Today’s Reading: Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15

The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. – Mark 6:30-31

Jesus had just learned of the death of John the Baptist and his disciples had just returned from the villages he had sent them to in groups of two. He needed time away from the crowd to grieve and to reconnect with his team. They were all in need of some food and some quiet time.

But the crowd of people who had come to see Jesus saw him get in the boat with his disciples. They ran along the shore, hopeful to be on the bank where he and his disciples would eventually land. Jesus had compassion on them because he saw they were like sheep without a shepherd. When he stepped onto the shore, he began healing those who were sick.

THEY WERE HUNGRY TO EXPERIENCE JESUS.

By now it was getting late and everyone was hungry, including the crowd. They were quite a distance from the villages, so the disciples encouraged Jesus to send the crowds away so that they could begin their walk back to where they could buy food. They were very likely eager to spend time with Jesus away from the chaos. Perhaps their conversation went something like this — This is your chance, Jesus! It’s getting late and the crowd is getting hungry. This is the perfect opportunity for us to lose this crowd and have some alone time.

But Jesus said, “You feed them.”

“But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” For there were about 5,000 men there.

Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” So the people all sat down. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers! – Luke 9:13-17

The great love of our Savior was displayed that day. At a time when both tradition and human reasoning gave him permission to pull inward and enter a time of grieving, Jesus had compassion on others and thought more of their needs than his own. Instead of sending the people away, Jesus invited them to sit down and allow him to supply their needs. He broke bread and they ate as much as they wanted.

JESUS SATISFIED THEIR HUNGER AND MET THEIR NEEDS.

What a great example of compassion for us to replicate today; what a beautiful demonstration of sympathy and care. But now that the needs of the crowds had been met, Jesus set another great example for us — he separated himself from the people in order to spend some time alone with his Father.

Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and head across the lake to Bethsaida, while he sent the people home. After telling everyone good-bye, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. – Mark 6:45-46

Jesus took time to be alone with God but did not turn away from the needs of others. I strongly believe in taking time to grieve; I strongly believe in spending time alone in God’s presence. God calls us to this. But He also calls us to walk away from that time filled with Him in such a way that we are ready to care more about others than we do about ourselves. This is not always easy to do but the response of Jesus to the needs of those around him sets a great example for us.

Lord, thank you for continuing to teach us what it looks like to walk out our submission to you. May we be used in the life of someone else today. Give us eyes to see their needs and a heart of compassion that moves to respond. And we thank you for this time alone in your presence. Fill us with your Spirit and guide us through our day. May someone else experience you through us today. Amen.