Please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke Chapter 9. If you recall, several weeks ago we talked about Luke 9:1-6. Jesus called and empowered His first Disciples to minister for the Kingdom of God. Today, we will talk about a famous miracle with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread. For now, we will hold off talking about v7-9 regarding King Herod and John the Baptist. We will tie in those verses with Luke 9:18-27 next week.
Before reading our passage this morning, let us pray together our commitment to God’s Word………
Read along with me Luke 9:10-17……….
This is another one of those stories important enough to be described in all 4 Gospels: Matthew 14, Mark 6:35-44, and John 6. The story in Matthew is similar to Luke. But let us take a look at Mark 6:35-44……….
And turn to John 6:5-6….
And so, yes we read a miracle but Jesus had another objective. What can we learn? Let us summarize the story.
1. Jesus continued to teach His Disciples even after they were empowered to minister. Remember the beginning of Luke 9? Then, Jesus called His disciples to be by themselves for a while. But, of course,
2. Jesus knew a crowd would follow and they would be hungry.
3. Jesus used the situation not only to perform a miracle but to teach a lesson. How can we say this??
a. God’s Word in John 6:6 tell us.
b. The disciples were still only focused on the physical!
The disciples were focused on food and shelter. Look at their answer again in v13…
And in the other Gospels we can note, the Disciples were tunnel-visioned with what the world offers. Those disciples didn’t even consider the richness and power of God available right in front of them! The disciples only saw the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and answered that it would be impossible to have enough money to buy food for the crowd. Could we be tunnel-visioned with only what the world offers in our lives?
c. Jesus challenged His disciples to feed the crowd. (Luke 9:13, Matt. 14:16, Mark 6:37, John 6:5)
Do you think Jesus really thought the disciples could feed the crowd??
What do you think Jesus desired to see the disciples do with the situation??
We’ll come back to this thought in our applications.
What else can we note from the story?
4. Jesus gave instructions which the disciples followed.
5. Jesus prayed! Was it just a prayer of thanks??
What else do you think Jesus prayed for??
6. Over 5000 men (plus likely another 5000 women and children) were fed to full satisfaction! Over 10000 people were fed to the full from 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread.
Now, look again at v17…..
Why do you think there were leftovers??
7. physical miracle happened with leftovers to prove it and to show His abundance!
You see, even today, some people will say that the people were only satisfied in their minds; that the people were so spiritually hypnotized that they thought they were full!
God’s miracles happen in flesh and blood! Jesus was teaching His disciples but we read in the other Gospels that Jesus had compassion for the needs of the people; Jesus healed them, taught them, and physically fed them!
Jesus performed a miracle because,
Jesus cares about people’s physical needs but His emphasis is always in the reality of God!
What are the Biblical Principles to apply to our lives today?
First of all, Jesus Christ who is God called the first disciples to follow and learn from Him. Jesus’ desire was to be intimate with His disciples. And we note that even though the first disciples still had a lot to learn, we can commend them for following Jesus.
Look briefly with me at verses 23-26 of Luke 9……
In Matthew 11:28 Jesus states, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
In Revelation 3:20, Jesus calls people to open their hearts for Him to enter and promises fellowship with God.
Jesus is still calling disciples today! The question is,
1. Are we personally following Jesus Christ as our God, Savior, Teacher, and Provider?
And just like with the first disciples who followed Christ and were empowered by Christ,
2. We must all be always open to Jesus’ teaching! Until we die or taken to heaven by Christ, we are to constantly learn and be changed to the image of Christ! Will you make a commitment to this everyday of your life?
And finally,
3. We must believe that miracles can happen in our lives! But let us note that there are 3 things we need to be aware of:
a. Accept challenges in life as a means to release God’s power!
But let us not forget that we humans need physical resources; we must not neglect physical resources God provides BUT receive them with the dependence on power from heaven (do not neglect the spiritual with just the physical)!
And so, do not be tunnel-visioned with just what the world offers.
b. Always consider the richness and power of God available from heaven! According to Ephesians 1:3, what do Christians have form heaven? – Every spiritual blessing!!
And how did Jesus release that power from heaven???
c. Pray to God the Father in heaven with a sincere heart!
The crowd who were following Jesus were challenged by their hunger and protection from the outdoors. The first disciples were challenged by Jesus Christ to feed thousands of people! Perhaps you are challenged right now with issues in life! How are you going to handle them? Please consider the Biblical Principles from our passage today.
Take a moment right now, with a sincere heart, quietly pray to God in heaven to acknowledge Jesus Christ in your life and ask for help with the challenges in your life.
