The Feeding of the 5000

Have you ever invited friends over for dinner and realized while eating that you had miscalculated and hadn't cooked enough? Embarrassing, but nowadays we usually have other leftovers or snacks to satisfy our guests' hunger, or worst case scenario, we order a few pizzas for quick delivery. When Jesus preached to 5000 people, there were no snacks or delivery services—only five loaves of bread and two fish.

So, the question wasn't whether people might not get enough to eat. The problem was that the vast majority wouldn't get a crumb. Yet Jesus used the situation to show his audience then and us today that he is a God of miracles. He can take the little we bring to him and use it to satisfy the hunger of countless people. The people flocked to him because they felt he could satisfy their spiritual hunger. That's why they made the effort to come, listened to him for hours, and didn't leave even when the first signs of hunger appeared. They knew they would miss out if they went home to eat. So they stayed and trusted that Jesus knew how to provide for them.

And Jesus knows that we need not only spiritual food but also bread and fish. So he shows us that we can come to him with what we perceive as too little, and he will make sure it is more than enough. We might feel we're not good enough, whether in our jobs, as parents, or in our friendships. We look at what we bring and feel it's inadequate. But when Jesus looks at our situation, he doesn't see what's lacking; he sees what we bring. And when we bring our "too little" to him, allow him to bless it, and then distribute it in our surroundings, we will see that it is more than enough.

Next Step: In which areas of your life do you feel you don't have enough? Not enough money, patience, perhaps even not enough love? Tell Jesus in prayer what these issues are and why you feel you don't have enough, and ask him to show you his perspective on the situation.