Anything Is Possible: How Nine Miracles of Jesus Reveal God's Love for YouSample

Day 4: The Feeding of the 5,000

At the beginning of John 6 we see a large crowd following Jesus because they want to see more miracles. They are hungry and tired and honed in on what Jesus will do next. With 5,000 just being the counted men, there could have been 20,000 people on the mountainside and what does Jesus do? He takes a young boy’s lunch and multiplies it to feed everyone. He fills them up abundantly even to the point of having 12 baskets of leftovers. There are so many aspects to this miracle, but a beautiful part of it is how Jesus used the boy’s offering. Instead of gripping onto the small lunch, He had the boy put it in Jesus’s hands. He took a step of obedience that let him be part of the miracle.

In a world filled with “what’s mine is mine” or “what’s yours is mine” attitudes, we can easily forget that everything we have is God’s. When we take what we have and put it in the hands of Jesus, we have no idea what is possible.

The next day after the feeding of the 5,000, the crowd continues to follow Jesus and He confronts them about their motives. Do they really want to know Jesus or are they only after what He can give them? He filled their bellies and now they want more. Jesus tells them that they must believe (or trust) in Him and that He is the bread of life; the only One who can truly satisfy their soul. Experiencing miracles, having scientific proof, or practically understanding everything are not prerequisites to faith. When you are run over by the grace train of Jesus it changes everything about everything.

We don’t follow Jesus because He makes our life better, but because He is better than life. He came to give us a full life, not full bellies or a full wallet, He came to give us Himself.

At the end of John 6 many disciples turn away and stop following Jesus because they have doubts. They don’t understand some of the hard teachings Jesus talks about and they don’t believe He is the only one who can give eternal life. Jesus asked the 12 disciples if they wanted to leave too and Simon Peter says “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

Write down your doubts on a piece of paper and speak them out loud to God. Ask Him to take those doubts and turn them into faith.