Captive? No, Captivated

Think of the best speaker or teacher you know. Would you be willing to sit in the middle of a crowd of 4,000 to listen to them? Probably, right? Would you be willing to sit on the ground in the middle of a crowd to listen? On the ground? Yeah, without stadium seats. Okay, if they were really good, possibly. How about for three days? What? Without food.  Um, no!  I thought so.

I’m talking about Mark 8:1-10, when Jesus fed a hungry crowd, a crowd who hadn’t eaten for three days. A crowd so hungry that He was afraid to send them home (some of them lived a distance) for fear that they would faint along the way. We don’t know the particulars. He may have just taught; or He may have performed signs and miracles. Some may have believed He was the Son of God; some may have thought he was a prophet or a really good teacher. Some may have just been curious to see what He would do. One thing we do know is that He had developed a reputation at this point.

Even so, we can assume He didn’t teach all night. Can you just imagine the conversations?

“James, are we going to stay? All night without food?”
"Well He’s pretty good. And we have cloaks for pallets. I had a big meal before we came. I think I’m good to go for tomorrow, for a while at least. Maybe we’ll leave at noon, beat the traffic.”

And then the next night, “Wow, He was good. What He says is pretty revolutionary. I’m not sure I can do the things He asks. But I can’t stop listening.”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“I guess when I stop and think about it, yeah. But who cares? I’m staying another night.”

 I read these scenes of Jesus in the Gospels and it’s so easy to just skim right over the details. To forget that these were real times and real people. Jesus is easier for me to imagine because I think about Him a lot. But I don’t often stop to put myself in the field with the crowd. I so love the details Mark includes; because there are lessons here:

 • What Jesus has to offer is so intriguing, so compelling that sometimes the world, the physical, the stuff just doesn’t matter. Matthew 4:4, “Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

• Jesus had compassion; no one asked. With only 7 loaves and a few fish, He fed a multitude. He can also take what very little we have to offer and multiply it and use it to feed His Kingdom. 2 Corinthians 9:8, “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”

• Jesus fills our needs lavishly, abundantly. The 7 baskets that were left over after the crowd was fed were not the same kind of baskets described earlier in Mark when Jesus fed another multitude. These were rope or mat baskets and some were big enough to carry a man (Acts 9:25).

More than we ask for; more than we need. More than we have to offer; more than we can ask or imagine.