God Speaks
About this time another large crowd had gathered, and the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples and told them, 2 “I feel sorry for these people. They have been here with me for three days, and they have nothing left to eat. 3 If I send them home hungry, they will faint along the way. For some of them have come a long distance.”
4 His disciples replied, “How are we supposed to find enough food to feed them out here in the wilderness?”
5 Jesus asked, “How much bread do you have?”
“Seven loaves,” they replied.
6 So Jesus told all the people to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, and broke them into pieces. He gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. 7 A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to distribute them.
8 They ate as much as they wanted. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven large baskets of leftover food. 9 There were about 4,000 men in the crowd that day, and Jesus sent them home after they had eaten. 10 Immediately after this, he got into a boat with his disciples and crossed over to the region of Dalmanutha.
11 When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had arrived, they came and started to argue with him. Testing him, they demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
12 When he heard this, he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, “Why do these people keep demanding a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, I will not give this generation any such sign.” 13 So he got back into the boat and left them, and he crossed to the other side of the lake.
14 But the disciples had forgotten to bring any food. They had only one loaf of bread with them in the boat. 15 As they were crossing the lake, Jesus warned them, “Watch out! Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod.”
16 At this they began to argue with each other because they hadn’t brought any bread. 17 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he said, “Why are you arguing about having no bread? Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? 18 ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all? 19 When I fed the 5,000 with five loaves of bread, how many baskets of leftovers did you pick up afterward?”
“Twelve,” they said.
20 “And when I fed the 4,000 with seven loaves, how many large baskets of leftovers did you pick up?”
“Seven,” they said.
21 “Don’t you understand yet?” he asked them.
22 When they arrived at Bethsaida, some people brought a blind man to Jesus, and they begged him to touch the man and heal him. 23 Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village. Then, spitting on the man’s eyes, he laid his hands on him and asked, “Can you see anything now?”
24 The man looked around. “Yes,” he said, “I see people, but I can’t see them very clearly. They look like trees walking around.”
25 Then Jesus placed his hands on the man’s eyes again, and his eyes were opened. His sight was completely restored, and he could see everything clearly. 26 Jesus sent him away, saying, “Don’t go back into the village on your way home.”
27 Jesus and his disciples left Galilee and went up to the villages near Caesarea Philippi. As they were walking along, he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 “Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say you are one of the other prophets.”
29 Then he asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Peter replied, “You are the Messiah.”
30 But Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
31 Then Jesus began to tell them that the Son of Man must suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, but three days later he would rise from the dead. 32 As he talked about this openly with his disciples, Peter took him aside and began to reprimand him for saying such things.
33 Jesus turned around and looked at his disciples, then reprimanded Peter. “Get away from me, Satan!” he said. “You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God’s.”
34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”
Source: New Living Translation: BibleGateway.com
We Respond
Reflection: This chapter begins with Jesus again feeding a crowd after He had preached to them. This time it was at least 4,000 people with seven loaves of bread and several small fish, but the disciples didn’t get the point. Jesus was disappointed that they were so dense. He had to straighten out their thinking. He reminded them of the two times the Father had blessed them with what they needed to feed the crowds with more than enough left over (12 and 7 baskets full, respectively). His point was, “The Father will provide more than enough if we will bring our needs to Him and actively trust Him;” however, we need to be aware of the thinking or viewpoint of Herod and the Pharisees. They thought only of the physical realm and securing power. They had even wanted Jesus to perform miracles on demand, which He refused to do. Jesus went on to progressively heal a blind man. After that, Jesus asked the disciples the most important question everyone must answer: “Who do you say that I am?” He went on to tell them how the rest of His life would play out. He laid out both the costs and the rewards for himself and them.
Prayer: Father God, You are the ultimate source of all I need. May I remember how You have supplied in the past, and I thank You in advance for doing it again. Help me to see and understand that Your purposes will always be fulfilled no matter how bad things may get. Even suffering and death can’t stop it. On purpose, You used Christ’s suffering and death to accomplish Your plan of redemption. Along with Peter, I declare that Jesus of Nazareth is Your promised Messiah. I realize that You are calling me to yield the control of my life totally to You, just as Jesus did, even though He knew that it would mean his suffering and death, but He also knew that You would raise Him from the dead and that He would, in Your perfect timing, return in Your glory with the holy angels to rule over all the kingdoms of the world. Father, I no longer want to live just for myself, for my own thoughts and plans. I don’t want to see things merely from a human point of view, but from Yours, Lord. Holy Spirit, help me to suffer rightly and well that I might experience the Father’s pleasure and glory. AMEN
Action: (Ask God, the Holy Spirit, if He wants you to work on the suggestions below or something else more personal that He points out.)
- I will turn at least one of my problems or needs over to the Lord and wait expectantly to see how He answers.
- I will declare to at least one person, who does not yet know Christ as Savior and/or Lord, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ (Messiah).
- I will research the lives of at least three people who have suffered rightly and well for Christ that I might emulate them.
- I will yield my life to God, considering both the costs and the rewards.
Share: I plan to share what I’ve learned with __________.