Good Monday to you my ‘Walking with Jesus’ friends,
Have you ever been with a very large crowd of people and considered the amount of food it would require to feed all of them, even just ONE meal? Today, let’s join Jesus and His disciples as they face that situation. This event is so significant it is recorded in all four Gospels: Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:12-17; John 1-15.
Matthew tells us Jesus was out on the Sea of Galilee alone, in one of the small fishing boats, seeking some comfort with God the Father, as Jesus grieved the news He had just received that His friend John the Baptist had been executed. In a profound display of butchery, John was not only executed but his severed head was brought on a platter into the festivities celebrating King Herod’s birthday!! (Matt. 14:1-14) As Jesus grieved such evil and damage it does in our world, a crowd of people was on the shoreline watching Jesus, waiting for Him to come back to shore. Why? Because they had needs, they wanted Jesus to meet. Did they have an appointment with Him? No, they just had needs and expected Jesus would be available and ready to help them.
Pause. Do you and I think about God and even treat Him that way? Do we assume the Almighty God is always available to us, always ready to serve us, standing by with nothing to do but respond to our requests? Honestly now, we need to think about the conversations we normally have with God in our prayers and consider our motives and our expectations. What do you see? What does it tell you about the relationship you and I have with God? As God looks at your relationship with Him, do you suppose God would like to develop it into something much more? How might that happen?
As Jesus came ashore that day John, one of Jesus’ disciples was there and here’s how John describes what he saw: “…a great crowd of people followed Jesus because they saw the miraculous signs He had performed on the sick. Jesus went up on the hillside and sat down with His disciples. The Jewish Passover Feast was near.” (John 6:2-4) Do you see how the expectations are motivating these large crowds to gather around Jesus looking for more miracles and bringing those whom they feel Jesus could help?
Matthew and Luke both tell Jesus evidently spoke and healed people all day, and toward evening He was hungry and He presumed everyone else was also. The disciples urged Jesus to send the people home so they could eat and rest and so Jesus and the disciples could have some peace and quiet away from the crowds! But Jesus stunned them by saying: “They do not need to go away, you feed them!” (Matt. 14:16) Philip was evidently standing near Jesus and had a quick mind for calculation. Philip spoke up saying “8 months wages would not buy enough bread for each of these people to have one bite!” (John 6:7)
Andrew, Peter’s brother, was a bit more resourceful and he brought a young boy to Jesus who had a little lunch his mother had evidently packed for him that day, five small barley biscuits and two little sun-dried fish. Andrew admitted he knew it was barely enough for the boy, but maybe Jesus could do something with almost nothing??
While none of the Gospel writers tell us about the conversation between Jesus and the boy, I imagine it didn’t take long for the boy to get quite excited looking out over that huge crowd and hearing Jesus describe how He’d like to feed ALL these people with this boy’s little lunch!
All four Gospels describe the miracle which happened next! As the boy opened his lunch and handed those five little biscuits, one at a time, to Jesus, Jesus lifted them up before God and prayed over them, then started breaking them into pieces and the pieces just kept multiplying into baskets overflowing with bread! And then the boy did the same with his two little dried fish, and soon there were baskets full of fish pieces! The disciples took the overflowing baskets out into the crowds and those baskets never emptied! I wonder if the little boy went with either Peter or John and helped distribute his lunch to the people??
I can’t explain it, but all four Gospel writers report that miraculously the little boy’s lunch fed 5000 people with ALL they wanted to eat. In fact, after they had all eaten John records that Jesus said: “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ So, the disciples gathered them and filled 12 baskets with pieces of the five barley loaves left over…” (John 6:12,13) It should not be difficult for us to imagine how the people responded! They’d seen Jesus heal sick people and cripples. But if He can make food multiply to feed thousands oh my, can you imagine if He were king?
That’s why John writes: “Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew to a mountain by Himself.” (John 6:15) As the huge crowd of 5000 people dispersed, I notice that Jesus also sent His disciples back to their boats, perhaps urging them to go home for the night.
Jesus had some very important things to talk with His heavenly Father about in private, so Jesus headed up the mountain side for solitude with God. Do you remember? John the Baptist’s execution! Oh my, the grief surrounding martyrdom. And this growing movement of people wanting to see Jesus lead a revolution and become their king! And of course, the insatiable appetite of needy people always wanting more and more of everything from Jesus.
Have you ever considered the daily stress and strain on Jesus coming from heaven and living in a human body among us in this decadent, dysfunctional world when He had created so perfectly! And yet each day was another day for Jesus to show our world God’s love, God’s grace, God’s mercy, and God’s plan for our rescue and restoration to life lived in relationship with Jesus!
Some really wonderful “lessons learned” summary notes are available at the Grand Narrative link below and then a great worship song that fits so well with this miraculous event today. And then may I urge you to get alone with God as Jesus did and spend some time inviting the Holy Spirit to show you God’s vision for all He would like to accomplish in your life today, and I’ll be here waiting for you tomorrow.
Today’s Scripture: John 6:1-15.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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