"They Didn't Understand About the Loaves"

Mark 6 records the account of Jesus feeding the 5000. The disciples recognized the hunger of the 5000 but their solution was not to help them but asked for Jesus to send them away... they didn't even ask Jesus to help them.

Jesus instructed the disciples to feed the 5000 themselves.

Again the disciples, understanding only they own abilities, said that they did not have enough money to buy bread for 5000 people. Whereupon Jesus fed the whole multitude and had plenty of food leftover for them to take home with them.

The scene shifts immediately to the disciples following Jesus instruction to row a boat across the sea while he stayed behind.

The text says that the disciples were fighting a head wind and waves driven by the wind and it was night. But then here comes Jesus taking a stroll walking on the water intending to pass them by as they struggled with the boat.

The disciples thought they were seeing a ghost and were terrified. Imagine fighting the sea in a small boat and failing at it. Worried about drowning and then they see a ghost. Jesus intended to just walk on by them but in their terror of the ghost they “cried out”.

Of course it wasn’t a ghost, it was Jesus and when he stepped over the side of the boat and got in the boat with them. The wind died and went away and all was calm. They were astounded and rightly so.

And then the inimical words recorded by Mark…

“They did not understand about the loaves”

Like in the feeding of the 5000 the disciples looked at their own abilities and flew the white flag… they gave up and Jesus bailed them out.

In the boat they were struggling against waves and wind. The boat was taking on water. Their solution was to paddle the boat harder and they were failing.

If they had “understood about the loaves” they would have put the paddles down and bowed their heads in prayer because after all the likelihood is that God sent the wind to test them. If God can send the wind he can also quiet the wind.

Faith is at its best when we quit relying upon ourselves and turn our troubles over to God.