Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
Last week, we talked about how easy it is for us to forget that we live and walk in the very presence of God, neglecting to trust Him to provide what we need exactly when we need it. God is never caught off-guard by what we need; He already knows what we will need long before we do.
While Philip is trying to solve the problem of feeding 5,000 people by figuring out how much money it would cost to buy and feed them, another disciple, Andrew, sees a boy coming with five small loaves and two small fish. Andrew says out loud what the disciples must’ve thought, especially Philip: “That’s all good and fine, but that food will feed only two or three men, if that!” They probably thought it was cute the boy was willing to give up all the food he had with him, but in their adult minds, they “knew” it would take so much more than that.
Once hearing about the food, Jesus tells the disciples to tell everyone to sit down and proceeds to break the bread and the fish for distribution. Out of five small loaves and two small fish, that evening 5,000 people ate until they were sated. There was so much food left that twelve baskets of food were filled with leftovers. How did five loaves and two fish become multiplied enough to feed that big of a crowd and have sizable leftovers? I don’t know, but I do know that a boy heard that the disciples needed food to serve the crowd. All he had was what he had: five small barley loaves and two small fish, caught a bit earlier in the day.
So, he walks up to the disciples and to Jesus and says, “I know you need to feed all of these people, so here is all I have on hand. I know it’s not enough, but it is all I have.” But, it was enough. It was actually more than enough. I’ve wondered what would have happened if no one had come forward with food, or if the boy wasn’t willing to give up his food because he saw that it would be pointless as it would have only fed a couple of people. Would 5,000 people have gone hungry because no one was willing to offer their supper?
How many times have we found ourselves in the boy’s situation? Sometimes we’re faced with what seems like insurmountable obstacles and we feel like our emotional, physical, spiritual, and financial resources are so meager, so puny, so feeble. It almost feels embarrassing, so we never offer it up. We don’t offer that available evening we have. We don’t throw in that available $10 in our wallet. We don’t offer whatever available wisdom we have. We think that God just can’t do much with the little that we think we have.
I counter that thinking with five small barley loaves and two small fish. God can do enormous things with any resource that we have, great or small, multiplying our offerings and using it to feed His people. We just have to, like that boy did so many years ago, have the courage to offer it up in the first place.
-Matt
Andrewbreaddisciplesfeedfishfive thousandJesusJohnlittleloavesmuchofferingPhilip
…With Our Offerings, Part II
March 18, 2010
Calvary
Comments Off on …With Our Offerings, Part II
Matt
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?”
Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
Last week, we talked about how easy it is for us to forget that we live and walk in the very presence of God, neglecting to trust Him to provide what we need exactly when we need it. God is never caught off-guard by what we need; He already knows what we will need long before we do.
While Philip is trying to solve the problem of feeding 5,000 people by figuring out how much money it would cost to buy and feed them, another disciple, Andrew, sees a boy coming with five small loaves and two small fish. Andrew says out loud what the disciples must’ve thought, especially Philip: “That’s all good and fine, but that food will feed only two or three men, if that!” They probably thought it was cute the boy was willing to give up all the food he had with him, but in their adult minds, they “knew” it would take so much more than that.
Once hearing about the food, Jesus tells the disciples to tell everyone to sit down and proceeds to break the bread and the fish for distribution. Out of five small loaves and two small fish, that evening 5,000 people ate until they were sated. There was so much food left that twelve baskets of food were filled with leftovers. How did five loaves and two fish become multiplied enough to feed that big of a crowd and have sizable leftovers? I don’t know, but I do know that a boy heard that the disciples needed food to serve the crowd. All he had was what he had: five small barley loaves and two small fish, caught a bit earlier in the day.
So, he walks up to the disciples and to Jesus and says, “I know you need to feed all of these people, so here is all I have on hand. I know it’s not enough, but it is all I have.” But, it was enough. It was actually more than enough. I’ve wondered what would have happened if no one had come forward with food, or if the boy wasn’t willing to give up his food because he saw that it would be pointless as it would have only fed a couple of people. Would 5,000 people have gone hungry because no one was willing to offer their supper?
How many times have we found ourselves in the boy’s situation? Sometimes we’re faced with what seems like insurmountable obstacles and we feel like our emotional, physical, spiritual, and financial resources are so meager, so puny, so feeble. It almost feels embarrassing, so we never offer it up. We don’t offer that available evening we have. We don’t throw in that available $10 in our wallet. We don’t offer whatever available wisdom we have. We think that God just can’t do much with the little that we think we have.
I counter that thinking with five small barley loaves and two small fish. God can do enormous things with any resource that we have, great or small, multiplying our offerings and using it to feed His people. We just have to, like that boy did so many years ago, have the courage to offer it up in the first place.
-Matt
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