How excited Jesus’ disciples must have been! Jesus had sent them out two-by-two to preach, and to cast out demons, and to heal the sick (6:12-13). So on returning, they couldn’t wait to tell Jesus “all that they had done and taught” (6:30).

But of course, “they” hadn’t really done any of those things, at least not by themselves. All they had taught others was what Jesus had told them. And the power to accomplish any miracles they may have performed obviously came from Jesus. Yes, it seems that Jesus needed to remind His disciples of their absolute dependence on Him.

Perhaps that’s why He told them to do the impossible. For when He looked at a hungry crowd of 5,000 families, He told His disciples, “You give them something to eat” (verse 37). And don’t we often find ourselves in a similar situation? There’s certainly nothing we can do to earn our salvation. And as we try to meet the needs of others, all the while wrestling with our own temptations and problems, our own doubt and grief and fear, don’t we often find ourselves in way over our heads?

Of course we do, and that’s why we need to learn the same lesson Jesus taught the disciples: that what is impossible for us is easy for Him. All they could scrape together was five dinner rolls and a couple of sardines, but Jesus fed that tremendous crowd with such a tiny amount of food. Oh, and He provided a whole basket full of leftovers for each of His disciples. Just so, once we abandon our self-confidence and cry out to Jesus for help, we can trust Him to provide for us and for our loved ones.

But did you notice that the disciples first had to feed everyone else before they received their reward? And that’s often the case with us as well: it is precisely as we trust Jesus, relying only on His power to save us and to take care of the people around us that we find our own needs met. Yes, as we devote ourselves to the glory of God and the good of others, so much of our doubt and fear, our grief and discouragement just fall away.

So, instead of trusting in ourselves today, let’s admit our weakness. Let’s trust Jesus to do what we cannot do for ourselves. For as we put Him and others ahead of ourselves, we’ll find the salvation and fulfillment that only He can provide.

Mark 6:30-44 (NASB)

30 The apostles gathered together with Jesus; and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. 31 And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a little while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) 32 And they went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

33 The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things. 35 And when it was already late, His disciples came up to Him and said, “This place is secluded and it is already late; 36 send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” And they *said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread, and give it to them to eat?” 38 But He *said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!” And when they found out, they *said, “Five, and two fish.” 39 And He ordered them all to recline by groups on the green grass. 40 They reclined in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He gave them to the disciples again and again to set before them; and He divided the two fish among them all. 42 And they all ate and were satisfied; 43 and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces of bread, and of the fish. 44 There were five thousand men who ate the loaves.