Tag Archives: feed

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE – GOD’S BANQUET

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GOD’S BANQUET

“The apostles returned and reported on what they had done. Jesus took them away, off by themselves, near the town called Bethsaida. But the crowds got wind of it and followed. Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God. Those who needed healing, He healed.” Luke 9:10-11.

Now this was a cause for irritation, if ever there was one! Jesus must have been eager to hear from His disciples how their first preaching tour had gone and they, no doubt, were just as eager to tell Him. At the first opportunity He spirited them away, perhaps even under cover of darkness, to a remote place where they could be together without the ever-present clamouring crowd.

But what happened? Someone noticed and split. They had hardly settled down for a chat when the people began to arrive. The disciples must have groaned when they saw them coming. Not again! If ever there was an opportunity for Jesus to show His true colours, this was it. But what did He do? He welcomed them, taught them and healed their sick. His nature shone through, the ever-loving, compassionate Jesus!

“As the day declined, the Twelve said, ‘Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the farms or villages around here and get a room for the night and a bite to eat. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.’

“‘You feed them,’ Jesus said. They said, ‘We wouldn’t scrape up more than five loaves of bread and a couple of fish – unless, of course, you want us to go to town ourselves and buy food for everybody.’ (There were more than five thousand in the crowd.) Luke 9: 12-13.

Did the disciples really care whether the people were hungry or not? Did they really think that more than five thousand people would find accommodation and food in the area? Wasn’t it just a ploy to get rid of them so that they could be alone with Jesus again? Their attitude was heartless and faithless.

Jesus’ response was to challenge the disciples to take responsibility for the people in their need. Most of them had probably left home in too much of a hurry to make provision for the day. This was a golden opportunity for the disciples to learn to partner with God to meet the needs of other people. It was a lesson they were going to have to learn if they were to be followers and imitators of Jesus.

“But He went ahead and directed His disciples, ‘Sit them down in groups of about fifty.’ They did what He said, and soon had everyone seated.

“He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted His face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke and gave the bread and fish to the disciples to hand out to the crowd. After the people had all eaten their fill, twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up.” Luke 9:14-17.

Seeing that His disciples had not yet caught on to God’s way of bringing heaven to earth, Jesus went ahead and put His own plan into action. First, He needed some order in the crowd. He instructed the disciples to gather them into small groups to ensure that everyone had a share in the banquet.

Then He used the available resources, five loaves and two fish, to feed the people instead of doing what the devil had tempted Him to do in the wilderness, perform magic by turning stones into bread. God is not a magician although we sometimes pray as though we think He is.

Why did Jesus insist on feeding the people? To have sent them away hungry would have been a message to them that God was not interested in their physical need and that they would have to go elsewhere for help.

We must never forget that He is our Father and loves to take responsibility for us, His children. Don’t turn away from Him; turn to Him!

God’s Picnic

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GOD’S PICNIC

“Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed Him because they saw the signs He had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with His disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.

“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, He said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.”  John 6:1-6 (NIV).

John’s Gospel is a masterfully written piece of literature. He skilfully wove his theme, Jesus is the Son of God, into his story, using carefully chosen miracles as evidence that Jesus was who He said He was, and the discourses He had with His opponents that ensued from His miracles to enlarge on and explain His claims.

On this occasion, Jesus and His disciples had crossed the lake to take time out from their busy lives, according to the other gospels. Jesus wanted to be alone with them to get some rest, but when the crowd arrived, instead of being annoyed with them, He graciously received them and spend days teaching them because He recognized their need, much to the annoyance of His disciples.

John did not comment on the extended time of teaching He had with them; only that they needed food and Jesus was as much aware of their physical need for bread as He was for their spiritual nourishment because they were like shepherd less sheep. He was quick to grasp hold of an opportunity to put His disciples to the test and to teach them to look beyond the natural to the supernatural where the Father was waiting for them to tap into His resources to meet needs.

Philip’s response to Jesus’ question, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ reveals his un-readiness to see what Jesus saw — an opportunity to put God’s glory on display by partnering with Him to meet their needs.

“Philip answered Him, ‘It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!'” John 6:7 (NIV). Philip’s response would have been perfectly natural for a man who not walked with Jesus long enough to know that He always viewed crises as opportunities. He was caught off guard and responded from his awareness of the facts.

A vast crowd of people needed a large amount of money to feed them and (unspoken) a very large stock of bread which was unavailable in a remote place like this. Philip’s response when he looked at the circumstances was, in a nutshell, ‘Impossible!’ This is a normal, natural human response when we, too, are faced with impossibilities. We look at the situation, shrivel up and throw up our hands in despair. ‘Impossible!’ says unbelief, and we weep with frustration.

Andrew chipped in and offered a tentative solution which sounded equally pathetic when he verbalized it. “Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?'” John 6:8, 9 (NIV). The emphasis on “small” was Andrew’s attempt at making Jesus aware that He was setting them an impossible task. There was food available (if the boy was willing to part with it), but it was ludicrous to think they could feed the crowd with it!

That was enough for Jesus to interrupt their pathetic inadequacy with His plan which had been in place all the time. It was obvious to Him that they had not yet caught on to His modus operandi. When one view’s things from God’s perspective, it becomes easy and when one uses every situation to put God’s glory on display, God will do His part.

When one reads John’s gospel, it becomes clear that Jesus was never at a loss when faced with a crisis. He was in partnership with the Father and used people’s needs to reveal the compassionate heart of the Father.

What a difference it would make if we saw our situations like that!

God’s Banquet

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GOD’S BANQUET

“The apostles returned and reported on what they had done. Jesus took them away, off by themselves, near the town called Bethsaida. But the crowds got wind of it and followed. Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God. Those who needed healing, He healed.” Luke 9:10-11 (The Message).

