Has God ever had to teach you something twice? Maybe He brought you through a rough time and gave you victory. But then you had to go through a similar event a second time. A second treatment of cancer. A second relationship fail. A second job transfer. A second financial loss. It’s an opportunity for a second miracle. But Why?
You will discover that God is a Master Teacher. He has something to teach us in each path He leads us on. God often repeats a struggle so we can learn something new… something we did not learn the first time.
Jesus duplicated a very famous miracle. He fed 5,000 (Mark 6:35-44) and later fed 4,000 (Mark 8:1-9) miraculously. This duplicate miracle is as much for the disciples learning as it was for the crowd’s hunger. The disciples learned a lot from the first miracle. But there was more for them to learn. The differences between the first and second feedings invite us, along with the disciples, to a higher level of spiritual insight. Often Jesus does miracles so that we can learn more about Him and His ways.
So what can we learn from this second miracle?
What can we learn from the crowd? Miracles are for anybody.
According to Mark 7:31, Jesus was still in Gentile territory when this second miracle occurred. This crowd would either be Gentile or mixed with a sprinkling of Jews. By contrast the first miracle on the other side of the lake was exclusively Jewish. This may explain the dullness of the disciples. it may have been inconceivable to them that the Messiah would treat hungry Gentiles like hungry Jews. Miracles are for everybody.
We need to come to grips with our wanting to worship a god who promises good things to only people just like us. It is not simply a matter of being nice to our enemies on certain occasions. We cannot follow Jesus unless we let God’s grace shine on all the people that are woven into the fabric of our lives. Like the disciples, we are slow to learn.
What can we learn from the needs? Feed the spiritual and physical needs of people.
Why did Jesus perform each miracle? In the first miracle they had been with Jesus all day. But the Bible says Jesus is moved with compassion toward the crowd, not because they were hungry, but because they were leaderless (Mark 6:34). They needed to be taught, not just fed. And in other passages (John 6) He used this miracle to teach about Himself – the Bread of Life.
In the Feeding of the 4,000 they had been with Jesus three days. They were eagerly listening to Jesus’ preaching for a long time and had come a long distance to listen to Him. He feels deep their physical hunger after three days of teaching.
There was a spiritual need in the Jews (5,000) and a physical need in the Gentiles (4,000). Both needs moved the heart of Jesus with compassion. One of the tragedies in the history of American Christianity came when liberals and conservatives divided up the Gospel into spiritual and physical needs. I think Jesus still grieves over all the needs of people. There is a time and a place for both responses with equal compassion.
What can we learn from the challenge? Ask How not Why.
In the first miracle, the disciples came to Jesus saying, ‘Send them away.’ Jesus answered, ‘You give them something to eat.’ Their response was, ‘Shall we go and buy food.’ It appears they have the money, but not the motive.
In the second miracle, Jesus initiates the action by pointing out the dilemma of the hungry people – ‘If I send them away… they will faint.’ This time the disciples don’t say, ‘Send them away.’ Instead they ask ‘How can we satisfy these people with food in the wilderness?’ Do you notice the difference? Earlier, they questioned, ‘Why should we feed them?’ when they had the resource. Now they ask, ‘How can we feed them?’ when they had nothing. ‘Why?’ is the question of a skeptic. ‘How?’ is the question of a person who wants to believe. ‘Why?’ focuses on our problem. ‘How?’ focuses on God’s power.
It is important for us to grow into the place where our response to the struggle for a miracle involve ‘How?’ questions instead of ‘Why?’ questions.
You can read some of my other articles about miracles: Looking for a Personal Miracle, How to Experience miracles in your life, The Day Jesus Couldn’t Do a Miracle, The Touch of Faith – One Woman’s Miracle, Taking Jesus Home – Miracles at Home