Luke_9

 

Scripture:

Luke 9:13-17¹³ 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 everyone 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 distribute to the people. ¹⁷ They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 

Observation:

The chapter begins with a reminder that when Jesus called the twelve, they were given “power and authority” – and nothing else.  The power and authority to “drive out demons and to cure diseases” was all they were to bring – no extra clothes, food, no bag to carry anything in.  They were fully equipped for the journey.  

Understanding:

The miracles of Jesus multiplying food are some of my favorites. 

1. I love food.
2. I love the picture of provision it shows – even in the seemingly logistically impossible.

And…right now, in the midst of the pandemic, that provision message hits different. As we look ahead into a bunch of unknowns, many are filled with fear, scarcity thinking and, logistically speaking, that thought process makes sense.  But, what’s awesome, is we serve a God that makes sense of the nonsense, makes possible what seems impossible – whether that’s stretching two fish and five loaves to feed five thousand or stretching your last paycheck to last two extra weeks…or whatever the circumstances may be.  And, in true Jesus fashion, there will probably be leftovers!And what did the disciples have to do to make it possible?  They collected the fish they had, they put what they had in Jesus’ hands, then they took what Jesus gave them and distributed to the people, then picked up the leftovers…and “they all ate and were satisfied.” 

Life Application:

Remember the source.  Everything we have comes from Him. Remember he can do far more with a portion of the total than we can do with the total.Give Him the first fruits. Distribute the rest as He directs.Trust that God’s got you covered with what’s left. Rei