“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”’
~ Mark 8:34
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you like to have your ma or your dad read to you a Bible story each night before you go to bed? When your Aunt Lynn was real little, your Aunt Lynn lived with your dad, grandmaa and grandpaa in Aberdeen, South Dakota. Your grandmaa or your grandpaa would each night read a short Bible story to your Aunt Lynn. Your grandmaa had twelve booklets – one small book for each month of the year, which had a short Bible story for each day of the year in them. Your Aunt Lynn really liked to have your grandmaa or your grandpaa read to her each evening one of the short stories. Your grandmaa when she lived in Aberdeen had a black rocking chair. Your grandpaa will never forget one evening after he had read that day’s short Bible story to your Aunt Lynn. After reading the short Bible story to your Aunt Lynn, your grandpaa stayed sitting in the black rocking chair. While your grandpaa sat in the chair, your grandpaa kept thinking about the Bible story that he had just finished reading to your Aunt Lynn. The short Bible story that your grandpaa read that evening to your Aunt Lynn was something that Jesus had done for the guys, gals and kids who were following Him and learning from Him. John Mark wrote to the Gentile guys and gals about Jesus’ life. Mark knew Peter. Jesus chose Peter to be one of his twelve disciples. Peter saw what Jesus did for the guys, gals and kids who were following Him and learning from Him. Peter may have told Mark what he saw Jesus do. Mark in the book that he wrote to the Gentiles maybe recorded what Peter told him. Your grandpaa calls Mark the midnight reporter. Your grandpaa will tell you one day why he likes to call Mark the midnight reporter.
Guys, gals and kids really do want to know what the Bible says. Guys, gals and kids want to hear good Bible teaching. Guys and gals will go to where there is a good Bible expositor who can clearly explain what the Bible says. Your grandmaa and grandpaa go to a church in Guatemala City which has four services on a Sunday. Over a thousand guys, gals and kids come to the morning service that your grandmaa and grandpaa attend. Why do you think that so many guys, gals and kids attend Iglesia Nazaret? Iglesia Nazaret’s pastor is a really good Bible teacher. Guys, gals and kids go to Iglesia Nazaret to hear the Bible taught and preached. When Jesus was on planet Earth, Jesus taught God’s Word. Thousands of guys, gals and kids would go to where Jesus was – to hear what Jesus would say. Some guys, gals and kids would walk a long ways to hear Jesus teaching His Father’s Word. Mark wrote in what is now Mark 8 that Jesus one day expressed His concern about the crowd of guys, gals and kids who had been with Him for three days. Jesus had miraculously fed not that long before this day an even larger crowd of guys, gals and kids. When Jesus mentioned to His disciples that He could see that the guys, gals and kids had nothing to eat, the disciples asked Jesus where He would suggest that they go to find enough food to feed all the guys, gals and kids. Jesus asked His disciple how many loaves that they had. Jesus’ disciples told Jesus that they had seven loaves and a few fish. Jesus took the seven loaves and the few fish and had the seven loaves and the few fish feed every single one of the guys, gals and kids who were following Him. There were four thousand guys in the crowd who was following Jesus. Jesus instructed His disciples to pick up the leftover scraps of bread. Why do you think that Jesus wanted His disciples to pick up and put in baskets the scraps of bread that the guys, gals and kids did not eat? Jesus had His disciples also do this the very same way after Jesus had fed earlier a crowd that had five thousand guys in it.
Besides guys, there were a lot of gals and kids in the two crowds. The first time that Jesus miraculously fed a crowd of guys, gals and kids, a little boy in the crowd had the loaves and the fish the Jesus used to feed every single guy, gal and kid. While your grandpaa was thinking about the story that he had just read to your Aunt Lynn, your grandpaa heard a quiet voice telling him that the loaves of bread and the fish were like your grandpaa’s life. Your grandpaa had been thinking about the call that he had received from God to be a missionary. Your grandpaa had said that if it was God’s will for your grandmaa and grandpaa to be missionaries, that he was willing to take your dad and your Aunt Lynn to another country. The quiet voice – which your grandpaa could not really hear but which seemed to be speaking, told your grandpaa that your grandpaa’s life would feed at least as many guys as the number of guys who Jesus miraculously fed. Your grandpaa could not stop thinking about what the quiet voice had just told him. And then the quiet voice told your grandpaa that his life would not just feed the number of guys who Jesus had fed but that his life would also feed gals and kids. Your grandpaa had no idea how his life could feed so many guys, gals and kids but . . . your grandpaa just knew that it was a promise that God was giving him that He would use your grandmaa and grandpaa as missionaries to feed His Word to guys, gals and kids in another country. Your grandpaa then began to wonder why Jesus told His disciples to put into baskets all the leftover bread scraps. The quiet voice told your grandpaa that the leftover scraps of bread were all the blessings which your grandmaa and grandpaa would receive for being faithful in feeding His Word to His guys, gals and kids. God has kept the promise that He gave to your grandpaa to use your grandpaa’s life to feed guys, gals and kids. Your grandmaa and grandpaa have been blessed as they are seeing guys and gals ‘fed’ God’s Word through Bible education programs. Your grandpaa and grandmaa pray that you will one day do as verse 34 says for you to do “Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said ‘If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”’
Mark 8 (94)