People Flocked to Jesus and were Taught by Him (Contd):
Multiplication of Loaves: "On one of his teaching journeys round the villages he summoned the Twelve and sent them out in pairs on a mission" (Mark, 6: 7). On their return from the mission, the Apostles narrated to Jesus their accomplishments. Jesus saw that they had no leisure even to eat as many were coming and going. He invited the Apostles to a lonely place for a respite from their busy schedule and rest a little. Although they set off with Jesus privately by boat for a lonely place, seeing them leave, the people from all the towns took the land route and arrived there first. "When he came ashore, he saw a great crowd and his heart went out to them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he had much to teach them" (Mark, 6: 34).
Imagine the situation where Jesus and his Apostles had gone to take a little rest and now they had to deal with the very practical problem of catering to the people. The day was wearing on and there was no sign from the part of Jesus of sending away the people. The Apostles were alarmed at the prospect of keeping continuous company with that huge crowd. So they thought out a strategy and approached Jesus with a practical problem. According to their thinking, it was impossible to keep the crowd of people in that lonely place since nothing was available there for them to eat. For that reason, the Apostles suggested to Jesus, the people should be sent off to the farms and villages round about so that they could buy themselves something to eat. The thinking of Jesus was quite different as he knew that he was their only true shepherd. Without batting an eyelid Jesus asked the Apostles to give them something to eat themselves. The Apostles were flabbergasted at this suggestion and made a quick calculation of the expenses involved in feeding such a huge crowd to be around 200 denarii (About Rs. 15,000/-). Jesus asked them to go and see how many loaves they had. they reported that there were only five loaves and two fishes. He ordered the Apostles to make the crowd sit down and without hesitation they made them sit in rows of hundreds and fifties. Then Jesus took the five loaves and two fishes and looked up to heaven, said the blessing, broke the loaves and fishes and gave to the Apostles to distribute. Although there were five thousand men, not counting women and children, all ate to their heart's content and twelve basketful of scraps were picked up (See Mark, 6: 30-44). The incident throws light on the eagerness of the people in flocking to Jesus, although there may have been a few who were after the material benefits rather than the spiritual ones.
Spiritual Food: Although some people may have been after the perishable bread rather than the imperishable one, Jesus repeated the feat of multiplying the loaves on another occasion. He was sorry for those people who were with him for 3 days and they had nothing to eat. This time Jesus fed 4,000 people with 7 loaves of bread and a few little fishes (See Mark, 8: 1-10). On both the occasions Jesus dismissed the crowd only after giving them food to eat lest they falter on the way and fall down. Ultimately, it was himself he would give as our spiritual food lest we fall off the right path from our journey to eternity. The Gospel according to John, chapter 6 details out the qualities of the bread of life that is his own body connecting it both to the perishable bread and the Word of God. Jesus gave himself up for the people as he was convinced that there was no one to take care of them, an insight gained from his journeys around the towns and villages teaching in their Synagogues, announcing the Good News of the Kingdom and curing every kind of ailment and disease. "The sight of the people moved him to pity: they were like sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless" (Matthew, 9: 36).
Jesus Taught with Authority: As prophets were not honored in their own country, Jesus left after teaching in the Synagogue of Nazareth. He was actually chased out from there since people were told unpalatable truths (See Luke, 4: 23-30). So he went to another town of Galilee, Capernaum, and taught in the Synagogue on Sabbath days. The people were astounded at this teaching as he had taught with authority (See Luke, 4: 31-32). Mark contrasts Jesus' teaching with that of the Doctors of the Law, authority being the distinguishing mark of the former's teaching (See Mark, 1: 22). Jesus had an aura of authority not only in his teaching but also in his actions. He rebuked the evil spirits (See Luke, 4: 35), and wind and sea (See Mark, 4: 39) and fever (See Luke, 4: 39) and made them behave as per his commands. Even at the age of twelve in the temple of Jerusalem the teachers of the Law listened to him and were amazed at his intelligence and the answers he gave, and yet he went with his parents to be under their authority (See Luke, 2: 46-52).(To be Contd).
