..Mark 8:1-4 In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3 And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4 And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?”
Now, Jesus, quite recently, fed a crowd of 5,000 men with only five loaves of bread and two fish. That mighty work occurred perhaps several weeks to several months prior to this crowd gathering around Jesus. So the sufficiency of Jesus to meet the needs of people in wondrous ways ought to be on the forefront of the minds of the disciples. These disciples with Jesus had walked with Jesus for some months, perhaps well over a year by this point. So they had seen far more than a miraculous feeding of a large crowd. Think back on all the wondrous works Jesus had done by this point. How many people delivered from demons? The man delivered from Legion. How many healings of various ailments? Jesus walked on water.
And yet, when faced with a hungry crowd, the disciples ask, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?”
Do you understand what’s at stake here? Do you see the hardness of heart developing in the followers closest to Jesus? Do you see their blindness? This is warning. Do not think that because you’ve attended church for years, or owned a bible, or learned biblical doctrine that you understand. A truly understanding person will participate genuinely in the fellowship of the church, and own a bible to read and study and know God, but it’s possible to be near to Jesus, and witness the mighty works of Jesus, and yet be dull in mind and heart…
