THE FEEDING OF A MULTITUDE

Matthew 14:15–21 KJV (WS)

And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

THE FEEDING OF A MULTITUDE (Matt. 14:15–21)

We do not know how you feel about it, but in all the Gospel miracles, and every miracle is a message, there is not one that seems to us to carry a more remarkable missionary message than this.

1. There was a hungry multitude.

This multitude was much on the heart of the Master.

He saw their hunger and their need, and He said to the disciples, “Give ye them to eat.”

The Lord’s heart toward the multitudes of earth, today, is that of a like compassion. He has not changed at all.

As He looks at the people who surge to and fro over the earth, His command is still for us to go.

2. There was a trembling discipleship.

The disciples quietly, but urgently, said, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.”

The Lord said, “They need not depart; give ye them to eat.” They said, “We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.”

Is not this exactly what is going on today?

Shall we leave the lost to their woes?

Shall we suffer them to try to feed themselves with the natural bread of Life?

Nay, the Lord has said, “Go * * to every creature,” and again, “Give ye them to eat.” Are we still crying, “We have here but five loaves, and two fishes?”

Where are we to obtain the necessary funds to finance the work?

The Lord is still saying to the saints of today, “They need not depart; give ye them to eat.”

He has sufficient in His treasury to finance the evangelization of the world.

He has sufficient in His power house to energize His sent ones to carry an effective and faithful message.

So let us bestir ourselves.

3. There was, finally, a multitude filled and satisfied.

When the disciples told the Lord the scantity of the few provisions they had, He simply said, “Bring them hither to Me.”

Are we willing, then, to bring to God our little all?

Did not the Lord take five loaves and two fishes, and, looking up to Heaven, did He not bless them, and break and give to the disciples and the disciples to the multitude?

If we are willing to go out, faithful to His command, will He not take, and bless, and break again?

The result, on that memorable day, was that “They did all eat, and were filled”: there were even twelve baskets of fragments left.

What a wonderful missionary vision is this, and it is His.