The Everyday Prayer

And all ate and were filled… – Mark 6:42 (NRSV)

The disciples were exhausted. They had nothing left—not even time to eat. (Mark 6:31) Yet, at Jesus’ command, they found themselves serving another crowd. With no energy and barely any food—just five loaves and two fish—they had nothing to offer 5,000 hungry people.

But Jesus multiplied both. He took their weakness and their small offering, blessed it, and made it more than enough.

In the end, everyone was full—the disciples and the crowd alike.

This is Mark’s message: God takes our little—even our nothing—and multiplies it until all are satisfied.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:30-44 (day five).

We know that Mark’s Gospel was greatly influenced by Peter’s personal experiences with Jesus. It is interesting that only Mark uses “shepherd language” to describe Jesus’ compassion. Perhaps Peter upon reflection and being later challenged and encouraged by Jesus (post resurrection) saw what was happening at a different and deeper level. Mark uses the word picture of a shepherd and sheep in his account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand. When Jesus told Peter (three times) “Feed my sheep”, it permanently changed the way Peter saw people. And it also shaped the way he looked back and processed Jesus’ thoughts, words, and actions. Seems that a life lesson was learned. Lord, teach us (this life lesson) to see and love people the way You do. The whole person. Like a shepherd. 

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:30-44 (day four)

Jesus wasn’t just filling a physical need when he broke the bread and multiplied the meal that day. He was instilling what would become an important tradition in the family of God.

Consider the subsequent times Jesus engages with others over food. At the Last Supper, he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to those around the table as a sign of the sacrifice he would soon make on their behalf. That meal became a core memory for everyone present. After his resurrection, Jesus appears to the disciples on the beach and cooks them a holy breakfast, also involving a miracle of multiplication. That meal provided restoration of friendship and soothed the disciples’ souls. When Jesus multiplied the loaves and fish to feed the hungry crowd, he was showing the disciples what was possible in the new rules of the Kingdom of God.

In Acts 2, in the earliest days of the church after Jesus had ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, notice what the disciples do. They devote themselves to certain things: teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. The disciples had been watching. Jesus showed them that it was about more than food, it was about building a new, beloved community over that which satisfies the soul.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:30-44 (day three)

“He saw a large crowd, and he felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”

When did compassion well up in Jesus? When the people’s anxious experience of life washed over him. He felt in his body the emotions at work in their bodies. That’s empathy – remaining with people in how they’re experiencing their circumstances, witnessing how hard it is for them, feeling the weight they feel as they show you how it is for them. And empathy gives birth to compassion, always. Where there is no compassion, there’s no empathy, and there’s no seeing another person – not really. There’s only agenda and disdain and shaming. The Incarnation forever puts the lie to the claim that empathy is a fancy word for coddling. The Incarnation is itself the ultimate empathy. And so we now follow the Savior’s lead.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:30-44 (day two) 

And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.”  v. 31a

Your job will always ask more of you. Rarely, if ever, will you find in your vocational calling a time that says ‘you’ve done enough, you should relax.’ There is always a benchmark we are reaching, a deadline approaching, and the bottom line to consider. What often makes it worse is if there is a let up of pressure it is often accompanied by a sense of guilt that can come either internally or externally. There will always be more to do. Jesus sets the example for us to breathe. From the earliest pages of scripture, we are told to rest. Even in the midst of an avalanche of needs surrounding Jesus and the disciples, he reminded them of the need to stop. Not forever. We should take seriously the call to work, and to rest.

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:14-29 (day seven)

And King Herod heard of it… vs 14

King of the Jews. A self proclaimed title that had been passed down from his father (Herod the Great) before him. Although, he was fourth in line for the throne, he was elevated to the position after his father disposed of the ones before him (his own sons). This was not the king Israel was waiting for. He wasn’t even a real king. He was the governor under the jurisdiction of Rome. He was a puppet that could be removed at any moment. Not only was he not a real king, but he deliberately disobeyed the Law. He took his brother’s wife to be his own, and then was so “pleased” by his step-daughter’s sexual appeal that he granted her anything she wanted, even murder. Complete and utter debauchery.

This is what Israel had become. This is the Israel that Jesus entered in to. The King of the Jews came to fulfill the Law. The King of the Jews wasn’t a king of Israel. Rather, He was King of the Universe. This King had the authority to save us out of debauchery. This King came that all might have life and have it to the full. Jesus is King!

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:14-29 (day six)

This passage is a story of stark contrasts. In Herod’s world, power is built on corruption, immorality, and self-preservation. It is a world so twisted that murder becomes a possible birthday gift. A reckless promise leads to a reckless request, and the result is the tragic death of John the Baptist. In Herod’s kingdom, power is used to take life.

But Mark wants us to see a different kind of King. Jesus, the true King, ushers in a Kingdom where power is expressed through compassion, mercy, and sacrificial love. Instead of taking life, He gives His own.

Mark isn’t just telling history—he’s asking us a question: Which kingdom will we live for?

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:14-29 (day five). What a sad and ominous picture of a human heart and soul that has hardened and dried up. Herod heard and was actually intrigued by the truth that John the Baptist preached. He was both perplexed and stirred. Yet, Herod never surrendered his heart. He in fact, moved further and further away from the Lord, and his ordering of the execution of John the Baptist seemed to be the final straw. A few chapters later in Mark, Jesus will ask, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”  Here we see the answer. We have a visual example and reminder. It is dangerous to deny or even delay in responding and surrendering to the power and prompting of the Holy Spirit. (“Any place that does not receive you or listen to you, as you go out from there, shake the dust off the soles of your feet for a testimony against them.”)

Re:Verse passage – Mark 6:14-29 (day four)

There are intervals throughout the gospels where we check in on the Herodian dynasty, and it’s always a grim picture. This seat of earthly power displays paranoia and fear upon hearing the news of Jesus’ birth. This fear led to violence and destruction. As we check in on the dynasty here, we see that same fear and paranoia has only increased. Herod is spinning out of control, and his death grip on power will cause even more violence and destruction than intended in himself and in the community.

Desire for earthly power leads to insecurity, suspicion, and loneliness. That white-knuckle grip on power will hurt us and those around us in unexpected, out-of-control ways. Kingdom power, on the other hand, isn’t a power based on insecurity or exclusion. It’s not scarce or fearful of others. It’s based on the freedom and glory found in Christ. It invites others in, builds unlikely bridges, and leaves peace where there was once chaos. It loosens our white-knuckle grip and lets us live with joy, knowing that God is both powerful and trustworthy.

Rather than finding ways to cozy up to earthly power, how might you walk in Kingdom power instead?