THE KING’S BUSINESS
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Tuesday, June 22. Mark 6:26-29.
ing a n d g o in g ” o f th e crow d th a t h ad d riv en Je su s to seek th is seclu sio n (v . 31) ; b u t H e d id n o t th u s escape them , fo r th ey follow ed H im . .A n d h ow d id H e feel? “He wel comed" them!" (L u k e 9:11 R . V .). O , w o n d e rfu l lo v e ! H is ow n n eed sin k s o u t of sig h t as H e beh o ld s th eirs. Thursday, June 24. Mark 6:37-44. T h e disciples h a d said to Je su s as* they view ed th e crow d an d th e sm alln ess o f th e ir supplies, “S en d th em aw ay ,” b u t Je su s a n sw ered , “G ive ye th em to e a t ” H o w H is a n sw er m u st h av e s ta rtle d th e disciples. B u t Jesus- is say in g th e sam e th in g to us to d ay , H e bids u s feed th e m u ltitu d e. T h en Jq su s sta rtle d th em ag ain by com m an d in g th em th a t “all sh o u ld sit d ow n.” C omm on sen se w o u ld h av e said, “ T h e p ro p e r th in g to tell th e m u ltitu d e is to w alk, n o t sit d ow n ,” b u t th e disciples now h a d th e u n com m on sense to cast th e ir reaso n in g s to th e w in d an d do as Je su s said. T h e m u lti tu d e, too, obeyed an d sa t dow n. I t w as w ell th ey d id fo r Je su s “d istrib u te d to them that were sat down” (Jo h n 6 :1 1 ). W e m u st obey if w e w o u ld be fed, a n d w e m u st find re st a t Je su s’ feet, if w e w o u ld receiv e b read from H is h and. P e te r-h a d a v iv id recollec tio n in a fte r y e ars o f ju s t how ev ery th in g lo o k ed a n d gives ijs h ere a g rap h ic d escrip tio n o f it (v s. 39, 4 0 ). T h o u g h th ey h a d so little to s ta rt w ith, th e loaves a n d th e fishes so m u ltip lied in o u r L o rd ’s h an d s th a t “they all ate an d were filled." T h o se w ho sit dow n a t Je su s’ tab le alw ays a re tilled (P s . 2 3 :1 ; P h il. 4 :1 9 ). T h o u g h Je su s co u ld m ultiply loaves a t w ill, H e w o u ld n o t h av e H is b o u n tifu l g iving teach u s w astefu ln ess, “the b ro k en pieces” m u st be g a th e re d up. T h e disciples g o t a b ask etfu l apiece to tak e aw ay, an d so th ey w ere w ell rep aid fo r sh arin g th e ir scan ty sto re s w ith th e crow d (P ro v , 11:24, 2 5 ; L u k e 6 :3 8 ).
H e ro d w as e x ceed in g so rry w h en h e saw th e tra p into w h ic h -h e h a d fallen, b u t his so rro w d id him n o g o o d as it d id n o t lead to re p e n ta n c e : it w as n o t g o dly so rro w (2 C or. 7 :1 0 ). T h e k in g co u ld easily have g o tte n o u t o f th e tra p if he h a d been a m a n ; h e co u ld h av e re fu sed to keep th e d ru n k e n a n d w ick ed o a th he h a d m ade. A b ad o a th is b e tte r b ro k en th a n kept. Som e can n o t see th at, b u t ju s t th in k a m o m e n t; suppose y o u tak e an o a th th a t y o u w ill b reak y o u r o a th a n d k ill a m an in th e b a r gain, w o u ld y o u b e tte r keep th a t o a th o r b reak it? T h e sin is in h av in g m ad e th e o ath , b u t h av in g tak en th e o a th to -do w ro n g th e rig h teo u s th in g to do is to b re ak th e oath. I t w as n o t m erely fo r th e o a th ’s sake th a t H e ro d g ra n te d th e req u est o f his step d au g h ter, h e w as a fra id o f th e sco rn of his g u ests (v . 2 6 ). T h e fe a r o f m an w h ich had k ep t him from d o in g w ro n g b efo re (v. 20) now k ep t h im from d o in g rig h t. T h e fear o f m a n -is a p o o r m o tiv e a n d alw ays lands on e so o n er o r la te r in ru in (P ro v . 2 9 :2 5 ). T h e h ead o f Jo h n fell, he p aid th e u su al p en alty o f lo y alty to G od (2 T im . 3 :1 2 ) ; b u t h e g ain ed m o re th a n h e lo st (2 T im . 2 : 12; M att. 5:11, 12; R om . 8 :1 8 ). J o h n ’s body w as placed “in a tom b ” b u t n o t Jo h n him self. Jo h n , th e d ead an d seem ingly co n q u ered se rv a n t o f G od, w as fa r h ap p ier th a t n ig h t th a n H ero d ias, th e seem ingly tr i um p h an t sinner. Wednesday, June 23. Mark 6:30-36. T h e disciples acted v e ry w isely in tellin g Je su s “all th in g s” b o th “w h a t th ey had done” an d “w h a t th ey h a d tau g h t.” I f w e d id th a t each d ay w e w o u ld do fe w er fool ish th in g s a n d teach less n o n sen se. Jesu s lived co n tin u ally ih a crow d (v. 31 cf. M att. 4:24, 25 ; 8 ; 1 ; ; 1 2 :1 5 ; 1 3 :2 ; 1 4 :1 4 ; 15:30, 3 1 ). T h e re is n o th in g m o re w e ariso m e th an a c ro w d u n less th e h e a rt is full o f love. B u t w h en w e g row u tte rly tire d o f th e crow d , let u s rem em b er h ow th e M a ste r’s life w as spent. I t w as th e in cessan t “com
Friday, June 25. Mark 6:45-50.
Je su s w as in p ra y e r alo n e on th e m o u n ta in side. L o o k in g o u t o v er th e lake w hile
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