HOST: Michael Whitworth
SPONSOR: Logos Bible Software
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
“You give them something to eat.” It was an impossible command. How could Jesus expect His apostles to feed thousands of hungry people? They had made no preparations and had no resources. They themselves were tired, hungry, and frustrated. What was the meaning of such an unreasonable request? What did Jesus hope to accomplish by putting His apostles in such a difficult position? The answer is simple. In His work to train the apostles to be the leaders and servants He needed them to be, there were two very important lessons they needed to learn. The first was that they needed to take advantage of opportunities to serve. The love of God could not be demonstrated by sending people away to fend for themselves. The apostles needed to develop hearts of service. Second, they needed to understand that the things that were impossible for them were altogether possible for Christ. There is no way they could feed this crowd, but with a very modest amount of food, Jesus fed them with ease. Likewise, we’re called to shine and serve for God, and in so doing, these same lessons are vital for us to learn as well. May God help us to be the servants and leaders He would have us to be.
What lessons can we learn from Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand?
Don’t forget to pray and have a great day!
