Walk away

Test... Withdraw from certain situations...

1 After this, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee [of Tiberias].[b] 2 A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish feast of Passover was near. 5 [c]When Jesus raised his eyes and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” 6 [d]He said this to test him, because he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred days’ wages[e] worth of food would not be enough for each of them to have a little [bit].” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves[f] and two fish; but what good are these for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass[g] in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted. 12 When they had had their fill, he said to his disciples, “Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” 13 So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets[h] with fragments from the five barley loaves that had been more than they could eat. 14 When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet,[i] the one who is to come into the world.” 15 Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.-John6:1-15

It is indeed true that God sometimes would deliberately put us to the test. But it is not for us to suffer, not for us to fail, not for us to be pained. Rather, to test our virtues. And should we fail or give a wrong answer, God will work out something for our betterment. Remember, a gold will never be a work of beauty and art without exposing it to high degrees of fire. In the gospel, Jesus is so close to becoming a king but He faced the situation by withdrawing and being by Himself alone in the mountain. How will it be for us? What are we going to do if instant fame, money and power are thrust to us in the next hour? Can we walk away from it? Yes, we can! Jesus, the first of Mankind, did it. But again, fame, money and power are not evil in itself. How we deal with it will define its effect in our lives. "But seek first the kingdom [of God] and his righteousness,[a] and all these things will be given you besides.-Matthew6:33"

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God the True Giver

God is the greatest Provider there is.

1 In those days when there again was a great crowd without anything to eat, he summoned the disciples and said, 2 “My heart is moved with pity for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will collapse on the way, and some of them have come a great distance.” 4 His disciples answered him, “Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?” 5 Still he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” “Seven,” they replied. 6 [b]He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then, taking the seven loaves he gave thanks, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to distribute, and they distributed them to the crowd. 7 They also had a few fish. He said the blessing over them and ordered them distributed also. 8 They ate and were satisfied. They picked up the fragments left over—seven baskets. 9 There were about four thousand people.He dismissed them 10 and got into the boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.-Mark8:1-10

This is the second miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish. It is sad to note that the disciples' answer to Jesus, 'Where can anyone get enough bread to satisfy them here in this deserted place?' is still very humanistic. I cannot blame the disciples because, indeed, where will one go to buy food for a multitude in the middle of nowhere? But if this is the second multiplication of the loaves and fish already, then, they should have known what Jesus would most likely do.

We, too, are like the disciples. Sometimes, we believe in ourselves so much. We believe that we have all the right answers. We believe we know better how to ran our lives. We think we are the better captain and commander of our 'ship.' But the truth is, we do not know what is good for ourselves without God. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Although their eyes were opened, they were still far from being a god, far from truly knowing, far from wisdom, and far from truly knowing good and evil. Yes, we inherited the stain of sin, but we never inherited the benefits of what the fruit truly stands for. God continues to pour upon us His favors and graces. These gifts are overflowing. All we have to do is open ourselves to His invitation.

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God solves all problems!

Everything is possible with God. 

34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.

35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”

37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.”

They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages[a]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?”

38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.-Mark6:34-44

How indeed could Jesus' disciples face the challenge to feed five thousand men - not counting the women and children? It is but normal for anybody to cringe before a bigger-than-life challenge. But notice that Jesus did not leave His disciples alone in feeding a multitude. It was still Jesus Himself who solved the challenge. Sometimes, we find ourselves before a bigger-than-life challenge. We cower, we cringe, and sometimes we collapse before a problem as evident in so many suicide cases around the world. But today's Gospel is an encouragement for us to be not afraid, for Jesus knew our problems before it even became a reality. Jesus has a solution ready for all our problems, difficulties and challenges long before it came to be, all we need to do is to be open to Him.

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Rejoicing in the Mountain

They came down happy and satisfied.

29 And Jesus went on from there and passed along the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain, and sat down there.

30 And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the maimed, the blind, the dumb, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them,

31 so that the throng wondered, when they saw the dumb speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.

32 Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, "I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days, and have nothing to eat; and I am unwilling to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way."

33 And the disciples said to him, "Where are we to get bread enough in the desert to feed so great a crowd?"

34 And Jesus said to them, "How many loaves have you?" They said, "Seven, and a few small fish."

35 And commanding the crowd to sit down on the ground,

36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds.

37 And they all ate and were satisfied; and they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over.-Matthew15:29-37

When the people came up the mountain, each person is in need of something. The blind would like to see. The lame would like to walk. The maimed would like to be made whole again. The dumb would like to speak. There are others who would like to be free of their infirmities, sickness both inside and out. Not only did Jesus cured them, He gave them food to satisfy their hunger. Perhaps not only did Jesus satisfy their physical hunger but also their spiritual hunger.

Last year, I felt the feelings of the people when they went up the mountain in search for Jesus. I was broken myself and need healing and salvation. Now, I felt the happiness and joy of the people as they come down the mountain for I, myself, have been given a miracle too.

Like the people, we sometimes feel like climbing a mountain as we search for healing or answers to our questions. And once we reached the peak and been given what we asked for, we come down rejoicing. Jesus is inviting us to never stop praying and hoping for miracles in our lives. And once blessed, we should never forget to thank Him for His generosity.

Image courtesy: Walkingasturias, and artist