Jesus Wants My Little

"His disciples answered, 'But where in this remote place can anyone get enough bread to feed them?' 'How many loaves do you have?' Jesus asked. 'Seven,' they replied. He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When He had taken the seven loaves and given thanks, He broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before the people, and they did so. (...) The people ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over." (Mark 8:4-8)

Jesus’ question about the number of loaves the disciples have is an important one. He does not want to feed the four thousand without any loaves to start with, although He is powerful enough to do so. But He does not want to leave the disciples out of this deed. They need to bring what they have to Him, although this is a ridiculously small amount, almost nothing, and surely not sufficient for the crowd.

Jesus wants us. He wants us to bring the little we have to Him and give it to Him. The little we bring can be very much in His hands; it can bring great blessings, enough to feed four thousand. If I give the little I have to Him, I will neither be able to wrongly undervalue myself, nor be conceited.

[GEN, (c)2005]

He Knows That I Am He

"When Jesus met Saul of Tarsus, He asked him: 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?' Now the truth is that Saul had never persecuted Jesus. He had only persecuted the disciples. But Jesus knows no difference between Himself and His disciples. When He speaks of His disciples, He does not use the third person. He says 'Me.' He knows that I am He. And every Christian ought to know Himself to be identical with Christ, a part of His mystical body."

[RW, (c)1969]

A Big Failure

"A big failure, it's fantastic, it's very important. I don't want to convince you to go out and have big failure, because this is not our decision, but it's very important, a big failure. It is important to remind me of who I am. I am someone who needs a God. I need a God. And we can trust God in our failures. In my failures. He's not out from my story -- you know what I mean? He is there. He participates in my failure. He is the main character of my failure. As Jesus was on the mountain of Golgotha, the main character of my failure."

[AV, (c)2004]

God of Storms

"Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of Him to Bethsaida, while He dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, He went up on a mountainside to pray. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and He was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. About the fourth watch of the night He went out to them, walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw Him walking on the lake, they thought He was a ghost. They cried out, because they all saw Him and were terrified. Immediately He spoke to them and said, 'Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.' Then He climbed into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves; their hearts were hardened." (Mark 6:45-52)

The disciples have not gotten into the boat of their own accord; they were made to do so by Jesus! Maybe you have had such experiences yourself, when one has to do things, yet does not see God in that situation. Our thinking is similar to that of the disciples: when Jesus appears, we think He is a ghost, a mere vision. To a certain extent, my capacity to see God in difficult situations is a scale of my faith. Am I able to see His face in difficulty, when He appears to be ghostlike, distant, when His love and power seem absent or unintelligible?

The story makes it clear that even although the disciples feel forced into the boat to experience a storm, and although their Master is about to just walk by them in their difficulty, Jesus knows all along what is going on with the disciples. He is directing everything around them, for He has power over waves and wind. Jesus is with His disciples not only on the calm shore, but also in the storm. In not only the calming of the storm, but in the causing of the storm. Can we recognize His hand in the storms of our lives? Do we trust Him that He is in the storms of our lives as well as in what seem like the calms?

[GEN, (c)2004]