Bread, Body, Church Series

We observe several things here. First of all, the disciples needed some nourishment. They needed rest. Another gospel account of this same story says that “so many people were coming and going that they didn’t even have time to eat” (Mark 6:30-31). So Jesus looks at His disciples and He knows that their souls need feeding.

But secondly, the needs of the people are overwhelming. The disciples were able to heal people, but clearly not everyone was healed, because there were still crowds of people that came to Jesus for healing. They had proclaimed the kingdom of God, just like Jesus told them to do, but Jesus still talked to the multitudes about the kingdom. So the disciples preaching mission wasn’t a once for all, check this box, put a fork in me because I am done kind of thing. Just like bread, no one says, “Oh no, I ate yesterday. I’m good.” We all need DAILY bread.

But third, resources are in short supply. Verse 12 says that they were in “a desolate place.” And after working the crowd to see how much food was there, all they could come up with was five loaves of bread and two fish. So the impulse to send the people away is not entirely uncompassionate; it is also practical.

If we’re honest, this is how we feel when we see the needs of our friends, family, and neighbors. It can all feel overwhelming. Turn on the news, and we’re bombarded by more tragedies and hardships. Scroll through Facebook, and you see the difficult doctor’s diagnoses or unexpected losses that people you know are dealing with. A simple ‘sad face’ emoji won’t cut it. You may reply and say you’re praying for them, but what can you really do? It’s just too much.

Then, we look at our own resources. Gas prices are up. Giving is down. Our stewardship committee looked at over a million dollars of requests, but only about $850,000 of receipts for the year.

But people keep coming.

So we say, “Send them away, Jesus, so they can get something to eat.” Maybe they should go to First Baptist. That’s a rich church. They’ve got resources we don’t have on our side of town. Or we say, “God do something,” because we are at a loss for how to respond to such a needy world.

And Jesus says, “You give them something to eat.” Seriously? Lord, weren’t you listening? You can’t give people food when your own pantry is empty, can you?

But Jesus won’t let them—or us—off the hook. And I want to show you how Jesus solves all three problems at once—the needs of His disciples for nourishment; the needs of the people for, gosh, everything else, and the scarcity of resources. Let’s see how He did it.

Luke 9:14-17

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. 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.