Miracles - Nature - Feeding
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Feeding Time
Feeding Time
Scripture gives us two instances where Jesus fed thousands with just a little.
But are these simply miracles about God providing for His children,
Or is there something more?
Feeding 5,000
Feeding 5,000
The feeding of the 5,000 is one of the few events recorded in all four gospels.
But today I want to look at the gospels of Mark and John,
Both in how they are alike, and how they differ.
And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. 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.”
In Mark’s version, Jesus has compassion on a large crowd, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.
I don’t know about you, but I sometimes see people who live like sheep without a shepherd.
And since Jesus began to teach, I sometimes wonder if that is how I should react as well.
Notice, Mark records the disciples “suggesting” to Jesus that He disperse the crowd.
After all, it’s late, and they are in a deserted place.
It’s not like they can just head over to the Huddle House or Sonic to get supper.
After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
In John’s version, we still have a crowd following Jesus,
But here Jesus poses the question of feeding them rather than the disciples.
John said He did so to test Philip.
How did he do?
Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.”
Philip sees the problem,
200 days wages would barely give everyone a bite.
What to do? What to do?
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?” 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.”
Have you ever had unexpected company only to realize you didn’t have enough to put before them?
Imagine you’re a disciple, and Jesus tells you to feed 5,000 men, plus any women and children that were with them, only to look and find five loaves of bread and two fish!
Things aren’t any better in John’s version...
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?”
Here they have a boys lunch, five barley loaves and two small fish.
Not exactly a Thanksgiving feast.
But then, something miraculous happened.
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.
Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
Jesus had the people sit down, the took what the disciples had, gave thanks, and distributed it.
Like most of you, my family gives thanks for the meals that are placed in front of us.
So Jesus blessing, or giving thanks, was nothing special.
But imagine, you are one of the disciples.
You KNOW there’s only a little bit of food.
You KNOW there is no way you have enough to feed this crowd.
You don’t even really have enough to feed the disciples.
But Jesus says, distribute this food to the masses.
What are you to do?
Do you give out just a tiny bit, hoping against hope that everyone can get a bite?
Do you pray that somehow a morsel will fill these people’s bellies?
Or do you start handing out food, knowing it will run out before the first groups is fed?
Your master said, feed them,
So you feed them.
Imagine your surprise when the food keeps going.
Like the story of the Elisha and the widow’s oil!
A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.” So Elisha said to her, “What shall I do for you? Tell me, what do you have in the house?” And she said, “Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.” Then he said, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” So she went from him and shut the door behind her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured it out. Now it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said to her son, “Bring me another vessel.” And he said to her, “There is not another vessel.” So the oil ceased. Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.”
The food just kept coming,
Until everyone was full.
But there’s more.
You see, it isn’t that God simply made a tiny morsel fill a grown man’s stomach.
They took up the LEFT OVERS!
How do you have leftovers from feeding a crowd like that?
They picked up TWELVE baskets of left overs,
More than what they started with.
It’s not simply the Jesus fed 5,000 with a few loaves and fishes,
But God provided an abundance, more than they could eat.
Feeding 4,000
Feeding 4,000
And just to prove a point, Jesus does it again with 4,000 guests.
And just so you don’t think this is a duplicate of the same event, both Matthew and Mark recorded both of them.
Let’s look at Mark’s version.
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.” 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.”
Does this sound familiar?
I’m sure all of us have, at one time or another, pointed and said:
“Silly disciples, when will you learn.”
After all, Jesus has done this before, why not again?
Trust me, if you were there, you would have probably done the same thing.
It’s not as if feeding thousands with a few loaves is an everyday occurrence.
But it’s happened for the disciples to see at least twice.
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,
Water into Wine
Water into Wine
By far, my favorite miracles of feeding in Jesus’ first miracle in Cana.
On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”
Have any of you been to a Jewish wedding?
Oh, the feast they put on.
Today, the banquet usually goes all night,
Back then, it went on for days!
And it was a matter of honor for the guests to be well provided for.
So when they ran out of wine, it was a big deal.
I think it is safe to make a few assumptions.
The family hosting the banquet was probably not wealthy.
Otherwise, they would have just ordered more wine.
The family was probably a bit panicked.
After all, to run out of wine would be a great embarrassment.
And certainly would not bode well for the new couple.
These events were often catered.
So it wouldn’t do the reputation of the caterer much good either.
And the master of the ceremony would not be happy.
Also, since Jesus, His mother, and His disciples were all invited, it would have been an embarrassing time for all.
So Jesus’ mom goes to Him with the bad news.
How did Jesus react to this bad news?
Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”
What does this have to do with me?
Not exactly the response either His mother, or for that matter we, would expect.
Not to fear, Jewish Mother to the rescue.
His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”
Jewish mothers are famous for guilting their children into obedience.
Mary doesn’t need to argue with Jesus,
Just tells the servants, do whatever He says.
This too is important, but Jesus is about to say something very strange.
Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it.
OK, filling waterpots with water isn’t that strange,
But taking water to the master of the feast instead of wine,
THAT is strange.
Just imagine you’re that servant,
With a jar of WATER.
About to pour it into the cup of the master of the feast.
Thinking to yourself, “This is NOT going to be good!”
Maybe planning your quick escape when the master spits out the water and throws the cup.
But then...
When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”
Wait, you just drew a pitcher of water, but the master of the feast says it’s the good wine.
Better than what you served at the beginning of the feast?
Imagine you’re the parents, knowing that you served the good wine first, only to find out this wine is better.
Imagine, water from Jesus is better than the best wine from man.
Conclusion
Conclusion
These events are about more than just miraculous provisions.
We worry about providing for ourselves,
Never remembering that God can provide so much more.
Not “just enough”, but baskets of left overs.
We worry that what we provide won’t be good enough,
But Jesus shows that His stuff is the best.
But look at these miracles from the viewpoint of those involved.
The disciples, trusting Jesus enough to feed thousands with just a few loaves.
Even though they do not understand.
The servers, serving water only to find it is the best wine.
What is God asking you to do today?
What outrageous and impossible thing is He asking?
Is He asking you to feed thousands with just crumbs?
Or is He asking you to serve water when what your guests expect is wine?
Do you trust God enough to do the outrageous, simply because He asks?