Matthew 15:32-39 Feeding the Four Thousand
“Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?”
And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”
So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude. So they all ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.”
Well, it’s been an exhilarating and exhausting three days of ministry as Jesus has healed all those coming to him. But the food people have brought with them is finished, and many of them are so hungry that if they leave for home now, they will collapse. Naturally, the disciples are unhappy! “Master, have you LOOKED at the number of people! You have 4,000 men plus women and children. There must be nearly 10,000 people sitting out there on the hillside! Where can we possibly get enough food for such a mob?”
You really can’t blame the disciples; these are practical men who know how much a hungry crowd can eat. It’s not that the disciples don’t care, but they really have no idea what to do in such a situation. But Jesus isn’t worried because he already knows how he will handle it.
“Peter, what food do you have?” Jesus asks. “Well, we have seven loaves and a few fish, but they’re awfully small,” Peter answers. “No problem,” Jesus says, “Just have people sit down and hand me the bread and the fish.” As the crowd sits on the stony ground, Jesus blesses the bread and the fish and then gives the baskets to his disciples. The disciples begin distributing the bread and the fish, but a marvelous thing happens. As soon as one loaf of bread is finished, another appears in its place. The same thing happens with the fish. Even when some people in the crowd are demanding second helpings, there is still sufficient food to care for them. By the time the feeding is completed, there are still seven large baskets full of fragments left. The disciples are exhausted but happy-now they too can eat, and there will be food for the next few days as well.
We read these miracle stories and wonder if God really does this stuff. Yes, He does. In the fall of 1980, I was interviewing for pediatric surgery, and the airfares took most of my free money. I had bought dry supplies back in August, but now it was October. One night I realized that I should have run out of flour, beans, etc., some time ago but that I had not. The level of the supplies in my cannisters was still only half-way down. That’s when I realized that God was up to something. During this time, I was paying tithes at church and supporting an orphan through World Vision. I was not wasting money on myself. God continued to replenish my food stores until I had completed interviewing and was no longer paying for transportation.
One pastor friend told of how his wife and he made it back from Mississippi all the way to Charleston, WV, on one tank of gas, despite the fact that they should have filled two or three times. Another pastor’s wife told of having nothing in the house but some dried beans and a ham bone. When this lady cooked the beans and the ham bone together, there were large pieces of ham in the stew pot, even though the ham bone had been bare when she put it into the pot.
Notice the conditions for this miracle: The disciples were carrying out their normal duties, and the crowd had done nothing wrong but were following Jesus because they wanted to see him do miracles and because they needed help. Nobody was trying to gain anything from this situation, apart from healing and deliverance. Nobody had failed to plan; events simply overtook the crowd. It’s likely that those people had carried food with them, but three days is enough to exhaust any supplies they might have carried.
God steps in when we are doing His will. Are there ever times when God will deliver even if we have failed to plan or have planned badly? Yes. Sometimes God is merciful and delivers us from our own foolishness. The key concept here is that we look to God and not to ourselves.
This does not mean that God blesses poor planning or wastage of resources. Back when VCR’s were new and very expensive, one pastor friend spent the money from an unexpected windfall on a fancy VCR, only to need expensive dental work later in the week. God intended that windfall to cover the dental work, not something frivolous.We may sometimes find ourselves in difficult circumstances of our own making; but even then, God will deliver us when we humble ourselves and ask Him for help. May God help us to trust Him as we minister, so that we will work fearlessly!
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to trust that when You guide us, You will provide. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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