Oh dear...........I have 3 nights worth of devotions to catch up on! I'll blame it on our recent visitor...........she's so much trouble! Ha!

Read Mark 6:14-56

We talked about the Herods. This is Herod Antipas, nephew of Herod the Great. Dad pointed out how the Herods were a strange mixture of good and evil. Though they built great things and were probably incredible visionaries, they were capable of using people terribly. This passage says that the king was exceedingly sorry for John's death. This was a sad ending to John the Baptist. People seriously asked him if he was the Messiah. Imagine what he must have been like as a man!

The miracle of the loaves and the fishes comes next. We had a discussion on what method Jesus may have used for the multiplication process. Paul mentioned that the idea of never-ending plenty appeals to us and is found in literature. We thought of Elijah and the woman's oil and Demeter with a cornacopia that never emptied. The focus in the passage seems to indicate that the apostles were watching the miracle, but with so many people, we wondered whether or not the individuals were noticing it also.

Verse 48 says, "would have passed them by" but a better translation is, "He came along side them". Jesus wasn't intending to ignore them. Verse 50 says, "it is I" and that is the "I am" statement. Jesus is confirming that He is God.

What didn't they understand about the loaves? That Jesus had power over nature and could exercise it again? That Jesus was God? They marvelled when they made the connection that Jesus is God.

We concluded with Dad explaining two possible ways that Jesus used to walk on the water- freezing it to ice, or increasing the surface tension. Would you believe that he is a scientist? Ha.

Ps 37:3-4
"Trust in the LORD and do good;
Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.
Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart."