Lately, there was the
Syrophoenician woman who begged him to heal her daughter. Jesus cured her
without ever laying eyes upon her.
Before that there was the naked man
from Gerasa, the one with the legion of demons. Jesus saw that man, but didn’t
touch him. He sent the legion into a herd of swine, then sent the herd
screaming down a hill to drown in the lake. He returned the man to his right
mind simply by giving the demons permission to leave. Yet, when the man begged
Jesus to let him follow him, Jesus turned him away, sending him instead to
declare God’s mercy in his hometown.
Evidently, the healed Gerasene man
has a convincing testimony, for a great crowd awaits Jesus in the Gentile
desert. They cling to his every word for three days, more hungry for his
teaching and his power than for bread.
They have essentially been
fasting, and although they are Gentiles and he is Jewish, Jesus has compassion
for their diminished state. He remembered what happened the last time, when he
asked the disciples to feed the crowd and they talked of nothing but money. So
he puzzles aloud about how he might feed them.
The disciples have apparently
forgotten what happened the last time Jesus showed compassion on a hungry
crowd. “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” they ask.
“How many loaves do you have? He
asks his disciples. He gives thanks for their meager resources, blesses them,
and begins to divide them amongst the crowd. Before he has finished, 4,000
Gentiles have had their fill and seven baskets full of broken bits of bread
remain from the disciples’ original seven loaves.
Jesus disperses the satisfied
crowd, and he and his disciples climb once again into the boat.
Text for the day:
Things to think
about:
Everyone is worthy of the healing
and teaching Jesus offers.
Jesus takes food from the mouths of
his closest followers and gives it away as bread for the hungry.
Things to do:
Do some research today about your
neighborhood or city. Who is hungry around you and how are they fed?
Jesus, teach me to
stop questioning you.
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