Crumbs from the table - Basketsful of blessing

Mark 7:24-8:10 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice. ²⁵ But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.

³¹ Again He went out from the region of Tyre, and came through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, within the region of Decapolis. ³² They brought to Him one who was deaf and spoke with difficulty, and they implored Him to lay His hand on him. ³³ Jesus took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers into his ears, and after spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven with a deep sigh, He said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the ^[g]impediment of his tongue was removed, and he began speaking plainly. ³⁶ And He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. ³⁷ They were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

8 In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them, ² “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. ³ If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” ⁴ And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” ⁵ And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” ⁶ And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people. ⁷ They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well. ⁸ And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. ⁹ About four thousand were there; and He sent them away. ¹⁰ And immediately He entered the boat with His disciples and came to the district of Dalmanutha.

In today’s text it says:  Jesus got up and went away from there to the region of Tyre. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know of it; yet He could not escape notice.  But after hearing of Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet.  Now the woman was a Gentile, of the Syrophoenician race. And she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.”  But she answered and said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.”  And He said to her, “Because of this answer go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.”  And going back to her home, she found the child lying on the bed, the demon having left.  We need to have faith like the Syrophoenician woman. We need to understand that we don’t need all that the Lord has to offer; we don’t need to be first. All we need is the little that is leftover from the Lord. Like the woman with the flow of blood, we just need to be near Jesus; just to touch Him. Just the crumbs from the table of the Lord are more than what we need.

Still, the text says: In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples and said to them,  “I feel compassion for the people because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way; and some of them have come from a great distance.” And His disciples answered Him, “Where will anyone be able to find enough bread here in this desolate place to satisfy these people?” And He was asking them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.” And He directed the people to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and started giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the people. They also had a few small fish; and after He had blessed them, He ordered these to be served as well. And they ate and were satisfied; and they picked up seven large baskets full of what was left over of the broken pieces. About four thousand were there; and He sent them away.   The greatest truth of this miracle account is not that 4000 ate and were satisfied from seven loaves and a few small fish. It is that there was more left over than when they started. The broken pieces, the crumbs filled seven large baskets. Philippians 4:19 says:  My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  God doesn’t just supply part or barely enough, He supplies for all of our need. In John 10:10 Jesus says: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”   In Luke 6:38 Jesus says:  “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”   If we want the overflowing abundance of Christ for our lives, we need to give of ourselves to Him. We too then, will have much more leftover than when we began.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, You are all that I need. You are more than enough. Just to be in Your presence is what sustains me. Yet, you bless me beyond measure. You give back exponentially of what I give to You. You take the crumbs of my life and return basketsful of blessings. Thank You for the abundant life You give.  Amen.