King James Bible Study – [Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.]
Date: Sunday, October 17, 2021
Chapters: Mark 6, Luke 9
Message: Give Them To Eat
Hello My Friend,
I have been having a hard time getting the devotionals posted in a timely manner, and for that I apologize. My job has me working Sunday’s, these weird hours, even overtime, and is interfering with my ministry and I do not like it one bit. I am praying that I can get different hours with Sunday’s off, but until that happens I have told myself that is time to stop letting these things get between me and the job that God has called me to do, which is far more important. I can get another job, but I cannot let neglect the people who God entrusts me with to teach them about Him. And as I was reading the chapters for today, this passage stood out.
[Mark 6:34-37 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. 35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: 36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. 37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?]
Many times, even faithful Christians, tend to lose sight of the fact that we are supposed be ministering to the people that God entrusts us with. I am guilty of this, especially when I am focused on what I need to be getting done. If there is one thing oddly, that my job is teaching me, it is that I need to be more empathetic toward every customer, even when they are difficult. Do you think that every person who followed Jesus actually believed in Him? No, they did not, and yet, He still had compassion on them and fed them. It does not matter how vile a person is, we must preach the Gospel to all of them because when you stop to think about it, we are all pretty vile sometimes. Now, as we continue in the reading of the Gospels, Mark gives his testimony of what happened when John the Baptist was beheaded, a debate actually started as to who Jesus really is.
[Mark 6:14-16,20,22,25-26 And king Herod heard of him; (for his name was spread abroad:) and he said, That John the Baptist was risen from the dead, and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. 15 Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is a prophet, or as one of the prophets. 16 But when Herod heard thereof, he said, It is John, whom I beheaded: he is risen from the dead. 20 For Herod feared John, knowing that he was a just man and an holy, and observed him; and when he heard him, he did many things, and heard him gladly. 22 And when the daughter of the said Herodias came in, and danced, and pleased Herod and them that sat with him, the king said unto the damsel, Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee. 25 And she came in straightway with haste unto the king, and asked, saying, I will that thou give me by and by in a charger the head of John the Baptist. 26 And the king was exceeding sorry; yet for his oath’s sake, and for their sakes which sat with him, he would not reject her.]
[he did many things, and heard him gladly.] The weird thing about Herod I that he not only feared John because he knew he was a man of God, he also respected him and listened to what he had to say. Of course, he did get angry and arrested him for telling him that he could not lust over his brother’s wife, but that is exactly how defensive people get when they are confronted about their sin. No one wants to hear that they are sinners, even though they know it is true, but that is what we must do if we want to be saved, [Romans 3:22-24 Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: 23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; 24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:]
Luke also gives his testimony of when Jesus fed the five thousand after they had returned from burying John, he makes it a point to include that Jesus told them to give the people something to eat, [Luke 9:10-13 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. 12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. 13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.]
[and spake unto them of the kingdom of God,] Our first and farmost duty is to make sure they know how they can get saved. Again, we can see that all the disciples were questioning how Jesus expected them to feed all these people, who were actually more than five thousand as only the men are mentioned here. However, Jesus gave them one command, and He did the rest, [Luke 9:14-17 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.]
[he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake,] Let me tell you, this is more than just about God taking care of our flesh, He knows what we have need of. This is about our giving our entire lives over to God, looking up to Him, blessing them, and allowing Him to give each and every piece to whomever needs us. And guess what happens when we do that? We receive so much more. Do you see how many baskets of bread that they ended up with? As much as we want to just get by in life, and not have to deal with all the hardships that come with being a servant of God, we must understand that this is not the end for us. We have much better things awaiting us with no more pain and sorrow, we just have to endure it for now, [Revelation 7:16-17 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.]
After they ate, Jesus sent the people away, and the disciples too, while He went up to a mountain to pray. Mark also gives the testimony of Jesus walking on the water, but watch how he tells it.
[Mark 6:45-51 And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people. 46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. 47 And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. 48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. 49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: 50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. 51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.]
