Lord is going to bring the solution. That is why the Lord Jesus Christ tells us that he has not given us a spirit of cowardice but of power, love and self-control.

We have power in Christ Jesus. The apostle Paul says: "I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me." No matter how serious the situation, no matter how serious the situation, no matter how overwhelming the problem may seem, God wants you to throw yourself in the name of the Lord to conquer a giant, to destroy the problem that afflicts you. In the name of Jesus undertake the problem, undertake the solution and the Lord will give you the answer.

I think of the David and Goliath passage: Goliath was a tremendous giant, a man almost 8 feet tall, a warrior, experienced. No warrior of Israel dared to confront this Philistine giant, but a little boy, without any military training, believed in the power of God and dared to confront the giant, and with a mere slingshot and a stone thrown in the power of God , in the name of God, struck the giant on the forehead and felled that mighty warrior. And that idea of a little boy knocking down a giant is a symbol of the power that is in every believer to knock down any problem that may arise in his life. In Christ Jesus we are more than conquerors, but we cannot look so much at the problem as at the powerful Christ who is over the problem.

God said to Joshua, another character in the Bible: “Look, I command you to strive and be brave. Do not fear or dismay because I will be with you wherever you go. If we could always have that position of faith, of not letting ourselves be defeated by the magnitude of the problems, but in the name of Jesus we say: "I will win, I will get ahead, I will have the victory, not with my power but with the power of God within me. I can do everything through Christ who strengthens me."

Earlier the apostle Paul says: “In all these things we are more than conquerors.” But that posture of faith is needed, that posture of sufficiency in God. Christ sent the disciples and told them, divide the crowd, believe, and plan because the miracle is going to come. And then the Bible says that when the crowd had already been divided into groups, the Lord took the 5 loaves and the two fish, it says that he raised his eyes to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples so that they could put them before And he divided the two fish among all, and they all ate and were satisfied.

What a wonderful image when we act in the power of God. Because the one who does the miracle is not you, the miracle is done by Christ. When you obey and you follow the instructions of the Word and your works according to the principles of the Kingdom of God, then God can work in your favor. The Lord Jesus Christ took the 5 loaves and the two fish and using the power of God and commending his need to the Father, received authority and power and multiplied. A creative miracle, he created food for 5,000 men and God knows how many women and children.

And so, my brother, Christ wants you to deal with the problems and limitations of life. God wants to use you as an instrument of his grace. Many people only have enough energy for their own problems and not even for that, but God wants you to have enough strength and power in your life, so that you not only bless your family and bless yourself and solve your problem but may you also have strength to bless others. Everything is in that you act in the power and wisdom of Christ Jesus. He is able to multiply loaves and fish and to do great and powerful things. If you only believe in Him, you cling to Him, use His power and put your faith in the grace that comes from Him. He is enough, not only to feed a multitude, but for loaves and fishes to be left over. It says that there was a quantity left over, it says that they collected twelve full baskets from the pieces and what was left of the fish, not only was there enough for the crowd, but there was plenty of food left. When God does a miracle, he makes it perfect, he makes it super-abundant.

God is powerful to fill any need in your life and to make you the instrument of his grace. Oh! May God help us to have that faith in the mighty Christ. God bless you!