Today's "Moment with Mark" (54) - Anyone for Seconds?
14 January, 2013
"How many loaves of bread do you have?" he asked. "Seven," they replied. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces, and gave them to his disciples, who distributed the bread to the crowd. They ate until they were full, and when the scraps were picked up, there were seven large baskets of food left over! (Mark 8:6-8 NLT)
What is it with Mark about the number "seven"? It seems that there is some unstated significance about the fact that this miracle began with 7 loaves which, in the hands of the Master and the disciples, fed 4,000 people and there were seven large baskets of food remaining. Anyone for seconds?!
Perhaps Mark was alerting us to the fact that, when it comes to heaven's resources, they are never depleted. We may not know how God does it but He is extravagant in His provision. The truth is that they finished this meeting with significantly more than they had at the start.
One other aspect that we ought not to miss is this; not only did the 7 loaves pass through the Master's hands, they also passed through the hands of the disciples. They had a pivotal role in the outcome of this miracle. Jesus did the miracle but the benefits were to be distributed through the disciples.That's how it works today. Jesus does the miracle but we are the ones on whom He depends to take what He has done and give it to the crowd. In and of ourselves, we have nothing to give to spiritually hungry people. Our resources amount to about 7 loaves to feed a crowd of 4,000. His resources find us with 7 baskets filled with left-overs!