Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Give Us This Day

Home
Evangelical
Wednesday of Septuagesima Sunday – Mark 6:30-44

Wednesday of Septuagesima Sunday – Mark 6:30-44

Last updated on: February 3, 2015 at 5:31 pm by Fr. Charles Erlandson

Wednesday of Septuagesima Sunday – Mark 6:30-44 2015-02-03T17:31:51-05:00 Fr. Charles Erlandson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mark 6:30-44

I find this passage in Mark’s Gospel to be an absolutely amazing and instructive passage – and not just because of the Feeding of the 5000. We will have plenty of opportunities to meditate on that famous miracle, but today I see something else of great importance in this passage: in fact, several things.

If you look closely, Mark 6:30-44 (and the passages leading up to it), provides a 7-step mini-handbook for the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ. Though these steps could be re-arranged and described in many ways, here is one good way of seeing our life as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Step 1: God’s call.

As always, the work of God and of His people begins with God Himself, and not with us. In Step 1 of discipleship, Jesus Christ calls us to Himself. The call of Jesus is not a one-time event but is repeated in the life of the disciples every day. Some days it comes with more power and specificity, as when God calls us to a particular task or to the next step in being a disciple. In Mark 3 (a few chapters before today’s passage), Jesus’ call of disciples to Himself is especially clear. But He calls them all throughout the Gospels.

Step 2: The disciple’s faithful response

When Jesus calls His disciples, they respond with faith. The faithful disciple hears the Word of God in his life and responds by receiving it into his heart and obeying it. This part is of the life of the disciple is obvious, and we hear about it often in the Gospels and throughout the Bible. Like the call of God, our faithful response is to be a daily event, even if sometimes a more dramatic call has been made, which requires a more dramatic faithfulness on our part. We see the disciples responding to Jesus’ call in Mark 3:13, but also again in 6:12-13.

Step 3: Jesus entrusts His ministry to His disciples

After Jesus has first called His disciples, and they have responded, He calls them further into His life by actually entrusting His ministry to them. This is His goal all along because once He is in heaven He will continue His ministry through His Spirit-filled disciples. Jesus entrusts His ministry to His disciples in many places in the Gospels, but most recently we’ve seen it in Mark 6:7ff, when Jesus sent out the disciples 2 x 2. We also see it in the feeding of the 5000 when Jesus asks the disciples to feed the hungry and distribute the bread that gives life.

Step 4: The disciples give up their lives for the Master in fulfilling His ministry

Here in Mark 6, we see the disciples’ faithful response in verses 12 and 13 when they obey Jesus’ call to preach, cast out demons, and heal the sick. The disciples who have followed Jesus wherever He went to hear His Word must now go out on their own and fulfill Jesus’ ministry. Only when a disciple has gotten to the point that he is helping to make disciples is he truly acting like the Master and fulfilling the Great Commission.

Mark’s portrayal of the life of the disciples in Chapter 6 is a living picture of the

sacrificial life of a disciple that St. Paul writes so passionately about. In Mark 6, we read that being a disciple of Jesus Christ often means giving up ourselves for the good of others. In this case, it means giving up two of our greatest desires and needs: food and sleep. In verses 30-32 we read about how Jesus commands His disciples to come to a deserted place because they must have been exhausted with their labors on behalf of others. So busy had they been in doing the Master’s will, and so many were the people that were coming to them, that the disciples did not even have time to eat! This is something we often miss in the passages leading up to the feeding of the 5000.

Step 5: The disciples share their acts of discipleship with the Master and each other

After the disciples had gone out to fulfill Jesus’ commission and ministry, they didn’t just slink back to camp and silently dart their eyes at each other, waiting for something else to happen. When they got back from acting as ministers of Jesus Christ, they gathered to Jesus and told him what they had done. In other words, those who were sent out reported back to the Church leaders what they had done. This is what we see as well in the book of Acts. In fact, Mark 6 is sort of a mini book of Acts.

