My answer comes in a couple of parts.

First, I think your question highlights something we all need to be careful with. We need to be careful how strongly we make statements that sum up our conclusions from the Scripture when those statements aren't actually found in scripture. For instance, I recently said in Bible class, "Jesus has never asked us to do anything He didn't do." The context was talking about being humble and putting others first. In general, I think what I said is true. However, in the extreme sense it is not true. After all, Jesus has asked me to seek forgiveness and He never did that.

Second, in general, I think your statement is true. Jesus doesn't ask us to do things that we can't do. However, when we make that statement, I think we have a specific concept in mind. We are speaking of Jesus asking us to do things in order to serve and glorify Him on which our salvation may hinge. In this scenario, Jesus wasn't saying, "You give them something to eat or you'll be lost." He was giving them a directive in order to teach them a lesson. In fact, the lesson was to get them to think about why they "couldn't" do this in this scenario.

Third, having said all that, I think there is a sense in which the apostles did have the power to do what Jesus did. They could have also fed the 5000. The problem was they didn't have the faith Jesus had. But that gets back to the lesson Jesus was teaching. He wanted them to look face to face with why they "couldn't" do what He said. The reason was not because they couldn't but because they didn't have the faith necessary.

Does any of this make sense?

Is Jesus trying to teach them that very thing – they could NOT do it, but He could?

Mary and Martha offer a great contrast in approaches to God. Martha was so focused on doing what she always did and making sure the "expected" things were done that she was missing her opportunity to spend time with Jesus. Mary was willing to embrace the moment and just sit and enjoy being with Jesus, listening to what he had to say.

It occurred to me that – as we sit and chat with friends around the dinner table – this may have been the same in Martha's house. How great would it have been to just sit and be part of Jesus' dinner conversation? Mary got it, but Martha was too distracted.

We need to make sure we don't just stick so religiously to our daily routines that we miss the wonderful opportunities God presents us every day.

If I may, I’ll offer a few observations from today’s readings…

1) If you don’t know what to say… don’t say anything at all (Luke 9:33; Mark 9:5-6).

2) If I am teaching someone and they reject the faithful teaching of the word, they are not merely rejecting me, they are ultimately rejecting Christ (Luke 10:16).

3) Like the Samaritan, we should be prepared to do good works (Luke 9:34).

4) If we only show mercy to our own then what have we really done? How can our lights shine in a word of darkness if we want go out into the dark? (Luke 10:25-37; Mat 5:44-48)

5) Jesus wants us to set the world on fire but He doesn't want us burning down villages (Luke 9:54-56).

Zeal and enthusiasm are great to have. But we need to channel these into doing the things that are according to God's will. We are not going to hear a voice from heaven (9:35) to correct our good, yet misguided, intentions. So we need to consult the word of God to find out if our good ideas are actually good works. We must be "zealous for good deeds" (Titus 2:14). Those good deeds are defined by God in His word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).