Feeding the 5,000
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
The only miracle (besides the resurrection) recorded in all 4 gospels
More focus on the disciples
A ragtag bunch highlighted in the gospels more by their shortcomings than their faithfulness
Characteristics of an effective disciple
Jesus Uses Disciples Who are Tired
Jesus Uses Disciples Who are Tired
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
Story
Story
The disciples have been working hard and sacrificially
When they return to Jesus he withdraws with them
Two Errors
Two Errors
Sloth
Saviorism
How are you? Busy
The Nature of Rest
The Nature of Rest
Rest is a demonstration of faith
4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. 5 On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.”
Rest is an act of relationship
Still small voice/gentle whisper to Elijah (1 King 19)
Rest is good, but Jesus still has a mission to accomplish so he welcomed the crowd
Jesus demonstrates a balance - the mission demands sacrifice but not burnout
Jesus Uses Disciples Who are Outmatched
Jesus Uses Disciples Who are Outmatched
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)
[…]
They see a problem
They see a problem
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
They see their inability
They see their inability
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.”
The offer a reasonable but faithless solution
The offer a reasonable but faithless solution
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.) […]
The disciples are faithless, but the text doesn’t rebuke them
They are trying to obey, but Jesus has asked them to do something impossible
Application
Application
They are not rebuked for their response
Sometimes we just don’t know what to do
This is human
This is an opportunity for faith
They are not told what Jesus’s plan is
Obstacles and trials with no apparent solution are not a sign of the absence of God but an opportunity for the power of God
Jesus Uses Disciples Who Obey
Jesus Uses Disciples Who Obey
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Action Based on Incomplete Knowledge
Action Based on Incomplete Knowledge
The disciples give us plenty of bad examples, but this seems to be a time where they are exemplary
They don’t complain
They don’t question
They just obey
Action Based on Faith
Action Based on Faith
This is how obedience is supposed to work
God doesn’t ask for a blind leap into the dark - they’ve seen his work
Jesus Reveals Himself through His Disciples
Jesus Reveals Himself through His Disciples
He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament
He is the fulfillment of the Old Testament
Ex 16 Manna
The greater Elijah/Elisha
12 “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”
13 Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. 14 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’ ”
42 A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said.
43 “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked.
But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’ ” 44 Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.
The great feast
1 “Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
He is the bread of life
He is the bread of life
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
Application
Application
Proclaim the bread of life
Consume the bread of life
