Feeding Luke 9:12-17

In the crisis hours of life, when your resources are low and your responsibilities are great, it is good to remember that God already has the problem solved. Jesus started with what they had, before we ask God to do the impossible, let's start wit the possible and give Him what we have. The Lord looked up to heaven, the source of our daily bread (Matt. 6:11), gave thanks, and blessed the food; and the bread and fish were multiplied. Jesus was the producer and his disciples were the distributors. Were in the same role today Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith and we our the distributors of the grace that He has shed on us. The amazing thing is that everybody was served and satisfied, and there were twelve baskets of leftovers, one for each of the disciples. This miracle was more than an act of mercy for hungry people, although that was important. It was also a sign of our Lord's Messiahship and an illustration of God's gracious provision for man's salvation. The next day, Jesus preached a sermon on "the bread of life" and urged the people to receive Him just as they had received the bread (John 6:22-59). But the people were more interested in their stomachs than their souls, and completely missed the spiritual impact of the miracle. How often is that true in our lives. God maybe directing us, or leading us, or revealing something to us and all we see is the small picture and miss the real miracle. Their desire was to make Jesus king so He could give them bread for the rest of their lives! (John 6:14-15.)

I often have wondered after Jesus returned to heaven did the disciples ever sit around and reminisce about all of Jesus miracles? This miracle teaches us to have compassion, to look upon problems as opportunities for God to work, and to give Him all that we have and trust Him to meet our needs. If we do all we can, He will step in and do the rest. Corrie Ten Boom said, "Let God's promises shine on your problems." That is good counsel for us to rely on.