He Fed The Hungry

Introduction

Good Morning Friendship Church, we missed you last week as I took a week vacation to get after some things at the house. Not exactly the typical vacation, we weren’t sitting with our feet up on a warm sunny beach somewhere...but it was a productive week. And as always, I appreciate how our Overseers step up to teach when I am away and so thank you Jesse for sharing the message last week, it was a blessing to hear your heart in that.

As we continue today in our CHRISTOS series we are going to look at the only miraculous sign of Jesus that is recorded in all four Gospels. Well, besides the resurrection of course, but of the miraculous signs that He did among the crowds during His popular phase of ministry there is only one miracle that all four Gospel give in some detail. That miracle was the feeding of the 5,000 with 5 loaves of bread and two fish.

You are probably somewhat familiar with the story…you know how this huge crowd followed after Jesus to this remote place and after a long day of teaching, healing and proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom of God…Jesus’ Disciples do the responsible thing and evaluate the situation at hand and then encourage Jesus to instruct the crowds to leave so that they would be able to find food and shelter for the night. But in response to what seems like the right thing to do Jesus says this curious thing. He says, “You give them something to eat”.

5,000 people! and Scripture tells us that this was just the men so with women and children there could be twice this number and then some. And Jesus is telling his 12 disciples to just go ahead and feed them.

Have you ever been anywhere with thousands of people that needed to eat? Probably not this past year, but maybe some other year you have been to a large conference, professional ball game or concert of some sort and the logistics for meeting the needs of such a crowd is a huge undertaking, not to mention the cost involved. And notice, Jesus didn’t say set up a concession stand and “sell them something to eat”, right? He said, “give”… “you give them something to eat”.

Tension

How could Jesus tell them to do such an impossible thing? What could He be getting at putting them in such a position? True, showing hospitality was certainly a value of their culture, but setting the table for 5,000 guests is going a little overboard.

This seems like an impossible request…but maybe that is exactly the point.

I think that the key to understanding what Jesus was doing here is to zoom out of the story to see the greater context. The beginning of Luke Chapter 9, one of the places where this story is found, tells us that just before this event, Jesus sent these men on a trip full of “impossible things”. Listen to what it says beginning in verse 1...

Luke 9:1–2 ESV

1 And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal.

What would this have been like? I mean these are the very things that they had watched Jesus do and now he has given this assignment to this group of mainly fishermen, some tradesmen and a tax collector. They were now being sent out as preachers, evangelists and miracle workers. And as if this wasn’t crazy enough, listen to how Jesus wanted them to prepare for this assignment:

Luke 9:3–5 ESV

3 And he said to them, “Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money; and do not have two tunics. 4 And whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart. 5 And wherever they do not receive you, when you leave that town shake off the dust from your feet as a testimony against them.”

They were to go on this assignment taking nothing but the clothes on their back and the power and authority that Jesus gave them. And what happened?

Luke 9:6 ESV

6 And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Jesus sends out the 12 Disciples on this short term missions trip, stripped of anything that they might be tempted to rely on except for the supernatural power that He gave them... and they ended up having everything they needed to obey Jesus’ instructions…at least until they got back and they heard Jesus say: “you give them something to eat”

It seems to me that when Jesus sent these men into the uncharted territory of “missionary work” they knew that they had to depend on Jesus’ power to obey his instructions, but when it came to the familiar world of food - they only had eyes to see what could be done in their own power.

I think that this is what Jesus was trying to teach His Disciples in this moment. He wanted to expand their understanding of what areas of their life would need the power of Jesus and what areas of your life....well... we can just “get ‘er done” on our own.

We have been so blessed in this country to be free to routinely gather as the body of Christ week after week. That is probably what I heard most from you all when we started meeting again in person. We just never realized how much we took this privilege to meet together as a Church for granted, until it was taken away. But let me ask you, now that we are able to meet again week after week…what is there to keep us from taking it for granted again?

Because the truth is, with the way things are shaking out right now from a governmental standpoint, we will not survive as a Church without completely relying on the power and authority of Jesus Christ, but that is nothing new. The Church of God was never designed to operate any other way…and maybe that is exactly why we are heading into the season that we are. Because...

We can come here and sing the songs, but not really be worshiping,

We can show up and listen to the teaching, but not really be growing,

We can give our money in the box back there, but not really be investing,

We can give of our most precious resource, our time, but not really be serving,

We can smile, wave and talk after the Service but not really be fellowshipping…

because we do this every week. It’s routine. Now if we were planning on going on a missions trip then that would be different. We would need to be all prayed up and completely depending on Jesus for that trip…but this is the routine. It’s like eating a meal. We do it on a regular basis.

You see I think that is what Jesus was up to when He told His Disciples “You give them something to eat”. He was challenging them to bring their utter reliance of Him into their routine world. And I believe that God wants to do this kind of thing in our lives too. To move those things that we would typically approach as routine into the “seemingly impossible, to show us how there is not a moment in our lives when we don’t completely depend on Him.

Let’s see how this worked out for the Apostles in the story of the feeding of the 5,000 and then we will circle back to apply it to our own lives and the life of Friendship Church.

So if you haven’t already, open up your Bibles with me to Luke chapter 9, page 866 in the Bibles in the chairs. I’ll pray and we will seek together to discover how Jesus’ power is sufficient for all that He asks of us.

Truth

So the first thing that we see in this story is how...

1. Jesus wants us to be part of His mission in the world (Luke 9:10-11)

Luke 9:10–11 ESV

10 On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing.

If you have ever been to a leadership development training you are probably familiar with some version of the 5 steps of leadership development. I don’t know who originated these things, but I find it so interesting that we can see something of them in the way Jesus trained His Disciples. Let me explain how this works.

Basically if I wanted to train you as a leader in some area the first thing that would happen is that...

1. I do. You watch. We talk.

2. I do. You help. We talk.

3. You do. I help. We talk.

4. You do. I watch. We talk.

5. You do. Someone else watches. (back to #1…a perpetual thing)

As I look at these 5 steps, I can see how in principle Jesus seems to have done very similar things in how He trained up His Disciples. Of course, not everything translates well because Jesus’ was fully man and in that He was like us…but He was also fully God and that puts everything on a different scale, but some of these same principles are present.

1. I do. You watch. We talk. We can see the first step in how Jesus’ disciples were first drawn to him because of the many signs and wonders that He did. Then “they talked” and he called them to be one of His 12 Disciples.

2. I do. You help. We talk. Secondly, during His earthly ministry, Jesus asked His disciples to help Him in many ways. They were traveling companions and when asked to...they made arrangements for food, lodging or transportation and ultimately they witnessed and then wrote down what Jesus did and commanded…which is what we get to read in the Gospels.

3. You do. I help. We talk. Thirdly, and none of these are perfect comparisons, mind you, but this one gets closest to where Jesus is right now in developing His leaders. He sent them out in His power and authority, so they did and He helped them and then when they returned they “told him all they had done”

4. You do. I watch. We talk. & 5. You do. Someone else watches. And then the last two are probably best compared to after Jesus died, rose again and ascended into heaven and is now sitting at the right hand of the Father. At this point, we see the Disciples operating without the physical presence of Jesus, but still dependent on Him in the Spirit and in prayer as they live out what He taught them and follow through with the “Great Commission” to the next generation and the next and the next.

And I want to emphasize again that the big difference between Jesus’ leadership development and anything we could do is that Jesus never leaves us on our own. Even though He did leave His Disciples in the flesh, He sent His Spirit to lead them and He said that would be so much better. So Jesus continues to do the work through us - because He wants us to be a part of His mission in the world.

This is a great transition to our second theme for the week:

2. When we focus on our own abilities, we will realize that we are inadequate (Luke 9:12-13).

Luke 9:12 ESV

12 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.”

Seems like the responsible thing to do...

Luke 9:13 ESV

13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.”

This is probably a whole different message here, but understand that Jesus was trying to retreat to a unpopulated area so that He and His Disciples could get some needed rest from their missions trip - but the crowds followed them there. And we see the great compassion of Jesus here in that He did not send them away, but instead He ministered to them all day long.

Matthew tells us

Matthew 9:36 ESV

36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

If we were to look back at our 5 steps of leadership development again, it’s interesting to note that the Disciples seem to have take a step backward here. It is certain that they were all tired, but Jesus appears to be alone in his efforts to teach and cast out demons - even though the 12 Disciples had just finished a missions trip where they were doing the same things.

Maybe that gives us more evidence of how the Disciples seem to have stepped out of the “ministry mode” that they had been so successful in and gone back into the daily grind mode. If not there, we certainly can see this in their response Jesus’ request. There was no expectation or even acknowledgement of the possibility of a supernatural response to Jesus’ request- the only solution the disciples could see was going into town and buy food.

But there was really no hope of that happening. For one thing they had gone out into a remote place, a desolate place. There was not much in the way of “Population Density” out there. So even if there was a small town diner nearby, it would maybe be equipped to handle 20- 30 patrons on a good day. What is that in the face of a crowd of 5,000?

