Lunch for a Bunch

Read Mark 8:1-13.

Have you ever suffered short-term memory loss? Have you ever had that feeling that "this happened before" but you can't quite remember when? Have you ever seen a miracle and then forgotten it as you demanded another?

I want to ask the disciples all of those questions because this event in Mark 8 has happened before, just two chapters earlier (though we're not sure of the exact timeline). Jesus fed 5,000 men the last time, and there are only 4,000 gathered on this day. And yet the disciples have forgotten about what happened before because they ask again, "Where can we get enough food for all these people?" Were I Jesus, I might have said, "Don't you remember what I did the last time? And there are fewer people here—this is easy!"

It seems to speak to the level of confidence they—and we—have in Jesus. Sure he healed once, but I bet he can't do it again. Sure he calmed the storm once—but I bet he can't do it again. Sure he worked in that person's life, but I bet he can't work in mine. Sure he raised my mother-in-law, Peter thinks...but that's another story. It's not like they are testing Jesus here. They seem to have genuinely forgotten the previous miracle and they're wondering how he's ever going to pull this off.

Or perhaps they are like the Pharisees at the end of the chapter: constantly looking for a sign. This is more likely how we behave. "God, if you just do this for me, I'll follow you." "Jesus, if you provide this one thing, I'll never doubt you again." "God, if you see me through this, I'll never miss church again!" Trouble is, we're lying when we say that because we're too much like the disciples and the Pharisees. We forget. Glory leaks. Show us one more, Jesus, Show us one more. Show me a sign.

And Jesus says, "No sign will be given." He will do what he does for his own pleasure, not for ours. He does not have to prove himself. He is who he is. We have only to trust him and to follow where he leads.

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