Feeding the Five Thousand: Luke 9:12-17
“12) Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.” 13) But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.” 14) (For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, “Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.” 15) They did so, and had them all sit down. 16) Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people. 17) And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.” Luke 9:12-17
This story presents Jesus as the Provider. The multitudes who came to Him in a remote place did not bring provisions for a long stay. By evening, many were getting hungry.
The disciples were concerned about logistics. They came and wanted Jesus to dismiss the crowd so they could disperse in search of food. Being a desolate place, even that would be a challenge. Many would have to walk hours before finding food to buy. Even then, the supply would be short.
Jesus had a better idea. He looked at the disciples and said, “You give them something to eat.” That brought a bewildered look.
Had they understood the full significance of the situation, they should have connected their present situation to God feeding His millions of people under Moses for forty years in the wilderness. After all, if Jesus was indeed the God of Moses, their present situation was small by comparison.
They should have also recognized that when Jesus gave them His authority and dominion, this situation was within their realm of possibilities. That’s why Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.”
But this was new turf for them. They were stretched. They had already taken inventory and only had five loaves and two fish. The supply was much shorter than the need.
In the natural realm this did not add up. But faith goes beyond naturalism to Supernaturalism. They left one factor out of their equation: five loaves + two fish + Jesus = twelve baskets more than what was needed to feed five thousand hungry people.
When God is left out of the equation, it never works. That also applies to the origin of the universe and the mystery of life.
But most people doubt that such a miracle can happen today. But it did for one of our GoServ Global pastors in India. Let me quickly share the story.
Pastor Sunny had one Hindu woman come to Jesus in a remote village. He had been teaching many stories about Jesus to her and her family. Her sons were not believers, but listened to the stories about Jesus.
Shortly, the woman died of cancer and her sons went for Pastor Sunny to do the funeral. As is the custom in India, the family prepared to feed rice to the fifty or so who they thought might attend the funeral.
Because she was the only Christian in the Hindu village, Sunny thought it was a trap so he decided to skip the funeral. He was certain the village was going to kill him.
The next day, her sons sent and asked Sunny why he skipped the big miracle? They said because it was going to be the only Christian funeral ever in the village, over 800 people showed up for the event.
The family was overwhelmed at the multitude because they only had enough rice for fifty people. The situation allowed one of the sons to share the Bible story he heard from Pastor Sunny about Jesus feeding the five thousand.
He said, “Now we have a chance to see if Jesus is who the Bible claims He is.” They had the crowd sit down and prayed over the scant supply of rice. They handed it out and everyone ate and they had leftovers. The end result was that the entire village turned to Jesus.
The next day they invited Pastor Sunny back to preach the gospel and teach them more about Jesus from the Bible. Pastor Sunny missed the miracle of Jesus multiplying the rice, but enjoyed the fruit of Jesus converting an entire village to the gospel.
In retrospect, Sunny says his faith may have been too small to pray over the meal. The story even stretch him. He calls it his story of shame.
So why do I include this story? First, I personally know Pastor Sunny. I can validate the story. Second, this story underlines the truth that Jesus is still Jesus. He still works in miraculous ways to confirm the gospel message. Finally, it punctuates the fact that the problem is not with Jesus, it is within us.
Our faith is small and we constantly put God in our little boxes of naturalism. The disciples in the story did the same thing. To build their faith, Jesus gave each one of them a full basket of leftovers. I am confident they quickly started sharing with others. Giving and not hoarding is Gods formula to abundance!
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
“12) Now the day was ending, and the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the crowd away, that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get something to eat; for here we are in a desolate place.” 13) But He said to them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless perhaps we go and buy food for all these people.” 14) (For there were about five thousand men.) And He said to His disciples, “Have them sit down to eat in groups of about fifty each.” 15) They did so, and had them all sit down. 16) Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed them, and broke them, and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people. 17) And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full.” Luke 9:12-17
This story presents Jesus as the Provider. The multitudes who came to Him in a remote place did not bring provisions for a long stay. By evening, many were getting hungry.
The disciples were concerned about logistics. They came and wanted Jesus to dismiss the crowd so they could disperse in search of food. Being a desolate place, even that would be a challenge. Many would have to walk hours before finding food to buy. Even then, the supply would be short.
Jesus had a better idea. He looked at the disciples and said, “You give them something to eat.” That brought a bewildered look.
Had they understood the full significance of the situation, they should have connected their present situation to God feeding His millions of people under Moses for forty years in the wilderness. After all, if Jesus was indeed the God of Moses, their present situation was small by comparison.
They should have also recognized that when Jesus gave them His authority and dominion, this situation was within their realm of possibilities. That’s why Jesus said, “You give them something to eat.”
But this was new turf for them. They were stretched. They had already taken inventory and only had five loaves and two fish. The supply was much shorter than the need.
In the natural realm this did not add up. But faith goes beyond naturalism to Supernaturalism. They left one factor out of their equation: five loaves + two fish + Jesus = twelve baskets more than what was needed to feed five thousand hungry people.
When God is left out of the equation, it never works. That also applies to the origin of the universe and the mystery of life.
But most people doubt that such a miracle can happen today. But it did for one of our GoServ Global pastors in India. Let me quickly share the story.
Pastor Sunny had one Hindu woman come to Jesus in a remote village. He had been teaching many stories about Jesus to her and her family. Her sons were not believers, but listened to the stories about Jesus.
Shortly, the woman died of cancer and her sons went for Pastor Sunny to do the funeral. As is the custom in India, the family prepared to feed rice to the fifty or so who they thought might attend the funeral.
Because she was the only Christian in the Hindu village, Sunny thought it was a trap so he decided to skip the funeral. He was certain the village was going to kill him.
The next day, her sons sent and asked Sunny why he skipped the big miracle? They said because it was going to be the only Christian funeral ever in the village, over 800 people showed up for the event.
The family was overwhelmed at the multitude because they only had enough rice for fifty people. The situation allowed one of the sons to share the Bible story he heard from Pastor Sunny about Jesus feeding the five thousand.
He said, “Now we have a chance to see if Jesus is who the Bible claims He is.” They had the crowd sit down and prayed over the scant supply of rice. They handed it out and everyone ate and they had leftovers. The end result was that the entire village turned to Jesus.
The next day they invited Pastor Sunny back to preach the gospel and teach them more about Jesus from the Bible. Pastor Sunny missed the miracle of Jesus multiplying the rice, but enjoyed the fruit of Jesus converting an entire village to the gospel.
In retrospect, Sunny says his faith may have been too small to pray over the meal. The story even stretch him. He calls it his story of shame.
So why do I include this story? First, I personally know Pastor Sunny. I can validate the story. Second, this story underlines the truth that Jesus is still Jesus. He still works in miraculous ways to confirm the gospel message. Finally, it punctuates the fact that the problem is not with Jesus, it is within us.
Our faith is small and we constantly put God in our little boxes of naturalism. The disciples in the story did the same thing. To build their faith, Jesus gave each one of them a full basket of leftovers. I am confident they quickly started sharing with others. Giving and not hoarding is Gods formula to abundance!
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
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