David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 8:1-3

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.”

We have a bird feeder in our back yard. It’s a very special kind – one that actually does thwart the squirrels from stealing the birds’ food – though they try! We refill it somewhat regularly. I can take little credit for this however. My wife buys the birdseed and occasionally asks me to help her fill the bird feeder.

Jesus says that God is far more attentive to the needs of sparrows and flowers than even my wife. He says that not one of them falls to the ground apart from his knowledge. His eye is on the sparrow. Even more, his eye is upon those who follow Jesus; we are worth more than many sparrows.

In this instance it is quite clear that Jesus’ eye is on those who follow him. He realizes they have no food (neither does he apparently). But his attention is not toward himself, or even his twelve disciples, but on the crowd. He even announces that he has compassion on the crowd. He is moved by their plight. He realizes that their situation is so grave that he cannot simply send them away; some have come from a great distance.

We may not always realize it, but God’s eye is on us at all times. He knows our needs. He cares about all the realities of life we face: the distances we have to travel, the time we are on the road, the limits of our physical constitution. Do I need to look to him for my daily needs, celebrate his daily provision, or trust in him that he cares for me? Yes – all of those things. I suspect that you do to!

Mark 8:1-10

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?” ⁵ And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said,“Seven.” ⁶ And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. ⁷ And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. ⁸ And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. ⁹ And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. ¹⁰ And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.