Multiplication of Loaves: "On one of his teaching journeys round the villages he summoned the Twelve and sent them out in pairs on a mission" (Mark, 6: 7). On their return from the mission, the Apostles narrated to Jesus their accomplishments. Jesus saw that they had no leisure even to eat as many were coming and going. He invited the Apostles to a lonely place for a respite from their busy schedule and rest a little. Although they set off with Jesus privately by boat for a lonely place, seeing them leave, the people from all the towns took the land route and arrived there first. "When he came ashore, he saw a great crowd and his heart went out to them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he had much to teach them" (Mark, 6: 34).
Imagine the situation where Jesus and his Apostles had gone to take a little rest and now they had to deal with the very practical problem of catering to the people. The day was wearing on and there was no sign from the part of Jesus of sending away the people. The Apostles were alarmed at the prospect of keeping continuous company with that huge crowd. So they thought out a strategy and approached Jesus with a practical problem. According to their thinking, it was impossible to keep the crowd of people in that lonely place since nothing was available there for them to eat. For that reason, the Apostles suggested to Jesus, the people should be sent off to the farms and villages round about so that they could buy themselves something to eat. The thinking of Jesus was quite different as he knew that he was their only true shepherd. Without batting an eyelid Jesus asked the Apostles to give them something to eat themselves. The Apostles were flabbergasted at this suggestion and made a quick calculation of the expenses involved in feeding such a huge crowd to be around 200 denarii (About Rs. 15,000/-). Jesus asked them to go and see how many loaves they had. they reported that there were only five loaves and two fishes. He ordered the Apostles to make the crowd sit down and without hesitation they made them sit in rows of hundreds and fifties. Then Jesus took the five loaves and two fishes and looked up to heaven, said the blessing, broke the loaves and fishes and gave to the Apostles to distribute. Although there were five thousand men, not counting women and children, all ate to their heart's content and twelve basketful of scraps were picked up (See Mark, 6: 30-44). The incident throws light on the eagerness of the people in flocking to Jesus, although there may have been a few who were after the material benefits rather than the spiritual ones.
Spiritual Food: Although some people may have been after the perishable bread rather than the imperishable one, Jesus repeated the feat of multiplying the loaves on another occasion. He was sorry for those people who were with him for 3 days and they had nothing to eat. This time Jesus fed 4,000 people with 7 loaves of bread and a few little fishes (See Mark, 8: 1-10). On both the occasions Jesus dismissed the crowd only after giving them food to eat lest they falter on the way and fall down. Ultimately, it was himself he would give as our spiritual food lest we fall off the right path from our journey to eternity. The Gospel according to John, chapter 6 details out the qualities of the bread of life that is his own body connecting it both to the perishable bread and the Word of God. Jesus gave himself up for the people as he was convinced that there was no one to take care of them, an insight gained from his journeys around the towns and villages teaching in their Synagogues, announcing the Good News of the Kingdom and curing every kind of ailment and disease. "The sight of the people moved him to pity: they were like sheep without a shepherd, harassed and helpless" (Matthew, 9: 36).
Jesus Taught with Authority: As prophets were not honored in their own country, Jesus left after teaching in the Synagogue of Nazareth. He was actually chased out from there since people were told unpalatable truths (See Luke, 4: 23-30). So he went to another town of Galilee, Capernaum, and taught in the Synagogue on Sabbath days. The people were astounded at this teaching as he had taught with authority (See Luke, 4: 31-32). Mark contrasts Jesus' teaching with that of the Doctors of the Law, authority being the distinguishing mark of the former's teaching (See Mark, 1: 22). Jesus had an aura of authority not only in his teaching but also in his actions. He rebuked the evil spirits (See Luke, 4: 35), and wind and sea (See Mark, 4: 39) and fever (See Luke, 4: 39) and made them behave as per his commands. Even at the age of twelve in the temple of Jerusalem the teachers of the Law listened to him and were amazed at his intelligence and the answers he gave, and yet he went with his parents to be under their authority (See Luke, 2: 46-52).(To be Contd).
No comments:
Post a Comment