Mark 6:35-44 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came to him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:… Jesus here manifests Himself as the Sustainer of life. As such — 1. He works by making use of what appear to us to be ordinary means. No striking exhibition of supernatural power here. He takes the common food which God's providence had supplied, and in the distribution of that the whole multitude are fed. Possibly many present never recognized it to be a miracle at all. 2. He works by the ministry of men. Indeed, He was less visibly the agent in this miracle than were His disciples. The ignorant multitude might have imagined that it was they who were feeding them. But the disciples knew that it was Jesus only, and that they were but His instruments, carrying out the miracle only as far as they were acting in simple obedience to Him. 3. He works by order and method. 4. He recognizes that all must be done in union with the Father. He blesses that wherewith He would work, knowing that what the Father has blessed must fulfil its purpose. He gives thanks for it, knowing that to give thanks for a little is the way to make it become more. Application:(a) By such methods the Eternal Word, by Whom all things were made, sustains the natural life of the creatures of His hand. He works by the natural laws which He has Himself provided, and so withdraws Himself from common observation that the thoughtless multitude fail to recognize His presence, and regard not Him who is ever for their sakes multiplying by His hidden power our natural sustenance. He works also by the ministry of men, thereby teaching us our mutual dependence on one another. This we further learn from the divisions of the human family into nations and callings, which is part of His Divine order. All this sustaining work of the Eternal Word is done in union with the Eternal Father, from Whom and in Whom are all things. (b) By like methods the same Eternal Word sustains our spiritual life. By the simple means of grace, by the Communion of Saints, by the Divine Order of the Church; by all these, under the blessing of the Father, the life of His Spirit in men's souls is ever being nourished. (Vernon W. Hutton, B. A.) Parallel Verses KJV: And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: |
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