Who is Jesus

We can teach and take to heart many valuable lessons from this passage, like e.g. generosity – the little boy shared his meagre lunch of only five loaves and two fish. The disciples using what Jesus gave them and then seeing that they still had plenty left over. The increase Jesus provides if we are just willing to give Him what we have in hand. Jesus not doing the miracle on His own but using the disciples to bring it about. And many more.

But later on in Mark we read that the disciples were filled with fear and dread when they saw Jesus walking on the water towards their boat, and the reason Mark gives as to why this was so, is written in Mark 6:52 “for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in”.

What then is this significant point Jesus wished to make with the miracle of feeding the (many more than) five thousand?

He was revealing to the crowd that He was the same God Who had fed the Israelites with bread and meat in the desert during their Exodus! There before their eyes, bread and fish appeared miraculously, waiting for them to collect and eat it, just as was the case thousands of years ago with their forefathers.

This incident happened during Passover, which is why there were so many people gathered in this remote place. They were all on their journey to Jerusalem for the Feast. And if only they had eyes to see, they would have seen their Passover Lamb standing before them, proving beyond doubt that He, and the Father God Who would later give His Son’s body as the only permanent sacrifice for their sin, are One!

Jesus did not explicitly tell them this at that time, as He knew that they would then insist that He take up His role as reigning Messiah King, and it was not yet the time for that.

Meanwhile, He kept training His disciples in the ways of the Kingdom. They would retain those hard hearts until after His resurrection, when they finally truly understood that Jesus is indeed God Immanuel, God with us, as we see Peter boldly proclaiming in Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

Points to ponder: How many miracles happening in our own lives and in the lives of others around us would it take before we understood Who Jesus is? Would we be willing to look and really SEE our Saviour at work among us, and believe what we see?