Tag Archives: Jesus feeds the 5000

October 23, 2023 · 5:46 AM

Returning To The Shepherd

A sheep’s greatest need is not food and water. Their greatest need is a shepherd. They cannot survive without one. They naturally flock together, but without a shepherd they tend to get distracted at times and wander from the heard. They’re also a defenseless breed. Without a shepherd to protect them, they are easy targets for predators. Also sheep must be sheared at least once a year. Without a shepherd doing that, their wool will get matted up and become too heavy to bear. They will either succumb to the weight of it or get sick from the diseases that wil be acquired from the matted wool. The last reason why sheep can’t survive without a shepherd is because they wouldn’t be able to find pasture or water for themselves. Without a shepherd they would eventually starve to death.

In Mark 6, Jesus and the disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee. Verse 34 says, “When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things” (ESV). Jesus saw the people and knew they couldn’t survive without a shepherd and needed spiritual food. After teaching them, the disciples saw they were hungry and asked the Good Shepherd to send them away to find their own food. Jesus, who was trying to teach the disciples how to shepherd people, told them to feed these sheep. They replied they didn’t have enough money to feed them all and they only had five loves of bread an two fish. In the Good Shepherd’s hands, that was enough to care for a flock of five thousand. These sheep need their shepherd to provide spiritual and physical food.

Zachariah 1:3 says, “Therefore say to them, Thus declares the Lord of hosts: Return to me, says the Lord of hosts, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts.” Have you wandered away from the flock and the Shepherd? We all do it at times. We get distracted by the cares of this world and we sometime put a greater priority on earthly things. You need the Good Shepherd if you’re going to survive. You need the flock of your local church as well with God’s under shepherd. You can’t survive on bread alone. I know because I’ve tried it before. God is calling to each of us, searching for us to bring us back into His flock. We need His loving care so we are not weighed down by the cares of this world. We need to return to Him so we can find lie down in green pastures and rest beside streams of water. Our natural place is with Him. If you’ve been separated for whatever reason, call out to Him today and return. He is a loving shepherd who won’t be mad at you. Instead, He has compassion for you each time He sees you and wants to be your shepherd.

Photo by Chilli Charlie on Unsplash

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August 28, 2023 · 5:51 AM

God Of The Impossible

Have you ever had a situation in your life where you thought that it was impossible even for God to do something about? You may not have put it in those exact words. You might think, “It’s too late to do anything about. No one Can help.” Or you could just decide not to pray and waste God’s time with it. I’ve done it myself. I have mentally put limits on a limitless God. It happens to us more often than we think because it’s usually every day situations where we limit God. Our thoughts and our words simply exclude Him from the equation. I’ve learned that I have to catch myself and say, “God this looks impossible to me, but I know it’s not impossible for you.” I’ve seen Him do the impossible many times and still my default is to dismiss His abilities until I stop and put it in His hands anyway.

In John 6 Jesus took the disciples across the lake and up a mountain to teach them. At one point Jesus looks up and sees a large crowd headed toward them. Jesus asked Philip where they could buy enough food to feed so many people. Philip saw the crowd and didn’t answer the question. Instead he told Jesus that it would take almost a year’s salary to feed them. Then Andrew spoke up in verse 9, “There is a boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two fish. But they will certainly not be enough for all these people” (GNT). These men had seen a year’s worth of miracles from Jesus and both mentally limited His abilities without thinking about it. One didn’t tell Him where, but instead told Him what it would cost. The other saw how little they had and professed it wouldn’t be enough. Both found out that even a little in Jesus’ hand could do the impossible with leftovers too.

In Mark 10:27 Jesus was speaking about another situation, but had to remind them, “This is impossible for human beings but not for God; everything is possible for God.” There are so many things that we face that are impossible for us that we often dismiss them as even impossible for God. Remember that He spoke this universe into existence. There was nothing, and then there was everything. If He can do that, He can take care of whatever you’re facing no matter how impossible it seems. Philippians 4:19 says, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus” (NLT). Don’t limit our God. He is the God of the impossible.

