Obedience

We are all very familiar with the story of the two fish and the five loaves of bread.  We all know that story and it is probably one of our go to stories when we need to speak of Jesus and His abilities to perform miracles.

You know the bigger the better! 

So go big with feeding over 5,000 men with two fish and five loaves of bread.  This story is, I would believe one of the most popular Bible stories, and well deserving of its place.

There are many lessons you can take from reading Mark 5: 39-42, many lessons, but the first one that stuck out to me tonight was Mark 5:39.

Then He commanded the people all to recline on the green grass by companies. 

Hmmm.   A little bit odd to me, a little bit left of center, and though I am sure Jesus had a reason, thought, they are not always clear to me.   I truly believe that sometimes Jesus calls people to do things, kind of in a Simon says way, and that’s how He tests them.

You know the game, Simon says sit down, so you sit down, but if you just say sit down, and you do it, you are out of the game.   I personally never liked this game.  Yes, control issues! 

I think that Jesus played a very watered down version of this game, and not for His personal satisfaction, though, I am sure He had a laugh or two from time to time.  I think Jesus called people to do things, they don’t necessarily understand, to see if they will do it.

After reading Mark 5:39 the very first thing I thought was of obedience.  I then wrote obedience in my Bible underneath this verse.  I personally struggle with obedience, while I am a lot better than I have been, I am still not moving as quickly as I hope too.

When Jesus had finished His conversation with the disciples about how they were going to feed the masses, He then sent them out to find food.  They returned with a little boy’s lunch of two fish and five loaves of bread.    The disciples then presented their findings to Jesus, I believe they presented their findings in a well, this is all we can do, so what are we going to do now, kind of way.

Jesus then approved of the findings and began blessing the fish and bread… but first, everyone must sit down, and not just sit down, they need to sit in companies.  They needed to be separated into groups of fifty to one hundred, as we see in Mark 5:40.

Again, I as I said earlier, there are so many lessons to be found in just a few verses, so please don’t overlook the fact that Jesus used the lunch of a young child, whom wasn’t fit enough to be counted in the five thousand.  Huge, lesson here to be seen is that God will call the uncounted people to work through, to bless and to prompt a mighty change that will bring glory and honor to His name.

Before Jesus begins to bless the fish and bread, He commanded the people to all recline on the green grass by companies.  Now, we can only imagine what the companies looked like.   Were they small families, were they single people, older people, people who were there early, or were they paired off into groups by their beliefs. 

We don’t know, well maybe you do, but nowhere in these verses do I see an answer for the companies.  

But what I do see is obedience.

We all know that without faith it is impossible to please God.  We all know that faith is an action word.  It’s not a throw away word.  Faith is an action, it’s usually not a feeling, well not a first, but it is something that you must do on purpose. 

So when the masses of over five thousand were told to sit down, what do you think they did, they sat down.

Have you ever been to a professional sporting event and have had someone over the intercom tell the crowd what to do? I have, many times, and many times, I have seen the words or request of the person fall on deaf ears. 

Many times people will do what they want to do and when they wanted to do it.  So, why here do we see that the people all sat down, or reclined as the text says.  Because as we also see, Jesus commanded it.   This wasn’t a request, this was a commandment.

Jesus was setting up a requirement for obedience so that He could then preform His miracle.  He needed everyone to take the step of faith, to make faith alive and in action, so that He could then respond.

I would believe that if the people would not have sat down, we would not have seen Jesus take the two fish and five loaves of bread and feed over five thousand men, to satisfaction (verse 42).

Jesus is doing the same things with us, on a daily basis.  Yes, maybe it is not on a grand scale as feeding over five thousand people, but maybe it’s something small He is asking you to do, like put your cart away, or open the door for the older person, or maybe as simple as saying hello to a stranger, but either way, He is commanding us to do it, so how should we respond, by doing it.

Jesus is testing us, just like He tested the more than five thousand.  He is testing us to see if we are able to listen to His command and then heed them.  Jesus will continue to ask you the same question over and over again, until you answer Him, by the way. 

He will continue to command you to shake people’s hands at church, and until you submit and preform the command He is giving you, you will not see the fruit of your obedience.

When the over five thousand reclined on the green grass, they were submitting to the command of Jesus, and by doing so, they are putting themselves in the position to receive the fruit of their obedience, which they did, in a very grand way.

Keep in mind, not all of our fruits will come in a grand gesture or in some huge proclamation of our obedience.  Usually, it comes in small whispers, in small nudges or small blessings that can be hard to see, or go completely unnoticed, and then you wonder, wait, I was obedient to your command, shouldn’t I have seen something in return?  Shouldn’t I have felt something change, break or open in my life. 

The answer is yes, but just as the five thousand were obedient and sat down when told to; they were also obedient in waiting for the deliverance of their blessing. 

Like I said in the beginning, so many lessons, truths and life changing moments in these verses, but for today, let’s all just recline on the green grass and wait on the Lord to show us the rest!