For another thing, even if they were able to wrestle up that kind of food, how would these guys pay for it? They have given up everything to follow Jesus. And how much food would it take? Well in John’s telling of the story, he quotes one disciple Philip as saying that “200 denari would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.

So how much is that? Well a denari was a days wages. So we are talking about spending 9 months wages and not even making a dent. Here in Buffalo County the median income is $31,000. So for us that would come out to be about $23,250 for one bite of bread. To actually feed these people you are talking about better than a half of a million dollars…for one meal.

Do you see how ridiculous Jesus’ instruction was...”You give them something to eat”. It was impossible…when focused on their own abilities...they were incredibly inadequate but…

3. When we depend on Jesus, we will be able to complete His mission (Luke 9:14-17).

This is our third and final theme for the week.

Luke 9:14–15 ESV

14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down.

I was struck by something new that I saw here this week. Maybe you have seen it before, but somehow I missed it. Jesus is giving His disciples an opportunity to exercise their faith here. Did you see this? Jesus has asked them to “help” him by having the people sit in groups of 50 and what do you think was the response of the crowd when the Disciples came up to them with this instruction? The crowd didn’t know they were about to be fed, so don’t you think that there would have been questions?

“Why are we sitting in these groups?” “What is about to happen?”

We would like to treat you all dinner..

“Great! What is on the menu?”

“Well so far we are looking at 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, but we gave them to Jesus and He is about to do something with them.”

Right?!? That is what is happening here. The Disciples went out to have the groups sit down before Jesus prayed and broke the bread so they didn’t really know what was going to happen. So along with the boy’s meager lunch - the Disciples also gave Jesus their faith.

And Jesus can always do a lot with a little faith.

Luke 9:16–17 ESV

16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

So not only did Jesus meet this impossible need, everyone left the table that night “satisfied” and there was even more lest over.

Gospel Application

And like I said, this is one of the most memorable or Jesus’ miracles, as it is mentioned in all four Gospels and it was such a large scale display of the unlimited resources of Jesus power to do what He has asked us to do. And make not mistake - that is what it was all about.

It was not about the fish or bread or the picnic on the hillside. Jesus did not go on to set up a soup kitchen, not that there is anything wrong with that but this was not about empty stomachs getting full…it was about another opportunity for the people in these crowds to recognize that Jesus is not just a Prophet or great miracle worker but the long awaited Messiah, the Christ, the Savior of the World.

This is all Luke’s Gospel gives us of this story, but John gives us the next chapter of the story. You see the crowd didn’t leave Jesus alone but they kept after Him. They even got into boats to follow after Jesus and His Disciples across the Sea of Galilee and into Carpernaum. But this time, when Jesus saw them, His words were not full of compassion, but condemnation for they were not seeking Him for t he right reasons.

John 6:26–27 ESV

26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

They were not following Jesus in faith that filled their hearts, they were following after Him because He filled their stomachs. They had no eyes to see beyond the material world that was and is perishing. They had no hunger for Spiritual things, unless of course those spiritual things worked to meet their physical needs again. They didn’t want Jesus as Savior and Lord, they just wanted Jesus to feed them again.

Later in the conversation, Jesus tries again to help them see beyond the Material world into all that He has for us in the eternal world.

John 6:35 ESV

35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

And later in verse 40

John 6:40 ESV

40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

But they did not believe.

So many people try to make the feeding of the 5,000 about the fish and bread, and I am not saying that it is wrong to want to feed those who are hungry - there are other places where we are commanded to do this in Jesus’ name - but this event was not about filling stomachs. It was about the demonstration of the unlimited resources of Jesus to accomplish all that He has asked us to do.

Landing

So what might God be asking you to do right now? What “impossible” task might He be calling you to do…He may be asking you to do it for that reason! Because we need to be called toward things would be impossible to do without completely relying on His power and authority.

On most given weeks I will spend a good amount of time kneeling over here on this corner of the stage in prayer for what God is wanting for us as a congregation. And from this posture I cannot help but be confronted by the banners there on the west wall. “By My Spirit”.

Does that describe us? Are we operating in that reality when we come into this place each week? Sure, we have some routines that we follow each Sunday but are we expecting or acknowledging that even the routine things that we are called to do here cannot really happen without our complete reliance on the Spirit of God to lead, power and guide us through it? If not then we are just wasting our time here. Doing the “religious thing” which isn’t the same as doing the “Jesus Thing”

In Jesus’ training of His Disciples He called them to feed 5,000 people in a remote place with limited resources. I wonder what things He could be calling us to in little Mondovi, WI with our limited resources. Do we have the faith to take the first step of obedience, knowing that Jesus can always do a lot with just a little faith.

Let’s pray into this together.