There is a certain rock known as a geode. From the outside it is but a dull-looking stone. Yet crack it open and one discovers a breathtaking array of crystals in a hollow core.  I feel like I'm holding an uncracked geode in my hands when I look at a Bible text. I know there is a powerful blessing in the passage. It must simply be opened to the light by preaching.  So to the text, the story of the feeding of the multitudes, we now turn.

There Was a Need!

Our text begins with a human need.  Jesus had been busily ministering from Jerusalem to Galilee. The healings, the preaching, the conflict left him spent. So he got in a boat with his disciples and sailed across the lake to take a break. But the throngs of people had not had enough of the Master's words and deeds. They wanted more. So th…