Today (February 23, 2023) as Kathie and I were in a time of Bible reading and prayer, Holy Spirit spoke to me while Kathie was reading the account of the feeding of the 5,000 from Mark Chapter 6:30-44. Matthew, Chapter 14:13-21 and John 6:1-14 also contain accounts of feeding 5,000. Incidentally, there were likely 2-4 times that number of people who were fed in these accounts, because in that culture and time they only counted the men in their head count.
I am not going to read these accounts to you, because you need to do that for your own understanding.
But, I believe Holy Spirit has something to teach us out of the feeding of the 5,000 today. With that in mind, I want us to look closely at those who participated in this miraculous event as described in the accounts of Matthew, Mark and John.
The cast of characters in the feeding of the 5,000 are:
1. Jesus
2. The People
3. The Disciples
4. The Giver
Then, I want to think of the cast of characters in relationship to the Offering as a catalyst for a miracle.
First, let’s think about the people. From these verses we can conclude that there were thousands of people, maybe more than 10-15,000 people in this group. Upon seeing the crowd, Jesus experienced a profound compassion for them. They people were desperate; desperate enough to follow Jesus on foot from various cities to an out-of-the-way isolated place. Marks account tells us that they “ran.” We also know there were sick people among them, because Matthew’s account says the Jesus healed them. As the day was growing late, the people were getting hungry. For some reason, this scene brings to mind the hungry, thirsty Israelites with Moses in the wilderness in the Book of Exodus.
In perspective, the people who came to Jesus were desperate. They were needy. Today, every Sunday morning there are thousands of sanctuaries filled with millions of needy, desperate people. Some are physically sick and hungry. Millions are Spiritually desperate and hungry. They need to see Jesus.
Next, let’s look at Jesus’ Disciples. They saw a need. But, they saw it in physical terms. They were thinking of a solution within the confines of human reasoning. In all three accounts, they had a “not enough” mentality. They did not understand that their not-enough and the peoples’ not-enough was an opportunity for the God who is More Than Enough (who was in their midst) to manifest a miracle of provision that would become more than enough to meet the people’s need.
In Matthew’s Gospel, their answer was, “Let them solve their own problem.” Send them away to a village and let them buy their own supper. In Mark’s Gospel, they were asking for authority to buy enough bread to feed the crowd. In John’s Gospel, their answer was, “We can’t meet that need. We don’t have enough money.”
But, in their time of need, the disciples did the right thing. They brought the need to Jesus. John 6:6 tells us that this was a test, because Jesus knew what He was going to do.
In John 6:8-9, we learn that it’s not what we don’t have, but what we do have, regardless of how insignificant or small it may seem, that God will use to meet the need…to provide more than enough.
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” - NKJV
Andrew, the rest of the Disciples and the people are about to find out.
“Small and insignificant in the hands of Jesus is more than enough.”
A lad became a catalyst for a miracle that would be recorded and rehearsed for thousands of years and told to countless generations. Our children are more than enough when we love them, bless them, teach them, and give them to Jesus. Someone cared enough for a child that day to pack a lunch. Someone had given enough to that child that he would give his meal to meet the need of others. The mundane things you provide for a child could become the catalyst for a miracle.
The lad gave his meal. I am not sure who he physically gave it to. He may have given it to Andrew or one of the other Disciples, but ultimately His gift was placed in the hands of Jesus.
In Mark’s account we find the Jesus asked the people to get organized, to prepare themselves to receive. Feeding 10,000+ people requires organization. Mark 6:40 in the Amplified Bible tells us, “They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties [so that the crowd resembled an orderly arrangement of colorful garden plots].”
In the hands of Jesus, this boy’s offering was miraculously multiplied. All of the people were fed and the disciples collected twelve baskets full of leftovers.
Disciples get hungry too. Mark 6:31, indicates that the disciples accompanied Jesus to this secluded place without having time to eat. This story could well be labeled the feeding of the 5,012.
Here are some take-aways from this story that I believe apply to the Church today:
1. There are desperate people in our sanctuary every Sunday. Some are physically hungry, sick and needy. They are also Spiritually hungry and needing to find Jesus.
2. As Jesus’ disciples in this day, we need to see needy people with “the profound compassion” of Jesus.
3. When their needs seem too overwhelming for us, we need to move beyond the confines of human understanding to see in the Spirit with the eye of faith. Impossibilities are really opportunities for the miraculous.
4. We need to bring the impossibilities that confront us to Jesus.
5. We can’t afford limit Jesus’ ability to use seemingly small and insignificant people and things as the catalyst for the miraculous.
6. We need to encourage the rising generations to give. We need to model compassion, generosity, and preparation for our children. We need to “pack their lunch,” but teach them to know when to give it away as a seed for the miraculous.
7. Miracles come to those who are aligned and prepared to receive. Do whatever it takes to get where Jesus is. The words of Jesus tell us how to get organized, arranged and prepared to receive miracles.
8. When we give, we need to visualize ourselves placing our gift into the hands of Jesus. We aren’t giving to an usher, a preacher, or a not-for-profit tax-exempt organization. We are giving to Jesus!
9. Our decree should be, “The God who is More Than Enough is multiplying my gift to meet the needs of all who are seeking Him today with a surplus leftover to meet my needs.”
10. It’s a test. An open book test! Jesus already knows what He will do. He told us in Luke 6:38, the, Luke 6:38, “Don’t hold back—give freely, and you’ll have plenty poured back into your lap—a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, brimming over. You’ll receive in the same measure you give.” - The Voice
David Burnett AKA God's Family Plan: Establishing Generational Blessing - 2022