40 Days of MiraclesSample

Jesus Feeds 5,000 Plus Women and Children

In each account of this story, we see that Jesus and His disciples were going to a remote place to find peace and quiet. But, because of the signs and wonders the people had seen, the crowds followed them. Jesus, full of compassion, put aside His desire to have some quiet moments to Himself and engaged with the crowd. He taught them, healed those that needed healing, and then met a very practical need of theirs: He fed them!

But, this meal was not practical by any means. With just a few loaves of bread and two fish, He fed a crowd of over 5,000. That crowd of people needed to be taught; many needed miraculous healing. But we see that Jesus also cared about their need to eat and took care of that, too. The disciples doubted how they could possibly get enough food to feed a crowd that size and wanted to send the people back to their towns to get food. But Jesus challenges them to take what they have and let Him provide the rest. He then turns a tiny amount of food into a feast with many baskets of food left over. This miracle is a clear example of how Jesus is a miracle worker in every area of our lives. We can come to Him with next to nothing, and He can turn it into provision and abundance.

Questions for Reflection

• Do you have areas in your life that seem too practical for a miracle?
• Do you have areas in your lift where you'd rather just give up, like the disciples wanting to send people home, when instead you could trust Jesus?