THINK TOGETHER.
Have you ever seen God do something amazing? Have you ever seen him do it twice?
READ TOGETHER.
Mark 8:1-9. 1In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, 2“I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat. 3And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” 4And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?” 5And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” 6And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd. 7And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. 8And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 9And there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away.
Just a couple days ago we read about how Jesus fed thousands of people with a little boy’s lunch. This story in Mark’s gospel is not just a repeat of that same story. But it is a repeat of that same miracle.
Why would Jesus do this same miracle again?
First let’s think about the disciples. What do they say to Jesus in verse four? Have you ever wondered how God would do something? But the disciples had recently seen Jesus do this same miracle. So they should already know that he can do it again, right? Did they forget? Is Jesus reminding them of how much he loves people and how powerful he is?
Second let’s think about the crowd. Now it doesn’t come right out and say this, but we know that the first time Jesus fed thousands of people with just a little bit of food he was in a region with lots of Jews. But this time he is in a region with lots of Gentiles (non-Jews). The Jews were God’s chosen people, but what about the Gentiles? Does God care about them too? Are they his people too? The correct answer is YES! Is that what you said? I hope so, because likely, you are a Gentile too.
God loves everyone the same. He loves Jews and Gentiles. He loves boys and girls. He loves old and young. He loves rich and poor. He loves red and yellow, black, brown, and white. They are all precious in his sight. And because God loves us, he gives us all that we need, especially himself.
Like the people who ate bread and fish that day and were satisfied (full), we too can always be satisfied when we know that Jesus loves us no matter what.
Because of Jesus we know we are loved by God.
With Jesus we can always feel satisfied by his love.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Sing Jesus Loves the Little Children together. Talk about how God loves everyone the same.
PRAY TOGETHER
Jesus, you love everyone the same, and always offer everyone what they need, including me. Amen.
TLICfamily 