WEBVTT 00:00:32.670 --> 00:00:37.310 I invite you to open your Bibles if you got one to Luke chapter 9. 00:00:37.469 --> 00:00:39.869 Today we're looking at verses 10 through 17. 00:00:39.950 --> 00:00:42.350 So Luke 9, 10 through 17. 00:00:42.750 --> 00:00:47.229 And as you flip there in your Bible, I want you to think for a minute. 00:00:47.549 --> 00:00:54.429 Think about the greatest need that you see in your social circle right now. 00:00:54.750 --> 00:00:57.950 So I'm not talking about your own individual needs. 00:00:58.109 --> 00:01:00.750 I'm not even talking about the world's needs. 00:01:00.909 --> 00:01:06.909 I'm talking about the people in your life, the people who surround you, your friends, your neighbor, your family, your coworkers. 00:01:07.469 --> 00:01:09.069 Think about what they need. 00:01:09.549 --> 00:01:14.269 So maybe it's a child who's having significant trouble at home or at school. 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:29.310 Think about uh maybe it's a coworker who's going through a nasty divorce, or a neighbor who's just lost his job, he's almost out of savings, a single mom who's barely squeaking by, a friend who is being choked to death by his own sin. 00:01:29.469 --> 00:01:30.750 Think about that person. 00:01:30.990 --> 00:01:32.349 Think about that need. 00:01:32.750 --> 00:01:40.590 And let me ask you do you feel like you have what it's going to take to serve that person? 00:01:41.710 --> 00:01:42.909 Do you feel equipped? 00:01:42.990 --> 00:01:44.430 Do you feel prepared? 00:01:44.669 --> 00:01:48.349 Do you feel provisioned to fulfill that need? 00:01:49.150 --> 00:01:55.629 See, people come to me all the time for advice when they've got someone in their life who's struggling. 00:01:55.789 --> 00:02:06.430 And when they feel like they don't, when they can't say yes to that question, they don't have what they need, they're not equipped, they're not resourced, they don't know what to do, they don't know what to say, they don't know how to help. 00:02:06.669 --> 00:02:12.669 And honestly, it's it's often not because they haven't been equipped. 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:28.430 The people who come to me for advice, they know their Bible, they know where to get access to resources, they're good people, godly people, mature people, but in the face of great need, they feel it, we all feel it, our weakness, our our our lack. 00:02:28.750 --> 00:02:31.229 And heck, you know, I I feel it too. 00:02:31.389 --> 00:02:33.629 I spent a decade in seminary. 00:02:33.789 --> 00:02:36.590 I've read the Bible who knows how many times. 00:02:36.669 --> 00:02:38.830 I've read hundreds of books on scripture and theology. 00:02:38.909 --> 00:02:44.189 I've been doing ministry in one way, shape, form, or another for 15 years. 00:02:44.429 --> 00:02:52.349 But I still regularly self regularly find myself on the phone or sitting on my office or across the table from someone. 00:02:52.509 --> 00:02:54.909 Heck, this happened even yesterday afternoon. 00:02:55.069 --> 00:02:59.549 And just listening to them share with me this thing they're up against. 00:02:59.709 --> 00:03:04.909 And I'm thinking to myself, Lord, I've got nothing. 00:03:05.709 --> 00:03:07.709 I don't know what to say to this person. 00:03:07.789 --> 00:03:08.750 I don't know what to do. 00:03:08.829 --> 00:03:10.509 I don't know how to help them right now. 00:03:10.829 --> 00:03:13.949 Makes you feel really confident about coming to counseling with me, right? 00:03:15.949 --> 00:03:18.429 And so I sit there and I pray, right? 00:03:18.590 --> 00:03:22.509 I pray and I listen and I pray and I listen and I pray and I pray some more. 00:03:22.669 --> 00:03:23.229 You know what? 00:03:23.389 --> 00:03:25.310 Eventually God shows up. 00:03:25.629 --> 00:03:42.829 Eventually God shows up and gives me what I need to meet that person in that moment and serve them the way they need to be served, just like God promises to show up and help all of us as we lean into the mission that he has for us. 00:03:43.150 --> 00:03:46.109 See, that is what today's passage is about. 00:03:46.590 --> 00:03:48.269 The story is a very familiar one. 00:03:48.349 --> 00:03:54.829 We've probably heard it a hundred times, where Jesus performs this miracle in order to feed 5,000 people. 00:03:55.150 --> 00:04:04.829 But as we've seen in Luke, as is often the case, Jesus doesn't do that just to show off, just to flex, just to demonstrate for everybody that he's divine. 00:04:05.069 --> 00:04:08.509 He does it in order to teach his people a lesson. 00:04:08.750 --> 00:04:23.069 He does it to show us that when he calls us to meet a need, even when it's a great big need that we know is way beyond us, when he calls us to meet a need, he supplies the resources. 00:04:23.870 --> 00:04:26.509 And so we can lean into the hard stuff. 00:04:26.670 --> 00:04:35.709 We can lean into the humbling stuff, the scary stuff, the stuff we don't know how to deal with because we know that Jesus will never leave us hanging. 