Mark 6:30  And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.
31  And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.
32  And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.
33  And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.
34  And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.
35  And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:
36  Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.
37  He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?
38  He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.
39  And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.
40  And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.
41  And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.
42  And they did all eat, and were filled.
43  And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.
44  And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

In these verses God directed the writer to continue with the account of an earlier command of Jesus to the twelve. He sent them out by twos to go and preach the Gospel and to cast out devils and heal the sick. They were told not to take any supplies with them but rather to rely on the hospitality of the people they would encounter. They were also told to shake off the dust of their feet against any city that would not receive them.
It is never a wise thing to reject God’s Word. Those who reject the Truth will be judged by the Truth and found wanting. The humble person will turn to God and receive the Truth and be forgiven and saved and then serve God faithfully.
In verse 31 Jesus took the disciples away from the people for a short time. They needed an opportunity to rest and to eat. The work of the Lord is work. It is a different type of work than shovelling grain or mixing cement, but it is work. It is rewarding work for the child of God. There is a need to rest in between and to be drawn closer to God in that time of rest.
We read that they left by ship to go to that desert place privately. However, being in a ship would not be very secretive. That ship would be seen on the water and the people ran ahead and they came to where Jesus was anyway. This was not a surprise to Jesus. He knew the people and as they would have been travelling by ship, they would have had some time to rest and eat.
The people were hungry, but not for the right things. However, Jesus would feed them the Truth first and foremost. In verse 34 we read that the Lord Jesus saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them. Jesus cared about the souls of the people. This should be the attitude of those who are saved. It is more important to teach people the truth, than to concern ourselves with the luxuries of life.
Jesus saw the people as sheep without a shepherd. Sheep need protection from wolves and other wild animals. They also need to be led to good food and water. Jesus saw the need and He began to teach them many things. Jesus would give them a feast of Truth, rather than a feast of perishable goods. Their spiritual need was of much greater concern than a meal that would need to be replenished in a few hours.
In verse 35 we see that the disciples had a different concern than Jesus had. They wanted Jesus to send the people back home. The day was done and they were tired and they wanted the people to go back home. They knew they did not have the resources needed to feed them that temporal food that we all need. They wanted the people to go and look after their own needs.
Jesus challenged the disciples once again. They had just recently come from an evangelistic trip. They had been reliant on the hospitality of the people and they had come back to Jesus without any battle scars. They had been well looked after. Now Jesus challenged them to look after the material needs of these people. This challenge caught the disciples off guard. How could they look after this great need.
The disciples looked at the normal approach to feeding people. If we do not have the food in hand, then we need money to purchase the needed supplies. They reasoned that what they had available to them would not purchase enough food for this large crowd. We read in verse 44 that there were about five thousand men in this crowd. They would have a good appetite. Jesus was not deterred by this fact. He simply asked them how much food they had available. He knew they could not eat money. The people were not in a city and there was not time to go and run for supplies. He simply asked what was available to them right there.
Jesus would do another miracle that would expose Him as the Messiah and the Son of God. He would do what no man could do. The purpose here was not to teach the disciples how to miraculously supply food for the body. The purpose here was to teach a spiritual lesson. The greatest need of man is spiritual food and spiritual healing of the soul. Jesus demonstrated His ability to meet that need by doing this material miracle.
The disciples reported back to Jesus that they had five loaves and two fishes. This certainly would not go far with such a massive crowd. Jesus commanded them to make the people sit down in companies of hundreds, and fifties. Jesus taught the importance of organization. You cannot have people pushing and shoving to get to the food. There needs to be order in all things.
Jesus took those loaves and fishes and looked up to heaven and blessed and break the five loaves and the two fishes and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. The disciples had just exercised faith in going out and preaching to the people. They had seen the mighty hand of God at work in various ways on that trip. Now they would see that same mighty hand at work again. They would see that little bit of food multiply and feed this large crowd of people. We read that they all ate and were filled.
No only so, but Jesus taught the importance of not wasting food. They gathered up that which was left and found twelve baskets full of fragments from the food that had been blessed and distributed. This would have been quite the lesson for those five thousand men, but it would also have been a lesson for the twelve. They needed to learn of the great supply there is in Christ.
It is amazing to see how God can and does supply our needs. God is still able to do that which is humanly impossible. He wants to teach His children the importance of trusting in Him and not being deterred by a lack of human resources. His main purpose is to help us to see how He can take that lost individual and turn that person into a true child of God. He asks His child to faithfully preach the Word. We need to guard against corrupting the Word. It is the Holy Spirit Who takes that Word and impresses it upon the soul of the hearer. He convinces that person of the need of their soul. Many will push that away, but a few will be satisfied by the reception of the Word of God.
As the true child of God serves God faithfully, He promises to meet their needs. He wants His work to continue and He can meet the needs of His faithful servant. We see that in the life of the apostles and in the life of the early churches.
In our text Jesus reminded all that were present at this event, of the source of blessings. We do not look to man for that source. God may use people to be instruments to deliver that blessing, but the blessing comes from God in heaven. It is important for those who are blessed with the material resources to be willing to give those resources to the Lord. Those who understand their purpose will appreciate the blessings of the Lord in their own lives as they submit to serving God with what He has given them. In our text, there is not much mention of the source of the food that was used to feed these people. Someone brought that food, but that was not the important point. The important point was what Jesus can do with our meagre supplies.
God is able to move in the hearts of people to meet the needs of others. It is important to note here that the disciples were doing what Jesus commanded them to do. They were not out sightseeing. They were not lazy. They had been busy serving the Lord. Now they would see how God would continue to look after things they had not even anticipated.
We too will find unexpected needs at times. What is important is to be where God wants us to be at any given time. We need to plan as far as we can, but sometimes things come along that we just did not plan for. If we are serving the Lord faithfully, He has His ways of meeting the need, even when our resources are very limited.
Pastor Bartel