The disciples shared their ministries with one another. I’m sure when they got back they were excited to take turns telling what they had experienced, rejoicing and celebrating at those who had likewise heard and responded to the Good News of Jesus Christ, and sharing with each other the difficulties and sorrows of ministry. Through this shared ministry, I’m sure they received more words of wisdom from Christ and from each other. The next time they went out, I’ll bet they were even more well equipped for the work of ministry than the first time.

Step 6: People follow the disciples to the Master

There is a curious mistranslation in the King James in verse 33. It’s a very subtle change, hardly perceptible at all. It doesn’t radically change our theology, and yet I’m sorry to have missed it all these years. The New King James says: “But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him.” But where the King James (and NKJV) says Him, the Greek says them, meaning the disciples. (One reason I’ve missed it all these years is that the other Gospels portray it as if the people are coming because they are following Jesus Himself.)

I find this significant because the crowd seems to be coming, in fact running, because they recognize the disciples and are following them. Maybe my Greek is too rusty, and maybe I’m reading too much into this passage. But it seems as if the multitudes are coming because they have seen and heard what the disciples of Jesus Christ have done. The 5000 gather because they recognize the 12 apostles who have been sent out to do the work of Jesus Christ and who have now come back to Jesus. It even seems as if they are acting like fishers of men, acting like bait to bring the fish back to Jesus. And the fish that come to Jesus, as in the feeding of the 5000, are miraculously turned into many more.

Even if I were wrong in this passage, isn’t this the way things work today, and ever since the Book of Acts? People are supposed to flock to the disciples of Jesus Christ, who then lead these people to Jesus. In other words, people see and meet Jesus through us, His disciples.

Step 7: The disciples rest so they may minister again

Finally, after the disciples have given themselves for the love of God and neighbor, giving up even sleep and food, they have earned a Sabbath rest. After the 6 steps of labor, the disciples find rest. Jesus knows how hungry and tired they are because He has been through the same thing Himself first. While He offers them a quiet, secluded place to rest their tired bodies, He also offers two kinds of spiritual refreshment to them as well.

First, they find rest in the presence of the Master and in the presence of each other. After laboring diligently in the fields and being in the world, among those who are not yet disciples, it is good for them to find rest in each other’s presence. Like the disciples in the Book of Acts and like St. Paul in his labors, we are to find our rest in Jesus Christ but also in His saints. As we share our lives and ministries, this is exactly what God offers to us.

Jesus also shows us that we should seek rest in prayer. After He has preached for 3 days, and after He has sent the multitudes away filled with good things, Jesus goes up to a mountain to pray (verse 46.) Like the disciples, He needs a time of rest in God the Father and a time of spiritual strengthening. So He finds a quiet place and prays.

After God has refreshed us, we are strengthened to get up and minister again as disciples of Jesus Christ.

These, then, are 7 steps in the life of the disciples of Jesus Christ. They serve as a good reminder to us of the lives that the Master wishes for us to live.

Prayer: Master, thank You for calling me as Your disciple, for Your grace that has given me a desire to serve You in faith, and for entrusting to me Your heavenly ministry. Give me the strength and wisdom to know and to do Your holy will, giving my life for You and for others. Help me to remember to share Your ministry with others, gather together other disciples through me, and let me find my rest in You. Amen.

Resolution and Point for Meditation: I resolve to meditate on the 7 steps in the lives of a disciple of Jesus Christ. (There is so much here for further meditation, that nothing else is offered today.)

Book of Common Prayer

disciple’s faithful response

Feeding of the 5000

Fr. Charles Erlandson

Give Us This Day daily devotional

giving self up to God

God’s call

Previous Post

February 3, 2015

Tuesday of Septuagesima Sunday - Mark 6:14-29

Next Post

February 4, 2015 Thursday of Septuagesima Sunday - Mark 6:45-56

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Book Reviews Featured Give Us This Day Give Us This Day Devotional love me love my wife Love My Wife Reformed Catholicism Blog Spirit-Reality Take This Cup Uncategorized

Select a Month February 2022 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 September 2018 July 2018 March 2018 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the mother of Jesus?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Mary Elizabeth Martha Sarah