Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand – by Ritchie Way

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Jun 21, 2015 2665

When Jesus heard what had happened to John, he left in a boat and went to a lonely place by himself. But the crowds heard about it and followed him on foot from the towns. When he arrived, he saw a great crowd waiting. He felt sorry for them and healed those who were sick.

When it was evening, his followers came to him and said, “No one lives in this place, and it is already late. Send the people away so they can go to the towns and buy food for themselves.”

But Jesus answered, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish. ” Jesus said, “Bring the bread and the fish to me.” Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves and the two fish and, looking to heaven, he thanked God for the food. Jesus divided the bread and gave it to his followers, who gave it to the people. All the people ate and were satisfied. Then the followers filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of food. There were about five thousand men there who ate, not counting women and children’ (Matthew 14:14-21 NCV).

Jesus and his disciples had been working very hard and were tired and hungry (Mark 6:30-32). Then, when the news reached them that Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, had been executed by Herod Antipas (Matt. 14:1-13), that enervated them even more. So Jesus and his disciples got into a fishing boat and set off for a quiet place across the lake where they could rest and grieve.

At this time multitudes were passing through Galilee on their way to a festival in Jerusalem, and stories about the miracle-working prophet, Jesus of Galilee, had come to their ears.

Because these people were like sheep without a shepherd, Jesus had compassion on them and taught them many things. By mid afternoon the disciples began to worry about the multitude because they hadn’t eaten for a long time. Jesus told them to give the people something to eat. They replied that eight months wages wouldn’t be enough to purchase bread for them. Jesus asked, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”

When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”

After the disciples had seated the people on the grass in groups of fifties and hundreds, Jesus blessed the food, broke it into portions and handed some to each of the twelve disciples. They, in turn, passed it out to the people. And, like the widow’s oil, the food kept coming until every one was full.

So it is with any contribution we make towards the gospel. No matter how little our gift—be it no more than a small boy’s lunch—if we place it in Jesus’ hands, he will bless it and use it, and there will be even more left over than we gave at the beginning. The key is, no matter how much we may need it ourselves, if we place our offering in the hands of Jesus, he will not only multiply it for the blessings of others, we shall always receive back more than we gave.

– Ritchie Way