[and would have passed by them.] You know, Jesus is always right there walking toward us, the reason we suffer more than we need to is because we let Him pass by. No matter how strong our faith, trials, afflictions, emotions, pride, impatience, all of these things can keep us from seeing that Jesus is walking, not toward us, but with us. We have nothing to fear as long as we keep looking to Jesus, [Hebrews 12:1-2 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.]
People followed Jesus everywhere, He healed some, comforted some, gave rest to some, His compassion for all mankind cannot be compared to anything we will ever receive from anyone else. Do not think one moment that He does not know who truly believes in and receives Him, but that does not mean that He does not ask us what our faith in Him is. As Jesus was alone praying, the disciples were near by, He stops as asks them who the people are saying that He is.
[Luke 9:18-22 And it came to pass, as he was alone praying, his disciples were with him: and he asked them, saying, Whom say the people that I am? 19 They answering said, John the Baptist; but some say, Elias; and others say, that one of the old prophets is risen again. 20 He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Peter answering said, The Christ of God. 21 And he straitly charged them, and commanded them to tell no man that thing; 22 Saying, The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be slain, and be raised the third day.]
[But whom say ye that I am?] Exactly who do you think Jesus is? If you think Him to be some prophet that was raised from the dead or some man who was martyred for His faith, then you better rethink your faith. If we are going to believe that Jesus gave His life to save us, we must also believe that He is the Christ, who is the Messiah, and the Son of God, [Philippians 1:20-21 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.]
[and commanded them to tell no man that thing;] The reason why He commanded them not to tell anyone that they realized that He is the Messiah is because the Jews really did have to put Him on the cross in order for the prophecy to be fulfilled. As Christians, since Jesus suffered the cross, we too have our own crosses that we must suffer, but if we follow Him we will live to tell about it. Jesus explains it this way, [Luke 9:23-27 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 24 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. 25 For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? 26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father’s, and of the holy angels. 27 But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.]
[till they see the kingdom of God.] Jesus is referring to what will take place after His resurrection, when He ascends up into heaven and the Holy Spirit comes down and upon every believer and judgment will be handed to every unbeliever. You want a harsh lesson in your right to choose not to believe in Christ? Well, it will be when you stand before Him the second your dead body dies and He will tell you to depart because He never knew you and are immediately cast into hell, [Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:]
God did not create hell for man, it was intended for Satan and the angels he convinced to go against Him, but sin always leads to eternal death unless we receive Christ as our Saviour. We who are saved are responsible for making sure that the Gospel is given out to everyone, regardless of who they are. If they reject Him, than that is on them, but if they receive Him, then we just have one more soul to rejoice with when we see them in the kingdom. There is not one of us better than the other, we will all be the same when we get up to heaven, [Luke 9:48-50 And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. 49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. 50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.]
[for he that is not against us is for us.] Jesus is referring to those who are clear on salvation, but perhaps have mad up their own region. This could be someone who gets their understanding from a version of the Bible rather than the King James and are following that. As long as they are preaching that salvation is given by grace alone through our faith in Christ alone, then they are accepted by Jesus and we should not keep them from preaching the Gospel. We must keep reminding ourselves that we are ministers to a huge amount of sheep who have no shepherd, they need to see Christ in us so that we can lead them to Him. We are going to face a lot of trials and tribulation because the servant is not above their master, if they crucified Christ, they will persecute us as well. However, we are more than conquers, we are victors in Christ.
[2 Timothy 4:1-5,18 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. 5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. 18 And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.]
Today’s Prayer: God, Thank You for giving us Your Word to show us the truth about Your Son, and for giving us the right to choose whether or not we believe in Him. If we left it up to man to teach us then we would all be in hell because the world wants to believe their righteousness will save them, or even worse that once they die there is no life after this. Yet life is so precious to You that You sent Your only begotten Son to die for us so that we do not have to end up in hell because we were so ignorant to the truth. Now, we who accept Your Son as our Saviour are subject to much rejection because of our faith, and yet we do not have to fear because our hope is in You. Lord, Lead us and guide us, give us Your Holy Spirit power to walk by faith, and not be afraid to preach the Gospel to those You lay upon our heart. As we take our staff with us, give us Your mercy, grace, and protection, as You send us to reach the lost. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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