ch. 6, verse 34–44). It had been almost 2 years since they were together with the Lord,
and they had seen so many miracles, they had heard so many parables and teachings,
but they did not realize that the solution for any situation was always Jesus Himself. A
prayer of faith would have been enough (and this would also be sufficient in
contemporay crisis situations). We trust people, we trust our strength and discernment,
we use the material values we hold and only when we fail we cry out to the Lord in
tears. Seeing their confusion, Jesus took the initiative and asked them to go and see
how much bread they had. They went and saw that they had only five pieces of bread
and two fish. After Jesus had blessed them, lifting His eyes towards the heaven, He
gave the bread and the fish to the disciples and asked them to share the food among the
five thousand men, not counting the women and the children.
By reading the “Gospels”, we notice that God liked order very much. He asked
the people to sit down in groups of 50 and 100 (“The Gospel of Mark”, ch. 39–40),
around him. They all ate and were satisfied, and, at the end, they gathered twelve
baskets of bread crumbs. It is noteworthy that waste was not done (“The Gospel of
Luke”, ch. 9, verse 17).
30
John described the immediate effect of this miracle: when they saw what Jesus
had done, the people said that He was truly the prophet that they had expected and
they wanted to enthrone Him King (“The Gospel of John”, ch. 6, verse 14–15). How
ephemeral the human enthusiasm and gratitude are! Probably, also around the
Easter preparation, many of them would be among those who would cry before
the judgment seat of the Galilee procurator, Pontius Pilate, to Crucify Him, lying
about Jesus and uttering a terrible oath, in order to convince Pilate (The Bible, The
New Testament, “The Gospel of Matthew”).
31
Then, in order to awake them and make them aware of their mistakes, Jesus used
the sea with all its power, as a blessing, working and disciplining tool. It was getting
dark. After He had dismissed the crowd, Jesus went up the mountain to pray. Again,
He was with His Father. It is noteworthy that, in order to prepare the next lesson of
faith, before sending the crowd away, Jesus had asked his disciples to get into the
boat and cross to the other side to Bethsaida Iulias, not far from Capernaum (See
Atlas Biblic 1993: 12), the city where the Savior Jesus also did many miracles.
The disciples were sailing near the shore because of a strong wind storm. When
He saw them how distressed they were, at about 8 km from the shore, Jesus came to
them walking on the sea. It was after 3 am, “at the fourth watch of the night” (The
Bible, The New Testament, “The Gospel of Mark”, ch. 6, verse 41). Making a
synthesis of the “Gospels”, we notice the reaction of the disciples, who were still
not fully convinced of the divine power of their Master. Thus, when they saw Him
walking on the sea, they thought He was a ghost and cried. Because, in their despair,
30 In a world of irrational consumption, dominated by waste, sick and hungry people, we should
take into consideration Jesus’s advice. He assures us: “Blessed are the merciful for they shall
obtain mercy” (“The Gospel of Matthew”, ch. 5, verse 7).
31 “All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” (The Bible, The New
Testament, “The Gospel of Matthew”, ch. 27, verse 25).
22
C. Jurca ˘ and A. Buzarna-Tihenea (Ga ˘lbeaza ˘)
and they had seen so many miracles, they had heard so many parables and teachings,
but they did not realize that the solution for any situation was always Jesus Himself. A
prayer of faith would have been enough (and this would also be sufficient in
contemporay crisis situations). We trust people, we trust our strength and discernment,
we use the material values we hold and only when we fail we cry out to the Lord in
tears. Seeing their confusion, Jesus took the initiative and asked them to go and see
how much bread they had. They went and saw that they had only five pieces of bread
and two fish. After Jesus had blessed them, lifting His eyes towards the heaven, He
gave the bread and the fish to the disciples and asked them to share the food among the
five thousand men, not counting the women and the children.
By reading the “Gospels”, we notice that God liked order very much. He asked
the people to sit down in groups of 50 and 100 (“The Gospel of Mark”, ch. 39–40),
around him. They all ate and were satisfied, and, at the end, they gathered twelve
baskets of bread crumbs. It is noteworthy that waste was not done (“The Gospel of
Luke”, ch. 9, verse 17).
30
John described the immediate effect of this miracle: when they saw what Jesus
had done, the people said that He was truly the prophet that they had expected and
they wanted to enthrone Him King (“The Gospel of John”, ch. 6, verse 14–15). How
ephemeral the human enthusiasm and gratitude are! Probably, also around the
Easter preparation, many of them would be among those who would cry before
the judgment seat of the Galilee procurator, Pontius Pilate, to Crucify Him, lying
about Jesus and uttering a terrible oath, in order to convince Pilate (The Bible, The
New Testament, “The Gospel of Matthew”).
31
Then, in order to awake them and make them aware of their mistakes, Jesus used
the sea with all its power, as a blessing, working and disciplining tool. It was getting
dark. After He had dismissed the crowd, Jesus went up the mountain to pray. Again,
He was with His Father. It is noteworthy that, in order to prepare the next lesson of
faith, before sending the crowd away, Jesus had asked his disciples to get into the
boat and cross to the other side to Bethsaida Iulias, not far from Capernaum (See
Atlas Biblic 1993: 12), the city where the Savior Jesus also did many miracles.
The disciples were sailing near the shore because of a strong wind storm. When
He saw them how distressed they were, at about 8 km from the shore, Jesus came to
them walking on the sea. It was after 3 am, “at the fourth watch of the night” (The
Bible, The New Testament, “The Gospel of Mark”, ch. 6, verse 41). Making a
synthesis of the “Gospels”, we notice the reaction of the disciples, who were still
not fully convinced of the divine power of their Master. Thus, when they saw Him
walking on the sea, they thought He was a ghost and cried. Because, in their despair,
30 In a world of irrational consumption, dominated by waste, sick and hungry people, we should
take into consideration Jesus’s advice. He assures us: “Blessed are the merciful for they shall
obtain mercy” (“The Gospel of Matthew”, ch. 5, verse 7).
31 “All the people answered, “His blood is on us and on our children!” (The Bible, The New
Testament, “The Gospel of Matthew”, ch. 27, verse 25).
22
C. Jurca ˘ and A. Buzarna-Tihenea (Ga ˘lbeaza ˘)