A Day in the Life

April 13, 2009
I stayed up until 2AM last night, finishing a paper for my American Lit class. I had to write three pages on what I considered the most important virtue, and I changed my topic at least three times. I looked up a passage in the Bible, the one where Jesus feeds an enormous crowd of people from a meal for two, then gathers it up in baskets and has plenty left. I've heard it in Sunday School and my classes numerous times, but in the context of my topic, the verse was completely different to me, and felt like I'd never seen it before. After this miracle (I read it in Mark), Jesus was talking to his disciples, getting them to remember the two miracles, and says "Don't you understand?"

I realized at that moment, that Jesus was not simply performing a miracle for the sake of the hungry people, but for the disciples as well. God is great like that. The disciples had seen Jesus perform many miracles before – healing the sick/crippled, raising the dead, walking on water – so by this point they probably took it for granted that yes, Jesus was awesome, and yes, he could do powerful things. I guess if you've seen someone being brought back to life, then doing multiplication with food would rank below that on the "awesomeness scale". And then just when things become mundane again, God throws a curveball your way and says "See what I did there?" Jesus didn't have to gather up the leftover food; everyone was sated and content. However, I think he was showing the disciples the importance of not wasting, not only food, but resources in general.

Again, God is a pretty cool guy. If you ask, he can give you just what you need, when you need it, and that can equate to giving to you in abundance and then telling you not to waste it. It's a pretty good lesson to give. I'd like to think that the disciples kept this in mind when they were casting nets with no success, and Jesus made it rain fish on their boat and nearly overturn it. …Okay, suppose I exaggerated a bit. I don't think it actually rained fish. That would be gross and wet, and not everyone enjoys the smell of 'essence of fish'. However, Jesus made all the fish go into the nets, and that still gets points on the awesomeness scale. I'd also like to think the disciples had a huge fish fry on the beach that night, invited the whole town, and sent everyone home with extras. :)