Now this was a cause for irritation, if ever there was one! Jesus must have been eager to hear from His disciples how their first preaching tour had gone and they, no doubt, were just as eager to tell Him. At the first opportunity He spirited them away, perhaps even under cover of darkness, to a remote place where they could be together without the ever-present clamouring crowd.

But what happened? Someone noticed and split. They had hardly settled down for a chat when the people began to arrive. The disciples must have groaned when they saw them coming. Not again! If ever there was an opportunity for Jesus to show His true colours, this was it. But what did He do? He welcomed them, taught them and healed their sick. His nature shone through, the ever-loving, compassionate Jesus!

 

“As the day declined, the Twelve said, ‘Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the farms or villages around here and get a room for the night and a bite to eat. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.’

“‘You feed them,’ Jesus said. They said, ‘We wouldn’t scrape up more than five loaves of bread and a couple of fish — unless, of course, you want us to go to town ourselves and buy food for everybody.’ (There were more than five thousand in the crowd.) Luke 9: 12-13 (The Message).

Did the disciples really care whether the people were hungry or not? Did they really think that more than five thousand people would find accommodation and food in the area? Wasn’t it just a ploy to get rid of them so that they could be alone with Jesus again? Their attitude was heartless and faithless.

Jesus’ response was to challenge the disciples to take responsibility for the people in their need. Most of them had probably left home in too much of a hurry to make provision for the day. This was a golden opportunity for the disciples to learn to partner with God to meet the needs of other people. It was a lesson they were going to have to learn if they were to be followers and imitators of Jesus.

“But He went ahead and directed His disciples, ‘Sit them down in groups of about fifty.’ They did what He said, and soon had everyone seated.”

“He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted His face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke and gave the bread and fish to the disciples to hand out to the crowd. After the people had all eaten their fill, twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up.'” Luke 9:14-17 (The Message).

Seeing that His disciples had not yet caught on to God’s way of bringing heaven to earth, Jesus went ahead and put His own plan into action. First, He needed some order in the crowd. He instructed the disciples to gather them into small groups to ensure that everyone had a share in the banquet.

Then He used the available resources, five loaves and two fish, to feed the people instead of doing what the devil had tempted Him to do in the wilderness, perform magic by turning stones into bread. God is not a magician although we sometimes pray as though we think He is.

Why did Jesus insist on feeding the people? To have sent them away hungry would have been a message to them that God was not interested in their physical need and that they would have to go elsewhere for help.

We must never forget that He is our Father and loves to take responsibility for us, His children. Don’t turn away from Him; turn to Him!

God’s Banquet

Bible Study, , ,

GOD’S BANQUET

“The apostles returned and reported on what they had done. Jesus took them away, off by themselves, near the town called Bethsaida. But the crowds got wind of it and followed. Jesus graciously welcomed them and talked to them about the kingdom of God. Those who needed healing, He healed.” Luke 9:10-11 (The Message).

Now this was a cause for irritation, if ever there was one! Jesus must have been eager to hear from His disciples how their first preaching tour had gone and they, no doubt, were just as eager to tell Him. At the first opportunity He spirited them away, perhaps even under cover of darkness, to a remote place where they could be together without the ever-present clamouring crowd.

But what happened? Someone noticed and split. They had hardly settled down for a chat when the people began to arrive. The disciples must have groaned when they saw them coming. Not again! If ever there was an opportunity for Jesus to show His true colours, this was it. But what did He do? He welcomed them, taught them and healed their sick. His nature shone through, the ever-loving, compassionate Jesus!

“As the day declined, the Twelve said, ‘Dismiss the crowd so they can go to the farms or villages around here and get a room for the night and a bite to eat. We’re out in the middle of nowhere.’

“‘You feed them,’ Jesus said. They said, ‘We wouldn’t scrape up more than five loaves of bread and a couple of fish — unless, of course, you want us to go to town ourselves and buy food for everybody.’ (There were more than five thousand in the crowd.) Luke 9: 12-13 (The Message).

 

Did the disciples really care whether the people were hungry or not? Did they really think that more than five thousand people would find accommodation and food in the area? Wasn’t it just a ploy to get rid of them so that they could be alone with Jesus again? Their attitude was heartless and faithless.

Jesus’ response was to challenge the disciples to take responsibility for the people in their need. Most of them had probably left home in too much of a hurry to make provision for the day. This was a golden opportunity for the disciples to learn to partner with God to meet the needs of other people. It was a lesson they were going to have to learn if they were to be followers and imitators of Jesus.

“But He went ahead and directed His disciples, ‘Sit them down in groups of about fifty.’ They did what He said, and soon had everyone seated.”

“He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted His face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke and gave the bread and fish to the disciples to hand out to the crowd. After the people had all eaten their fill, twelve baskets of leftovers were gathered up.'” Luke 9:14-17 (The Message).

Seeing that His disciples had not yet caught on to God’s way of bringing heaven to earth, Jesus went ahead and put His own plan into action. First, He needed some order in the crowd. He instructed the disciples to gather them into small groups to ensure that everyone had a share in the banquet.

Then He used the available resources, five loaves and two fish, to feed the people instead of doing what the devil had tempted Him to do in the wilderness, perform magic by turning stones into bread. God is not a magician although we sometimes pray as though we think He is.

Why did Jesus insist on feeding the people? To have sent them away hungry would have been a message to them that God was not interested in their physical need and that they would have to go elsewhere for help.

We must never forget that He is our Father and loves to take responsibility for us, His children. Don’t turn away from Him; turn to Him!