impossible task
“But he answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’ Mark 6:37a
Has anyone ever asked you to do something that seemed completely ridiculous? The very suggestion of their direction may bring laughter or even anger for proposing this idea.
I think the disciples must have felt the same way when Jesus responded with this comment when they asked them how they would feed the 5,000 people who stuck around to listen to him. The disciples suggested a logical answer to the problem, “Send the people away into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something to eat for themselves” (Mark 6:36).
This was not the answer Jesus wanted. He saw the need of the people. He felt pity on them. He wanted to solve the problem not through logic, but through state response. He asked them what they had in their hands.
Often Jesus wants us to use what we already have at hand to solve our problems. We must add faith to what is already in our hands. Then we will see the gospel of the kingdom appear to solve problems in a supernatural way. Jesus wanted to meet a need that would bring glory to God. Sending people away neither fulfilled the need nor brought glory to the Father.
Don’t settle for the gospel of salvation alone. Jesus came so that we could experience the gospel of the kingdom in its full meaning. Our job is to look beyond our logical reasoning and see how God wants to solve our problem in a supernatural way.
