The scripture passage for this journal entry is Mark 6:30-46 - the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. Go ahead and click on the orange-hilighted link and read the passage. Doing so will help you understand my ramblings that are about to follow. Go ahead. I'll wait....
...
...
...
...
...
Oh great! You're back! That's a great story, huh? There's a lot of imagery in Mark's depiction of this miracle that Jesus performs.... and I'll talk about those images, but first, I want to point out a few things...
1. Jesus and the apostles were tired, hungry, and worn from their ministerial endeavors across the land. Jesus recognized the need to rest and he encouraged his apostles to sit a spell for some rejuvenation.
2. On the way to their resting place, a few people saw that they were headed in the direction of the mountain - to which Jesus often retreated to pray. Word spread like wildfire that they were going to be in that location and because they had heard about Jesus, people came in droves to hear him. They were hungry for God.
3. When Jesus approached the crowd, his heart broke. He saw many people, seemingly wandering in aimless directions and the picture before him reminded him of a flock of lost sheep with no shepherd.
4. Even though Jesus and the apostles were tired, weary, hungry, and flat-out exhausted, they knew that God was calling them to continue. They didn't blink at the opportunity to spread the Gospel.... they just went back to work... without complaining.
Now... about those images. While reading this passage, several images crossed my mind.
1. The image of Jesus and the apostles... tired and on their way to rest.
2. The image of seeing all the people gathered on the grass waiting with baited breath to hear Jesus speak.
3. The image of the people rushing to get to the place that they had heard Jesus would be.
4. The image of the flock of sheep, wandering aimlessly in the field.
5. The obvious images of the five loaves of bread and the 2 fish.
6. In The Message translation, the image of a patchwork quilt of wildflowers spread out on green grass (vs. 39) is used to describe what Jesus saw when he saw the people gathered on the hill.
7. Jesus blessed the bread and broke it, lifted his face to heaven and then fed the people.
8. The disciples gathered 12 baskets full of leftovers after everyone had eaten.
9. There were 5,000 people present for this miracle.
10. Jesus sent the disciples out in the boat towards Bethsaida.
11. Jesus blessed the crowd and dismissed them.
12. Jesus climbed the mountain, alone, to pray.
That's a lot of imagery! How do I choose which one to focus on? Which one should I illustrate? Decisions, Decisions!
The image that drew my attention first was the "patchwork quilt," so I decided to illustrate the story using the idea of a patchwork quilt.
The center is a cross, representing Jesus. I drew 12 sheep, representing the 12 disciples and the 12 baskets of leftover food... but also reminding me of the imagery of the sheep without a shepherd. I drew 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish - reminding me that Jesus fed the 5,000 with little physical food but their hearts were full. The people sat in groups of 50-100 people, which made me think of circles of friends (depicted by the circles). The Shepherd's staff reminds me that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and he will tend his sheep - even when they are lost, he will go and find them and bring them back to the flock. The green represents the grass and the blue represents the water.
In this story, Jesus satisfied the people and fed them spiritually first... then he satisfied their human need for physical nourishment and fed them with food. Priorities in line. Jesus saw His flock wandering aimlessly... and he tended to them. Jesus and the disciples may have been tired... but they did not give into fleshly desires. They could've easily ignored the crowd and gone in another direction to continue on to rest... but they didn't... they did what God called them to do - to feed the flock - WHEN He called them to do it. They recognized a need and they filled it. What a wonderful world this would be if we all approached challenges this way, huh?
I'm going to leave you with this tonight. What character(s) in the story do you most identify with? The hungry crowd? The anticipating people? The weary disciples? The compassionate Shepherd? The lost sheep? The onlooking Father?
Today, I've felt like a lost sheep... but I know my Shepherd's voice and I am doing the best that I can to listen for it so I can find the path that He wants me on.
Goodnight friends,
~Sara
...
...
...
...
...
Oh great! You're back! That's a great story, huh? There's a lot of imagery in Mark's depiction of this miracle that Jesus performs.... and I'll talk about those images, but first, I want to point out a few things...
1. Jesus and the apostles were tired, hungry, and worn from their ministerial endeavors across the land. Jesus recognized the need to rest and he encouraged his apostles to sit a spell for some rejuvenation.
2. On the way to their resting place, a few people saw that they were headed in the direction of the mountain - to which Jesus often retreated to pray. Word spread like wildfire that they were going to be in that location and because they had heard about Jesus, people came in droves to hear him. They were hungry for God.
3. When Jesus approached the crowd, his heart broke. He saw many people, seemingly wandering in aimless directions and the picture before him reminded him of a flock of lost sheep with no shepherd.
4. Even though Jesus and the apostles were tired, weary, hungry, and flat-out exhausted, they knew that God was calling them to continue. They didn't blink at the opportunity to spread the Gospel.... they just went back to work... without complaining.
Now... about those images. While reading this passage, several images crossed my mind.
1. The image of Jesus and the apostles... tired and on their way to rest.
2. The image of seeing all the people gathered on the grass waiting with baited breath to hear Jesus speak.
3. The image of the people rushing to get to the place that they had heard Jesus would be.
4. The image of the flock of sheep, wandering aimlessly in the field.
5. The obvious images of the five loaves of bread and the 2 fish.
6. In The Message translation, the image of a patchwork quilt of wildflowers spread out on green grass (vs. 39) is used to describe what Jesus saw when he saw the people gathered on the hill.
7. Jesus blessed the bread and broke it, lifted his face to heaven and then fed the people.
8. The disciples gathered 12 baskets full of leftovers after everyone had eaten.
9. There were 5,000 people present for this miracle.
10. Jesus sent the disciples out in the boat towards Bethsaida.
11. Jesus blessed the crowd and dismissed them.
12. Jesus climbed the mountain, alone, to pray.
That's a lot of imagery! How do I choose which one to focus on? Which one should I illustrate? Decisions, Decisions!
The image that drew my attention first was the "patchwork quilt," so I decided to illustrate the story using the idea of a patchwork quilt.
The center is a cross, representing Jesus. I drew 12 sheep, representing the 12 disciples and the 12 baskets of leftover food... but also reminding me of the imagery of the sheep without a shepherd. I drew 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish - reminding me that Jesus fed the 5,000 with little physical food but their hearts were full. The people sat in groups of 50-100 people, which made me think of circles of friends (depicted by the circles). The Shepherd's staff reminds me that Jesus is the Good Shepherd and he will tend his sheep - even when they are lost, he will go and find them and bring them back to the flock. The green represents the grass and the blue represents the water.
In this story, Jesus satisfied the people and fed them spiritually first... then he satisfied their human need for physical nourishment and fed them with food. Priorities in line. Jesus saw His flock wandering aimlessly... and he tended to them. Jesus and the disciples may have been tired... but they did not give into fleshly desires. They could've easily ignored the crowd and gone in another direction to continue on to rest... but they didn't... they did what God called them to do - to feed the flock - WHEN He called them to do it. They recognized a need and they filled it. What a wonderful world this would be if we all approached challenges this way, huh?
I'm going to leave you with this tonight. What character(s) in the story do you most identify with? The hungry crowd? The anticipating people? The weary disciples? The compassionate Shepherd? The lost sheep? The onlooking Father?
Today, I've felt like a lost sheep... but I know my Shepherd's voice and I am doing the best that I can to listen for it so I can find the path that He wants me on.
Goodnight friends,
~Sara
No comments:
Post a Comment