00:04:35.949 --> 00:04:37.870 He'll give us what we need. 00:04:38.350 --> 00:04:40.269 So, with that in mind, I'll invite you to rise. 00:04:40.430 --> 00:04:42.829 I'm going to read today's sermon passage. 00:04:43.550 --> 00:04:46.509 Again, it's Luke 9, verses 10 through 17. 00:04:49.390 --> 00:04:56.670 On their return, the apostles told him all that they had done, and he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 00:04:57.230 --> 00:05:04.910 When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:17.390 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place. 00:05:18.110 --> 00:05:22.189 But he said to them, You give them something to eat. 00:05:22.750 --> 00:05:31.790 They said, We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are to go and buy food for all these people, for there were about five thousand men. 00:05:32.110 --> 00:05:37.230 And he said to his disciples, Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each. 00:05:37.470 --> 00:05:40.430 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 00:05:40.750 --> 00:05:45.870 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and set a blessing over them. 00:05:46.110 --> 00:05:52.670 Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd, and they all ate and were satisfied. 00:05:52.910 --> 00:05:58.189 And what was left over was picked up twelve baskets of broken pieces. 00:05:58.910 --> 00:06:03.710 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever. 00:06:03.950 --> 00:06:05.950 Father, thank you for your word. 00:06:06.110 --> 00:06:08.110 Help us this morning to hear your word. 00:06:08.270 --> 00:06:16.430 May it equip us and provision us so that we can go forth and do your will and to meet the needs that you have placed in our lives. 00:06:16.510 --> 00:06:17.790 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:06:18.110 --> 00:06:18.750 Amen. 00:06:19.310 --> 00:06:20.750 You may be seated. 00:06:22.590 --> 00:06:29.710 So, as I said last week, Luke 9 is a long chapter with lots of twists and turns. 00:06:29.870 --> 00:06:36.830 There's a lot going on in this chapter, but the main thing it shows us is the disciples' preparation for ministry. 00:06:37.069 --> 00:06:44.990 Jesus is equipping the twelve, his inner circle, his apostles, so that they can take up his mission after he goes. 00:06:45.230 --> 00:06:53.390 Last week we saw him empower these men to proclaim the kingdom and to heal people, which they went forward and did with great success. 00:06:53.629 --> 00:07:00.910 And this week, our passage opens with the twelve apostles returning to Jesus to tell him about all that they had done. 00:07:01.470 --> 00:07:03.230 You can imagine those stories, right? 00:07:03.710 --> 00:07:14.030 The blind receiving their sight, the lame getting up to walk, the demon-possessed being delivered, the kingdom breaking out in words and in wonders. 00:07:14.270 --> 00:07:21.629 So they come back and they tell Jesus about all of that, and he put essentially pulls them aside and he tries to take them to Beth Saida. 00:07:21.710 --> 00:07:29.150 It doesn't say exactly why, but he's probably going to debrief them and to provide them more teaching, more training. 00:07:29.629 --> 00:07:30.830 But they never make it. 00:07:31.069 --> 00:07:36.510 They never make it to the city because as they're on their way, a great crowd amasses behind them. 00:07:36.830 --> 00:07:40.590 They're following Jesus, they want to see Jesus, they want to hear more from Jesus. 00:07:40.830 --> 00:07:46.189 And instead of shooing them away, verse 11 says that Jesus welcomes them. 00:07:46.510 --> 00:07:48.910 Jesus embraces them even. 00:07:49.069 --> 00:07:53.550 He speaks the kingdom of God and cures those who have need of healing. 00:07:53.790 --> 00:08:02.110 If those words sound familiar, it's because those are pretty much the words that Luke used to describe the 12's mission at the beginning of chapter 9. 00:08:02.270 --> 00:08:09.069 This is what they've been doing: teaching about the kingdom, proclaiming the kingdom, uh healing diseases. 00:08:09.150 --> 00:08:15.870 So they've been out doing it, and now they get to sit and watch as their master shows them how it's done. 00:08:16.110 --> 00:08:18.670 But in verse 12, an issue arises. 00:08:19.150 --> 00:08:21.950 The day is wearing away. 00:08:22.189 --> 00:08:27.230 And it appears that nobody in the crowd is prepared to spend the night out in the wilderness. 00:08:27.310 --> 00:08:29.230 They just they just kind of showed up, right? 00:08:29.310 --> 00:08:30.750 They didn't plan for this. 00:08:31.310 --> 00:08:35.309 So the 12, they're they're they're becoming attentive shepherds, right? 00:08:35.389 --> 00:08:37.389 They're tuned into the needs of the people. 00:08:37.549 --> 00:08:43.069 And so they come to Jesus in verse 12 with a with a sense of urgency about the problem. 00:08:43.230 --> 00:08:47.389 They even dare to tell Jesus what Jesus needs to do, right? 00:08:47.549 --> 00:08:56.189 Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place. 00:08:56.590 --> 00:09:04.349 Now, some commentators think that the 12 are kind of exasperated here, that they're getting impatient with Jesus, but I don't know. 00:09:04.589 --> 00:09:11.469 I think they're kind of responding to the circumstances the way any one of us would respond to the circumstances. 00:09:11.629 --> 00:09:30.110 And instead of rebuking them for that, Jesus uses this moment to teach them and to teach us that no matter what we come up against, no matter how big the circumstances are and how massive the need is, he's got us covered. 00:09:30.429 --> 00:09:31.469 He's got us covered. 00:09:31.549 --> 00:09:33.789 He's gonna give us what we need. 00:09:34.269 --> 00:09:44.750 So, three headings we're gonna consider as we work our way through this story: a divine commission, a faulty assumption, and an outrageous provision. 00:09:44.990 --> 00:09:48.029 So commission, assumption, provision. 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:50.269 That's that's the roadmap for today. 00:09:50.509 --> 00:09:53.389 And we'll start by talking about the divine commission. 00:09:53.549 --> 00:09:58.589 If you've you know, if you've been a part of a church for a while, this is probably your deal. 00:09:58.750 --> 00:10:07.709 You've had an idea for an outreach or a ministry, and and you've you've pitched it to your pastor, and what has the pastor said in response? 00:10:07.949 --> 00:10:09.230 That's a great idea. 00:10:09.309 --> 00:10:10.669 You want to lead it? 00:10:11.949 --> 00:10:18.750 You may not have liked that answer, but we're just following Jesus' example in verse 13. 00:10:19.069 --> 00:10:20.990 Jesus, the people are hungry. 00:10:21.069 --> 00:10:22.909 We need to do something about that. 00:10:23.230 --> 00:10:24.269 Oh, yeah? 00:10:24.750 --> 00:10:26.589 You give them something to eat. 00:10:27.149 --> 00:10:28.349 Great ministry idea. 00:10:28.429 --> 00:10:29.230 You lead it. 00:10:29.469 --> 00:10:31.309 Let me know if you need anything. 00:10:33.469 --> 00:10:36.589 You can imagine that caught the 12 off guard. 00:10:36.909 --> 00:10:46.990 Uh, here they are thinking that the best way to deal with the issue is to send the people off to fend for themselves, but Jesus says, no, you guys deal with it. 00:10:47.389 --> 00:10:49.469 Now, why would Jesus do that? 00:10:49.949 --> 00:10:53.789 The surface level answer, of course, is he's preparing these guys for ministry. 00:10:53.949 --> 00:10:55.709 They need to know how to deal with these things. 00:10:55.870 --> 00:10:58.669 They need to know how to plan a potluck on the fly. 00:10:59.789 --> 00:11:05.309 But there's a more fundamental question that we need to ask and answer about this. 00:11:05.629 --> 00:11:10.509 Why does Jesus ask the twelve to do anything at all? 00:11:11.469 --> 00:11:11.870 Right? 00:11:12.029 --> 00:11:13.629 Jesus is the God man. 00:11:14.029 --> 00:11:24.990 The mission is his mission, the power is his power, he can preach his own gospel, he can heal all the sick people himself, he can feed the people without the disciples' help. 00:11:25.149 --> 00:11:27.389 So why bother using them at all? 00:11:27.629 --> 00:11:29.709 Why not cut out the middleman? 00:11:30.589 --> 00:11:31.230 Really? 00:11:31.629 --> 00:11:35.469 Why bother using any of us at all? 00:11:36.349 --> 00:11:43.789 See, these questions tap us into a fundamental reality that is as old as creation itself. 00:11:44.509 --> 00:11:46.429 God is completely independent. 00:11:46.589 --> 00:11:48.909 The theological term for that is asse. 00:11:49.469 --> 00:11:53.789 God's asseity means that he exists completely of himself. 00:11:54.189 --> 00:12:01.709 He has no need of anything outside of him in order to be who he is or accomplish what he wishes to accomplish. 00:12:01.870 --> 00:12:04.509 God is asse, God is independent. 00:12:04.750 --> 00:12:09.949 And yet, God made this world as a theater of his glory. 00:12:10.189 --> 00:12:17.949 And he made us, he made human beings in his image to share in the manifestation of that glory. 00:12:18.509 --> 00:12:23.949 So we, made in God's image, were created to glorify God. 00:12:24.750 --> 00:12:29.629 Not because he needs us, but because he wants us. 00:12:29.949 --> 00:12:39.309 He wants us to participate in his glory and the promises that for God's people, his glory will forever be our joy. 00:12:40.189 --> 00:12:52.829 So when we come to the Gospels and we see Jesus sending people on mission, it's not because he needs them, it's because he wants them to share in the glory of redemption. 00:12:53.149 --> 00:13:01.469 When he tells the disciples to give the people something to eat, it's not because he's too busy to do it himself or because it's beneath his pay grade. 00:13:01.629 --> 00:13:05.149 It's because he is about to do something glorious. 00:13:05.389 --> 00:13:08.509 And he's inviting them to share in it. 00:13:09.149 --> 00:13:14.669 Now, of course, Jesus is inviting us to share in the same thing today. 00:13:15.069 --> 00:13:19.469 He's inviting us to share in his redemptive mission. 00:13:19.789 --> 00:13:23.230 The church is Christ's missionary body. 00:13:24.029 --> 00:13:28.110 If your faith is in Christ, then you're a missionary. 00:13:28.429 --> 00:13:34.669 And he is inviting you to share in the glory of his redemptive mission to seek and to save the lost. 00:13:34.909 --> 00:13:43.149 That means that God, by his Holy Spirit, has given each and every one of us gifts. 00:13:45.549 --> 00:13:49.549 So that we can play our own unique part in his mission. 00:13:49.870 --> 00:13:52.990 God has placed you in your circumstances. 00:13:53.309 --> 00:13:59.629 He has dropped you into the midst of a particular set of broken and needy people. 00:13:59.870 --> 00:14:03.149 The people he's placed in your life, they're not there by accident. 00:14:03.309 --> 00:14:04.509 He's placed them there. 00:14:04.669 --> 00:14:10.909 And he's saying to you now, hey, you give them something to eat. 00:14:11.309 --> 00:14:12.990 You minister to their need. 00:14:13.549 --> 00:14:17.149 You become a conduit of my goodness. 00:14:18.269 --> 00:14:21.389 You slip the check under the single mother's door. 00:14:21.949 --> 00:14:25.309 You take the friend to lunch after he's had a bad week. 00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:28.589 You speak a kind word into the chaos. 00:14:28.829 --> 00:14:30.990 You give them something to eat. 00:14:31.230 --> 00:14:36.349 Maybe literally, maybe figuratively, maybe both. 00:14:36.909 --> 00:14:39.549 That's what Jesus calls us to do. 00:14:39.789 --> 00:14:56.829 And we have to remember that when he does that, he promises to give us whatever resources we need to meet that moment according to his own will, according to his own wisdom, and according to his own kindness and goodness and grace. 00:14:57.629 --> 00:15:01.949 So that leads us to our second heading, a faulty assumption. 00:15:02.189 --> 00:15:07.069 Because when Jesus said, you give them something, how do you think the disciples responded to that? 00:15:07.149 --> 00:15:09.230 Or how do you think they should have responded? 00:15:09.389 --> 00:15:14.669 They should have said something like, Yes, Jesus, we don't know how, but we will take care of it. 00:15:14.829 --> 00:15:17.469 And we'll trust you to give us what we need to do that. 00:15:17.709 --> 00:15:19.549 But no, that's not how they respond. 00:15:19.629 --> 00:15:23.709 They respond the same way any of us would respond with confusion. 00:15:24.189 --> 00:15:26.589 They kind of look around at what they got. 00:15:27.230 --> 00:15:29.789 Five little loaves of bread, two fish. 00:15:30.029 --> 00:15:32.110 John 6 tells us that those aren't even there. 00:15:32.189 --> 00:15:37.069 They're gonna have to commandeer a little boy's lunch in order to try and feed the crowd. 00:15:37.629 --> 00:15:39.870 And clearly, that's not gonna be enough. 00:15:40.110 --> 00:15:48.669 So they keep thinking out loud, that's what we got, unless maybe we're supposed to go and buy food for the people. 00:15:48.829 --> 00:15:50.269 Maybe that's what Jesus means. 00:15:50.349 --> 00:15:51.709 Maybe that's what he wants us to do. 00:15:51.870 --> 00:15:57.709 He wants us to go into town and load up our carts with Chick-fil-A and bring it back to the crowds. 00:15:58.750 --> 00:16:00.750 Of course, that's not gonna work. 00:16:01.389 --> 00:16:08.189 How are you gonna pay for and transport enough food for 5,000 men, let alone their women and children? 00:16:08.349 --> 00:16:11.709 There easily could have been 10,000 people in that field, maybe more. 00:16:11.870 --> 00:16:13.309 There's just no way to do it. 00:16:13.549 --> 00:16:19.549 Jesus has given them an impossible task, and they're wrestling with it. 00:16:20.189 --> 00:16:29.469 Now, I don't want to be too hard on the 12th, because I'm not convinced that I would have done any better than them in this moment. 00:16:31.949 --> 00:16:34.189 But have they already forgotten? 00:16:34.990 --> 00:16:37.549 Have they forgotten what they've been through? 00:16:37.789 --> 00:16:40.909 Have they forgotten everything that they've seen? 00:16:41.309 --> 00:16:50.110 Have they forgotten that like five minutes ago Jesus gave them the power and authority to proclaim the kingdom and heal diseases and cast out demons? 00:16:50.750 --> 00:16:59.789 Have they forgotten how Jesus sent them out with nothing but clothes on their backs and he still made sure that they were taken care of at every step of the way? 00:17:00.750 --> 00:17:02.269 Have they forgotten? 00:17:03.870 --> 00:17:14.990 Whether they have or not, they're not making the connection between what Jesus has done for them then and what Jesus could do for them now. 00:17:15.470 --> 00:17:24.269 They're acting as though the well of God's provision has run completely dry and now they have to all of a sudden figure out how to fend for themselves. 00:17:25.870 --> 00:17:26.910 You ever do that? 00:17:28.430 --> 00:17:29.950 Do I ever do that? 00:17:30.750 --> 00:17:33.230 See, we are a forgetful people. 00:17:34.269 --> 00:17:36.349 It's kind of our deal, it's kind of our problem. 00:17:36.430 --> 00:17:45.309 It's why God commands us to get together every single week to partake of his word and be reminded of who he is and who he is for us. 00:17:45.470 --> 00:17:46.509 All the same things. 00:17:46.670 --> 00:17:49.149 We talk about a lot of the same things every Sunday. 00:17:49.309 --> 00:17:57.309 It's not because we got nothing better, well, it is because we got nothing better to talk about, but it's because we need to be reminded again and again and again. 00:17:58.829 --> 00:18:09.869 Whenever we find ourselves face to face with a need that just seems way too big for us, that we can't handle, we can't comprehend, we don't know how to step into it, we forget. 00:18:10.109 --> 00:18:14.109 We forget about all the times that God has provided for us in the past. 00:18:14.430 --> 00:18:19.149 We forget about how he's clothed and fed us every day of our lives. 00:18:19.470 --> 00:18:33.470 We forget that he's the one who puts a roof over our heads, he's the one who puts the air in our lungs, he's the one who, when we were dead in our sins, sent his son to bring us for from death to life. 00:18:33.789 --> 00:18:35.069 We forget. 00:18:35.710 --> 00:18:37.869 We forget just like the 12 forgotten. 00:18:38.109 --> 00:18:43.309 When we forget, we make the same faulty assumption that they did. 00:18:43.789 --> 00:18:49.389 We assume that God is done providing for us and now we're on our own. 00:18:49.710 --> 00:18:58.430 He gave us everything we needed to get the ball rolling, to get started on our mission, but now it's on us to figure out where we go from here and how to make it all happen. 00:18:58.990 --> 00:19:04.109 Notice how the 12 don't even ask Jesus to help them out. 00:19:04.430 --> 00:19:09.710 They tell him what to do, he tells them what to do, and they don't even ask him for help. 00:19:09.789 --> 00:19:11.789 They just start trying to figure it out. 00:19:12.029 --> 00:19:15.149 I mean, they know he can do it, don't they? 00:19:15.629 --> 00:19:20.909 Several of them were present with him on the lake when he scared up two boatloads of fish. 00:19:21.309 --> 00:19:24.029 Surely he could do something like that again here. 00:19:24.750 --> 00:19:28.750 But they don't ask, they try to figure it out themselves. 00:19:29.710 --> 00:19:39.389 Listen, if God hasn't already, he is going to bring you face to face with a need that seems way bigger than you can handle. 00:19:39.710 --> 00:19:44.589 He's going to call you to fill a gap that just simply blows your mind. 00:19:44.829 --> 00:19:48.269 And when he does, you're going to be tempted to forget. 00:19:48.509 --> 00:19:52.509 You're going to be tempted to try and fulfill that need out of your own storehouse. 00:19:52.589 --> 00:19:58.909 And when you realize that you've only got five loaves and two fish in there, you're going to break. 00:19:59.710 --> 00:20:09.950 Unless, unless God rescues you from yourself and reminds you that you've got this because he's got you. 00:20:10.589 --> 00:20:15.470 Which brings us to our third and final heading, an outrageous provision. 00:20:16.029 --> 00:20:20.430 It's true, the disciples didn't ask for help like they should have. 00:20:20.589 --> 00:20:28.109 But one of the great things about God is that he doesn't always wait for us to figure out what we need before he gives it to us. 00:20:28.430 --> 00:20:33.069 He sometimes answers our prayers before we even think to say them. 00:20:33.230 --> 00:20:34.829 And that's what happens here. 00:20:35.069 --> 00:20:40.190 In verse 14, Jesus tells his disciples to have everyone sit down in groups of 50. 00:20:40.349 --> 00:20:42.829 We're not sure why exactly it's groups of 50. 00:20:42.909 --> 00:20:51.869 He might be hearkening back to something in the wilderness generation about how Moses split the people up into groups of 50, uh, or it might just be a nice round number. 00:20:51.950 --> 00:20:52.909 We don't know. 00:20:53.230 --> 00:20:59.549 But we do know that the disciples, according to whatever logic Jesus has, they follow the instructions. 00:20:59.789 --> 00:21:01.710 And notice something about the instructions. 00:21:01.869 --> 00:21:07.869 He tells them how to sit down and divide and all that, but he doesn't tell them anything about ritual purity. 00:21:08.190 --> 00:21:11.309 He doesn't say anything about washing their hands before they eat. 00:21:11.470 --> 00:21:14.990 There's no concern for the precise preparation of the food. 00:21:15.069 --> 00:21:20.990 There's no checking to make sure that the bread and the fish are kosher or that whatever he's gonna produce is kosher. 00:21:21.309 --> 00:21:22.109 There's nothing like that. 00:21:22.190 --> 00:21:23.869 It's just it's not a thought. 00:21:24.190 --> 00:21:27.629 See, Jesus was in a predominantly Jewish area. 00:21:27.869 --> 00:21:29.710 Predominantly Jews in the crowd. 00:21:29.869 --> 00:21:33.069 There may have been some Gentiles there, but mostly Jews. 00:21:33.470 --> 00:21:46.190 But even in a predominantly Jewish area like Galilee, good Jews always took precautions to make sure they were eating the right food with the right people in the right way. 00:21:46.349 --> 00:21:48.990 It was a matter of faithfulness to the Mosaic law. 00:21:49.149 --> 00:21:55.710 It was a matter of desiring to maintain their character as a holy people set apart to God. 00:21:56.829 --> 00:21:59.710 Jesus is all for faithfulness. 00:21:59.950 --> 00:22:10.990 Jesus is all for holiness, but a part of what he's showing us here by kind of leaving those things aside is that there is room for everyone at his table. 00:22:11.389 --> 00:22:16.909 He is the generous host that invites any and everyone to come and sit at the table with him. 00:22:17.389 --> 00:22:22.109 And he shows himself to be that host when he offers the blessing in verse 16. 00:22:22.430 --> 00:22:25.549 You go over to someone's house to eat, they offer the blessing. 00:22:25.710 --> 00:22:28.269 That's how it works today, that's how it worked then. 00:22:28.589 --> 00:22:31.549 But there's something strange about this process. 00:22:31.950 --> 00:22:33.069 Particular blessing. 00:22:33.230 --> 00:22:37.710 Typically, the host blesses God for the food he's provided. 00:22:38.029 --> 00:22:40.750 But Jesus blesses the bread. 00:22:41.789 --> 00:22:43.309 Why does he do that? 00:22:43.629 --> 00:22:52.349 Well, if we flip back all the way to Genesis 1, we see God create the living creatures and call upon them to multiply and fill the earth. 00:22:52.750 --> 00:22:57.230 That's one of the differences between the plants and the living beings. 00:22:57.389 --> 00:23:01.069 The plants produce according to their seed after their own kind. 00:23:01.309 --> 00:23:04.430 The animals, the living creatures, multiply. 00:23:04.670 --> 00:23:08.990 And that multiplication is contingent upon God's blessing. 00:23:09.230 --> 00:23:12.670 God's blessing is the thing that brings about multiplication. 00:23:12.829 --> 00:23:14.509 No blessing, no multiplication. 00:23:14.829 --> 00:23:16.750 Blessing, abundance. 00:23:17.309 --> 00:23:25.069 So Jesus blesses the bread and the fish so that by his blessing they might multiply. 00:23:25.470 --> 00:23:36.029 Just one of those many, many ways that Luke is cluing us into the fact that the power Jesus wields is a divine power, because Jesus is a divine person. 00:23:36.190 --> 00:23:37.629 He's God in the flesh. 00:23:37.789 --> 00:23:46.190 And so just like he did with the wind and the waves in chapter 8, Jesus commands creation here to do his bidding. 00:23:46.509 --> 00:23:51.710 He manipulates nature in order to provide for his people. 00:23:53.149 --> 00:23:54.750 That's incredible. 00:23:55.069 --> 00:23:56.589 He does it all the time. 00:23:56.829 --> 00:24:02.750 That's why we can pray to him and ask him for stuff that seems impossible. 00:24:03.230 --> 00:24:12.589 But as incredible as it is, here comes what I think is the most important part of the whole story in the second half of verse 16. 00:24:12.829 --> 00:24:17.470 Jesus says the blessing, he breaks the loaves, and then what does he do? 00:24:17.629 --> 00:24:20.029 Does he hand the food out to the crowds? 00:24:21.710 --> 00:24:23.309 No, he doesn't. 00:24:23.629 --> 00:24:26.029 He hands the food to the 12. 00:24:26.509 --> 00:24:29.309 And the 12 put it out to the crowd. 00:24:30.109 --> 00:24:34.029 That detail right there is the whole ball game. 00:24:34.349 --> 00:24:38.349 And we probably often skip over it because we've heard the story a hundred times. 00:24:38.589 --> 00:24:42.589 Jesus blesses and breaks the bread and then he hands it to the disciples. 00:24:42.829 --> 00:24:43.470 Why? 00:24:44.029 --> 00:24:48.430 So that they can do what he told them to do. 00:24:48.829 --> 00:24:51.389 You give them something to eat. 00:24:51.789 --> 00:24:59.950 So the point here isn't just that Jesus fed this whole big crowd of people, as incredible and important as that is. 00:25:00.190 --> 00:25:09.230 The point is that he provided his disciples with the resources that they need to meet the impossible need. 00:25:12.190 --> 00:25:14.829 He didn't take the mission away from them. 00:25:15.149 --> 00:25:21.629 He didn't set them on the sideline to do it himself because he didn't like the way that they responded to his words. 00:25:21.869 --> 00:25:29.549 No, he stepped in and gave them what they need so that they could faithfully fulfill what he had called them to. 00:25:29.710 --> 00:25:39.470 And he didn't just give them enough to squeak by, he gave them enough to satisfy the hunger of every man, woman, and child in the crowd, and then some. 00:25:40.109 --> 00:25:53.149 Verse 17 says they packed up 12 baskets full of leftovers, each one of those baskets serving as a personal testimony to the 12 that Jesus was able to supply their every need. 00:25:53.950 --> 00:26:01.950 Remember, this chapter, this whole chapter, is about preparing the 12 to lead the church in Jesus' mission after his ascension. 00:26:02.109 --> 00:26:12.909 They've got a big job ahead of them, and there is going to be a whole heck of a lot harder stuff before them than just feeding a crowd of 5,000 men and their families. 00:26:13.230 --> 00:26:16.430 And so Jesus is drilling into their consciousness here. 00:26:16.589 --> 00:26:20.349 The fact that there is no need that is too great for him to supply. 00:26:20.509 --> 00:26:29.230 He's given the disciples all the power, all the authority, all the resources, everything they need so that they can do what he's calling them to do. 00:26:29.389 --> 00:26:30.509 And guess what? 00:26:34.589 --> 00:26:41.869 You may be here with us this morning, and maybe maybe you don't identify with the 12 so much as with the crowd. 00:26:42.109 --> 00:26:45.549 There are needs in your life, but they're not other people's needs. 00:26:45.710 --> 00:26:52.670 You can't, they're your needs, and you can't get past your needs in order to see the needs of others. 00:26:54.589 --> 00:27:11.389 You might not be convinced about all the things that we Christians believe about Jesus, but here you are, because there's something in you that cannot ignore who this Jesus is and what he might be able to do for you. 00:27:11.549 --> 00:27:18.029 There's a hunger in you that you haven't figured out to name or figured out how to name. 00:27:18.829 --> 00:27:22.670 And he seems like the only one who might be able to satisfy it. 00:27:22.990 --> 00:27:29.149 In John 6, we have another account of the miraculous feeding that we've been reading about this morning. 00:27:29.710 --> 00:27:34.670 In that account of this story, it focuses on the people coming to Jesus the day after. 00:27:34.909 --> 00:27:43.069 And when they come to him, he tells them that the bread he gave them was just a token, that ultimately he is the bread. 00:27:43.309 --> 00:27:48.909 He is the bread of heaven that gives life, and that whoever comes to him will never hunger. 00:27:49.069 --> 00:27:52.509 Whoever believes in him will never thirst ever again. 00:27:53.149 --> 00:28:03.869 Jesus, Jesus is the bread of heaven that allowed himself to be broken on the cross so that if we partake of him through faith, we can be filled to the full. 00:28:07.389 --> 00:28:13.789 And he promises that if we come to him by grace through faith, he will never send us away empty. 00:28:14.109 --> 00:28:17.869 He will never cast us out with empty hands. 00:28:18.269 --> 00:28:25.470 And so if you find yourself in the crowd here with us today, that's Jesus' word for you this morning before any other word. 00:28:26.589 --> 00:28:42.269 But for those who have been fed by Jesus, for those who've trusted in him as our Savior, and who have been joined by faith to his body, the church, then our place isn't in the crowd so much as it is with the twelve. 00:28:43.149 --> 00:28:45.549 Jesus is standing beside us. 00:28:45.789 --> 00:28:48.829 Jesus is placing his hand on our shoulder, as it were. 00:28:54.670 --> 00:29:01.629 And he's standing there with a full basket in his hands saying, Hey, go give them something to eat. 00:29:01.950 --> 00:29:06.190 Grab something out of the basket and go give them something to eat? 00:29:07.629 --> 00:29:09.470 Do we see those people? 00:29:10.349 --> 00:29:15.789 Do we see Jesus as he stands there holding the basket full of everything we need to serve them? 00:29:16.109 --> 00:29:26.990 And do we believe that when Jesus brings us face to face with that incredible need, whatever it might be, that he will give us everything we need to fulfill it? 00:29:27.309 --> 00:29:28.829 Do we believe that? 00:29:29.710 --> 00:29:37.869 George Mueller, if you've been in the church a while, you've probably heard his story or maybe read his biography, his autobiography. 00:29:38.029 --> 00:29:42.029 But George Mueller was an evangelist, a Christian teacher, preacher. 00:29:42.109 --> 00:29:44.829 He lived in England in the 19th century. 00:29:44.990 --> 00:29:48.109 And God put it on his heart to care for orphans. 00:29:48.269 --> 00:29:59.549 And so in 1836, he opened up an orphanage, and he did it with the radical conviction that he would not ask another human being for support in any way. 00:29:59.789 --> 00:30:06.190 He wouldn't raise funds, he wouldn't take out loans, he wouldn't go from church to church, he wouldn't do any of that. 00:30:06.349 --> 00:30:12.509 He would simply pray to God and trust that God would give him everything he needed. 00:30:12.750 --> 00:30:18.109 I'm not saying that's necessarily what you need to do if you're starting a ministry, but it's what he did. 00:30:18.349 --> 00:30:25.230 Because he wanted to witness to the secularizing England of his day that God still does stuff. 00:30:26.029 --> 00:30:27.629 And God did stuff. 00:30:27.950 --> 00:30:31.149 Muller, he he kept extensive records and journals. 00:30:31.309 --> 00:30:34.029 You could read about this in his autobiography or in his journals. 00:30:34.589 --> 00:30:39.869 He would keep a tally of his prayer requests in all of the ways in which God answered them. 00:30:39.950 --> 00:30:40.829 And it's crazy. 00:30:41.230 --> 00:30:44.750 When the orphanage would need more beds, beds would just show up. 00:30:44.990 --> 00:30:50.190 When they needed more space, people would just come out of the woodwork and offer them money and real estate. 00:30:50.589 --> 00:30:55.389 When food ran out, they'd be preparing to sit down to a meal and they had nothing. 00:30:55.470 --> 00:30:58.670 And carts full of milk and bread would just show up at their door. 00:30:58.829 --> 00:30:59.389 Crazy. 00:30:59.549 --> 00:31:11.230 Time after time, miracle after miracle, God would give Mueller everything he needed, exactly what he needed, to care for thousands and thousands of orphans. 00:31:12.029 --> 00:31:19.629 To meet this immense and incredible need in England and to do it in a way that brought God all of the glory. 00:31:21.309 --> 00:31:22.990 We are surrounded. 00:31:24.109 --> 00:31:26.909 We are surrounded by needy people. 00:31:27.549 --> 00:31:28.750 It may not seem like it. 00:31:29.069 --> 00:31:36.750 Our county is the second most affluent county in the state, but roughly 10% of our neighbors still live below the federal poverty line. 00:31:36.990 --> 00:31:42.829 And in our schools, 30 to 35% of the children qualify for free and reduced lunches. 00:31:43.230 --> 00:31:46.029 So there are needy people all around us. 00:31:46.190 --> 00:31:49.389 You don't have to go too far either direction in Lebanon Road to see them. 00:31:53.389 --> 00:31:57.149 But this is about more than just food. 00:31:57.629 --> 00:32:00.990 There's more than one way to be hungry. 00:32:01.470 --> 00:32:06.589 And so as we come to a close, I want to bring us back to where we started. 00:32:07.470 --> 00:32:08.990 Who comes to mind? 00:32:09.549 --> 00:32:16.190 What comes to mind when I ask you about the great needs you see in your world today? 00:32:17.710 --> 00:32:31.309 And what would you do, as you're thinking about that need, what would you do if Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to whisper in your ear right now, you give them something to eat. 00:32:32.349 --> 00:32:37.470 Would you look around and say, sorry, Jesus, I've only got a couple of loaves of bread, a couple of fish. 00:32:37.549 --> 00:32:38.750 I can't take care of that. 00:32:38.990 --> 00:32:40.589 I don't feel equipped to deal with that. 00:32:40.670 --> 00:32:42.670 Somebody else is going to have to do that. 00:32:43.950 --> 00:32:49.549 Or would you say to them, Jesus, this is more than I know how to handle? 00:32:49.869 --> 00:32:53.789 But I know you've got everything I need. 00:32:54.750 --> 00:32:56.750 And I trust that you're going to help me. 00:32:56.990 --> 00:32:58.909 I trust that you're going to provide for me. 00:32:59.149 --> 00:33:01.149 I trust that you're going to show me the way. 00:33:01.309 --> 00:33:06.750 I trust that you're going to use me to meet this need in one way or another. 00:33:08.029 --> 00:33:09.549 What would change? 00:33:10.190 --> 00:33:11.710 Would you lean in? 00:33:12.750 --> 00:33:13.950 I think you would. 00:33:14.109 --> 00:33:15.309 And so would I. 00:33:16.109 --> 00:33:17.309 Let's pray. 00:33:22.430 --> 00:33:25.149 Father, we so often feel so small. 00:33:25.470 --> 00:33:27.389 Because we are so small. 00:33:28.430 --> 00:33:31.069 There are needs that are placed before us. 00:33:31.309 --> 00:33:34.589 There are circumstances that we don't know how to handle. 00:33:34.909 --> 00:33:37.470 People we don't know how to serve. 00:33:38.190 --> 00:33:41.230 Systems that we don't know how to fix. 00:33:42.990 --> 00:33:54.029 Lord, as we find ourselves face to face with these things, yes, help us to be humble, but also help us to be bold. 00:33:54.589 --> 00:34:00.029 Knowing that if you are in us and you are with us, then we've got everything we need. 00:34:00.670 --> 00:34:02.909 Not in ourselves, but in you. 00:34:03.389 --> 00:34:05.549 Not of ourselves, but of you. 00:34:05.950 --> 00:34:10.510 Not for ourselves, but for them and ultimately for you. 00:34:11.309 --> 00:34:14.190 We long to glorify you in all that we do. 00:34:14.430 --> 00:34:17.630 We long to do good for the people you've placed in our lives. 00:34:17.869 --> 00:34:21.150 We long to make much of the name of Jesus. 00:34:21.550 --> 00:34:31.470 We long to declare the gospel to the ends of the earth, the gospel in its fullness, the gospel in its beauty, the gospel as it ministers to both soul and body. 00:34:32.349 --> 00:34:48.829 So I pray, Lord, that as we go today, as we go back into our world, as we interact with the people we interact with at work, at home, at school, in the neighborhood, I pray that you would make us sensitive to the needs that you've placed before us. 00:34:49.630 --> 00:34:59.389 And Lord, when we do come face to face with them, you would move us to lean in rather than to back out. 00:35:00.509 --> 00:35:05.789 Give us what we need and help us to encourage one another in this work. 00:35:06.509 --> 00:35:11.869 And I pray, Lord, that as we do, as we go, you would be made much of. 00:35:12.190 --> 00:35:28.989 That the name of Jesus would be lifted high and proclaimed, and that people would see you in us, and that they would come to know a better story than one they could ever have written for themselves. 00:35:29.150 --> 00:35:35.309 The story that you're writing in your world for your glory and for our joy. 00:35:35.630 --> 00:35:37.150 We pray in Jesus' name. 00:35:37.469 --> 00:35:38.110 Amen. 00:35:39.949 --> 00:35:46.909 Going to invite our ruling elders forward now to prepare our um prepare the table. 00:35:50.269 --> 00:35:50.829