Photo by Greg Rakozy on Unsplash

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January 20, 2022 · 5:30 AM

The Bread Of Life

Not long ago, I read the story of a fisherman who was forced to move because of a house fire. In the move, he asked his aunt to hold onto his good luck charm, which he had kept under his bed for over 10 years. He took her a 75 pound pearl that his boat anchor had caught on all those years ago. Each day, he would touch it before going fishing hoping it would bring him luck so he could catch a lot of fish. It turns out, as he’s struggled to make a living for the past ten years, he’s been sleeping over a $100,000,000 pearl! He had no clue what’s its value was as the world’s largest gem quality pearl.

That story reminds me of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Mark 6. There were hungry people and it was getting late. The disciples asked if they should spend 200 silver coins to buy food for everyone. That’s when, in verse 38, Jesus asked them, “How much bread do you have?” (GNT) They went to check and came back to tell Him, “Five loaves.” Jesus then had them seat everyone. He broke the bread and the two fish they had, fed all 5,000 men (plus women and children), then took up 12 baskets of leftovers.

When Jesus asked how much bread they had, they had already seen Him heal the blind, raise the dead, cure leprosy, and so much more. In fact, they had just returned from being sent out to the towns and villages performing miracles themselves. They knew the power of God was with Jesus and had flowed through them, but it never crossed their mind to ask for a miracle for a crowd. Until this time, with the exception of the wine in Cana, most miracles had been for individuals. But to me, the question of how much bread they had was Jesus testing them.

They had more than five loaves. They had the Bread of Life with them and not one of them thought to include Him in the number of loaves of bread. Whenever you add Jesus to whatever you have, you will always have more than enough. We can’t stay in the same mindset they had. We can’t look at physical problems expecting spiritual results unless we are willing to add in the Bread of Life to the equation. We can’t see through blocked roads, huge obstacles, or insurmountable odds because we’ve been keeping Jesus under our bed as a good luck charm. He’s worth more than $100,000,000. He’s the answer to your struggles. Give what you have to Him and watch Him multiply it.

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Throwback Thursday is a feature I’m using to help build some margin into my schedule to pursue other ventures. Each Thursday I’ll be bringing you a previously written devotional that still speaks encouragement to us from God’s Word.

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November 25, 2019 · 5:46 AM

The Right Hands

My eight year old son tries to be fiercely independent. He wants to do things himself without my help. I can see him sometimes working on something he can’t quite figure out. I watch his frustration begin to rise, and I say, “Bring it here. Let me try.” Of course he keeps trying getting more upset. I make my offer again. Nope, he wants to keep trying. That’s usually when frustration starts turning into anger. He then has the choice to make – he can walk away from it or he can bring it to me. Once he puts it in my hands, I’m able to do with it what he cannot. Many times I’ll set it up so that he can participate in finishing it. When that happens, both of us smile and are happy.

In Matthew 14, King Herod has John the Baptist beheaded at the request of his step daughter. Jesus was sad over the loss of his cousin and went into a remote area to mourn. While he was there, someone spotted him and started telling people where He was. Soon thousands of people made their way to Him for healing. As it was getting dark, the disciples asked Him to send the crowds away so they could get dinner in nearby villages. In verse 16, Jesus said, “That isn’t necessary – you feed them” (NLT). I’m sure the disciples panicked and got frustrated trying to figure out how they could do it. They found five loaves and two fish and told Jesus that was all they had and they couldn’t do it. That’s when Jesus said, “Bring them here.”

The difference in both of these stories is whose hands things were in. How long do we try to do things while Jesus is telling us, “Bring them here”? You can keep trying to do the impossible on your own or you can trust Jesus with it. You can get frustrated trying over and over or you can put it in His hands. The feeding of the 5,000 was a miracle because the disciples were able to say, “We can’t do it,” and then handed over what they had to Jesus. One of the most difficult things about faith is letting go. We are fiercely independent people who want to do things ourselves. At the end of the day we have to choose whether we allow that frustration to turn to anger or put action to our faith and trust God with it. He is able to do above and beyond what we are able to. If we will trust Him, He will often allow us to participate in the miracle.

Photo by Kate Remmer on Unsplash

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