Feed My Sheep
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Twice, Jesus told his disciple to feed His sheep.
In both instances, the disciples didn’t have nearly enough food to do so.
And in both cases, God provided.
Feeding the 5,000
Feeding the 5,000
When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.”
Umm, Jesus?
It’s getting pretty late, and we’ve got all these people here.
Don’t you think you should stop for a while so they can find some food?
Sounds like a legitimate concern,
But Jesus has other plans, and another lesson to teach.
But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”
Wait, you want US to feed them?
A denarii was a days wages,
It would take 200 days wages just to give them something to eat.
Just how are we supposed to feed this crowd of 5,000 men, plus women and children?
Let me tell you a secret, You’re not!
But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.”
Man’s provisions are no where near enough to feed such a crowd,
Or even to give each one a morsel.
But Jesus told them to feed this crowd.
What are they to do?
Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.
This was impossible.
Not only is it impossible to feed 5,000 with just five loaves of bread and a couple of fish,
But they picked up TWELVE BASKETS of leftovers.
It reminds me of how Jesus responded to the disciples when they asked “Who then can be saved?”
But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”
It was utterly impossible for the men who followed Jesus to do this, but for God all things are possible.
And as if doing this once wasn’t enough, Jesus did it again.
In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar.”
Different day, same problem.
Hungry people with nothing to eat.
I wonder what Jesus will do this time?
Then His disciples answered Him, “How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven.”
Wait, haven’t the disciples been here before?
Don’t you think one of them would have said, “Jesus did it before. If he can feed 5,000 with five loaves and a couple of fish, feeding 4,000 should be a piece of cake.
But no, they are stuck in the same place.
There’s no way we can feed these people with what we’ve got.
And that is ABSOLUTELY TRUE!
So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude. They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them. So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments. Now those who had eaten were about four thousand. And He sent them away,
This should have been deja vu all over again.
Another group of hungry people, check.
A few loaves and fishes, check.
Everyone is full and plenty of leftovers.
We’ve all heard these stories,
And heard plenty of teaching and preaching about them.
But now, I want to throw in a twist.
Feeding Jesus Sheep
Feeding Jesus Sheep
Let’s jump to an event that happened after Jesus’ death and resurrection.
So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”
I’ve preached before about this passage.
I’ve talked about the three times Jesus asked, and how Peter has answered.
Today, I want to look at something else here,
Something I had not put together before.
You see, Jesus tells Peter to feed his lambs.
Remember back after Jesus had taught the 5,000.
He had felt compassion for them “because they were like sheep not having a shepherd.”
What did He tell His disciples to do?
“You give them something to eat.”
In other words, feed my lambs.
He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.”
The second time, Jesus asks Peter to tend His sheep.
Literally to shepherd His sheep.
Which included making sure they had enough to eat.
He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep.
How was Peter supposed to feed Jesus’ sheep?
He didn’t have enough food.
Not just food, but spiritual food and guidance.
How are we supposed to feed Jesus’ sheep?
We don’t have enough food.
We don’t have the wisdom to lead such a flock.
If we try to feed Jesus’ flock out of our own resources, we can only fail miserably.
But what did Jesus say to the woman at the well.
Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
We do not have enough water for ourselves,
But Jesus can give us living water, in more abundance then we could possibly imagine.
but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
The disciples fed the followers,
But it was Jesus who provided the food.
And not just once, but twice.
Jesus told Peter to feed his sheep,
But how could Peter do that?
Only by allowing Jesus to do so through him.
How do we feed Jesus’ flock?
By allowing the living water that Jesus brings to become a fountain, springing up for all.
Read through the Gospels and see just how often Jesus tells His disciples to do something.
To feed the poor, tend to the sick, visit those in prison, and on, and on, and on.
We tend to look at these call from Jesus to feed His sheep,
And react just as the disciples did.
We don’t have nearly enough to feed so many.
And we don’t
We forget that we are not the source of what Jesus asks us to do, only the conduits.
When Jesus shows you a flock, and tells you to feed His Sheep,
It can be your family, a congregation, or the entire world.
We naturally ask, “How can I feed so many with what I have?”
The answer is the same as Jesus gave the disciples.
So Me what you have, then let My Spirit flow through you to those in need.
Jesus didn’t simply create the food out of nothing,
He took what they had, blessed it, then used it to feed others far beyond what the disciples could do on their own.
So the next time you see the task before you as overwhelming, as more than any one could do.
The next time Jesus tells you to feed His sheep, yet you cupboard is all but bare.
Show Him what you have.
Tell Him, you are not enough to tend His sheep.
Then let Him do what He will do through you.
And when the people bless you for what you have done.
Point them to the one who provided everything,
Show them that you are just a conduit for the creator of everything.