Mark 6:35-36
One
of the challenges in life is people who present their problems without
providing any solutions. They come with an empty hand and say fill it. Or their
solution requires someone else to do what they themselves should be doing. They
want other people’s money to solve their problem. They fail to earn enough to
pay for their out of budget purchases and they want someone else to take away
the natural pain of foolish living.
The
disciples find themselves squeezed between the hungry crowd and their limited
resources. We don’t know who started the “I’m hungry” discussion. It might have
been one of the disciples’ hunger that was then projected onto the crowd. They
might have not heard one peep out of the crowd about being hungry, but they
were hungry.
Or
maybe one of them was starting to think ahead, to plan for the future and he
saw the crowd and realized that hunger would create a problem for their travel
home. Jesus had, after all, brought them here to get away from the crowds for
some rest. So the proposed solution was to release them early and let them fend
for themselves. But think about it. Could a local economy handle 5000 extra
meals on short notice? Remember, this is an economy with very few restaurants. There
were some, but probably not enough to handle this.
Usually
when people traveled they carried their own food, or stayed with Uncle Fred and
his family along the way. And food preparation to a much larger portion of the day
then than it does today. No refrigeration meant that if you were going to have
any perishable items in your meal, it had to be purchased today. A run to the street
market was a normal part of a day’s routine. And if you were traveling, you
couldn’t rely on any of your own stock of food.
So
the disciples come with a solution to Jesus. They look at their earthly
resources and realize the only logical solution is to pass along the
responsibility for the next meal to the people. They had no way of meeting the
need, so they had better give them time to seek out food for themselves. They
had looked at their tangible assets and realized there was no way they could
meet the need.
I
don’t know about you, but there have been many times in my life when my
available resources could not satisfy the need. An unexpected repair, an
emergency medical situation, an unexpected diagnosis, a natural disaster, or an
extra child. These and many others situations can cause you to look at what you
have at your disposal and realize that you can’t meet the need. You don’t have
the power to heal. Your credit score is so low, bowlers would love it as their bowling
score. Baseball players would love it as their ERA.
The
disciples got one thing correct. They brought their problem and their solution
to Jesus. They didn’t just drive ahead with their solution, they submitted it
to Jesus for approval. AND they were willing to give it up when Jesus
instructed them to do so. They weren’t so set on their way, that they missed
His way.