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Psalm 23 The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
Luke 9:10-17 10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. 12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” 13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish–unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
A Picnic by the Sea
Have you ever had a picnic by the sea? When I was young my family used to go to Sandy Hook State Park in New Jersey. We would swim and play in the ocean until dinner time. Then we would move away from the swimming area. My mother would have packed a picnic basket with our dinner and we would eat it by the sea. We could see the waves and hear the sea gulls. The problem with a picnic by the sea is that no matter how careful you are you always get sand in your food.
Today we hear of another picnic by the sea in Luke’s gospel. This is the one miracle performed by Jesus that is recorded in all four gospels. One commentator called it, “the world’s most famous picnic”.
Earlier in this chapter Jesus gave the disciples power and authority to cast out demons and cure diseases. He sent the disciples out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal. Today we learn of their return. They have been reporting back to him and it has been a busy time. Jesus, as a wise leader, decided they needed to spend some time away from the crowds and to rest so he took them to Bethsaida.
The crowds have been following Jesus and they saw him leave with the disciples. Look what happens next.
Have you heard the expression, “No rest for the weary”? This is what happened to Jesus and the disciples. They withdrew to Bethsaida seeking some time alone. Verse 11 starts with the word But. Interesting how important such a little word can be. Jesus and the disciples sought to be by themselves. To rest from their ministry. But. What they wanted didn’t happen. But. The opposite of what they wanted happened. The crowds learned about it and followed him. It makes me think of a Hollywood star being followed by fans. The crowd sought Jesus for a much more important reason than fans though. They wanted to know about the kingdom. They wanted healing.
Look at Jesus’ reaction. He had wanted to rest, he had wanted to get away from the crowds yet here they are anyway. He could have been frustrated. He could have been annoyed. He could have been angry. Jesus could have sent the crowd away. Instead we are told, He welcomed them. Jesus made himself available to them. We can know that Jesus is always available to us. Jesus saw all the needs of the crowd. Those needing physical healing and all of them needing to know about the kingdom of God.
Do you have a need or concern? Go to Jesus. He is always available. He will always receive you. He will always help you.
As the day began to wear away and the shadows began to lengthen, the disciples tell Jesus to send the people away so they can find shelter and food. The disciples are aware of a problem but they have forgotten the power and authority Jesus gave them. They see a problem and they present a logical solution to it. The people are hungry, send them away. I think they were mightily surprised at Jesus response.
He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
Can you imagine what the disciples are thinking? Who? Us? We only have five loaves and two fish. We can’t feed them. We can’t pay for food for them. There are 5,000 men Luke tells us. That doesn’t count the women or children so it may have been several times five thousand. The twelve had just recently returned from their short-term ministry assignment, and they had seen God do wonderful miracles through their own ministry. But they forgot about all that.
Jesus’ compassion is evident here. Jesus taught until it grew late. Presented with the same problem, hungry people needing to be fed, Jesus and the disciples react in two different ways. The disciples want to send them away; they attempt to divorce themselves from the problem. Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.” He doesn’t let them avoid the problem but tells them to solve it. Remember, Jesus had sent the disciples out two by two, he gave them power and authority over demons and illness, they cured the sick and cast out demons. Despite their recent success, they fail to see the connection between that and these people. Using their own resources they have five loaves and two fish, not much at all. With the blessings of God though the little becomes more than enough. There are twelve baskets of bread and fish left over. In the hands of Jesus, five loaves and two fishes can feed a multitude.
The only solution the disciples could see was to go and buy food for everyone. They had just returned from their first mission trip where they had healed many. Now, back with Jesus they no longer have the confidence they had on their journey.
The trouble with the apostles is that they did not think about what God could and would do to provide for the needs of the crowd.
One commentator remarks that Jesus’ question ought to have “startled them into thinking that there might be more to the kingdom of God and the powers of Jesus than they had yet realized. Instead of that, the highest their thoughts could rise to was the possibility of going to the nearest merchants and buying the necessary quantity of food.” The twelve were forgetting that they served a God who provided for their inadequacies.
The principle is this: God is not limited by our inadequacies. In fact, our inadequacies can display his power to supply all our needs according to his riches in glory.
Jesus tells his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each. The disciples did so, and everybody sat down
I wonder how hard this would have been. Just picture the twelve apostles moving through the crowd and telling them to organize themselves into groups of about fifty each. That’s at least 500 groups! Can’t you just imagine the crowd asking, ‘why?’ Did the disciples answer, ‘Because the Lord wants you in groups of fifty, that’s why’.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people.
Do you notice we aren’t told exactly how the miracle happened.
The miracle itself is almost passed over. We are never told exactly how Jesus did it. The focus is not on the spectacular nature of the miracle, but on what it teaches those who serve Jesus about how He meets the needs of others through them.
So how do five loaves and two fish feed a crowd of over five thousand? Some scholars will tell you that what happened was all the people decided to share what they had brought, the miracle was one of generosity. That is not what I believe and that is not what Luke tells us. I believe Jesus caused a miracle of abundance. I believe the bread was divided again and again and was always enough. I believe in a God who provides and provides abundantly. Think back to the Exodus story when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years. God provided them with manna, it covered the ground every morning and all the Israelites had to do was gather it. Our God provides.
After every person there that day ate, they were all fully satisfied. And, there was plenty left over. In fact, there were twelve baskets of broken pieces left over. Baskets full of Jesus’ wonderful bread and fish in a dramatic and vivid way demonstrating the abundance of his provision.
. Alexander Maclaren described it this way, “The pieces grew under his touch, and the disciples always found his hands full when they came back with their own empty.” This was a marvelous miracle of creation. It demonstrated that Jesus is able to create food. He can do that of course because he is fully God and fully man.
However, many liberal scholars deny that this is a miracle of abundance. One theory they have is this: what took place was not a miracle—Jesus did not proliferate the loaves and pieces of fish to feed over five thousand people; rather he had the disciples go through the crowd to find people who were willing to share what they had with those who had brought nothing. Therefore, the real miracle here was not a supernatural event in space and time; it was an ethical miracle. Jesus had everybody share their lunch. Well, if that’s the point, it was missed completely by four gospel writers.
This was a miracle of abundance. We saw another miracle of abundance when Peter had the miraculous catch of fish. When Jesus told him to throw his net to the other side of the boat and there were so many fish caught that the boat almost sank. Jesus provides more than enough.
Let us remember that Jesus’ provision is always abundant. Jesus is always able to meet our every need, we can always look to Jesus to provide for our needs.
But the most important need that Jesus provides for is not material but spiritual. Jesus is our spiritual nourishment and provision, our sustenance and satisfaction. In John’s gospel Jesus says (in John 6:35) “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Jesus still provides for us today. He doesn’t provide miraculous amounts of bread but he does rely on his people to provide for those who do not have enough.
Think of how much this church and the Learning Center provided for Souper Bowl Sunday. Think of the Food Cupboard we donate to and send down to Chester Eastside. Jesus works through us to provide for those in need.
Remember the Israelites who got manna in the wilderness. Look at what we are told happened after they crossed out of the wilderness and into Cannan.
Joshua 5:12 says, “12 The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate of the produce of Canaan.” God provided for them when they could not provide for themselves. This is what we are to do, provide for those who cannot provide for themselves.
We are to go out into the world like the disciples and spread the good news of Jesus Christ, we are to tell the world of repentance and salvation, we are to offer the Bread of Life to a starving world.
Of all the things that we need to remember and never forget, the most important is the provision of eternal life that comes by trusting in Jesus Christ alone for salvation as he is offered in the gospel. Remember this, and never forget it. Amen.