Luke 9:10-17 Give a Little Get a Lot
Good morning! We are returning to our study in the Gospel of Luke this morning with chapter nine and verses 10-17. That’s on page 866 in the pew Bibles so please turn there with me.
Last week we skipped over these verses to examine the question: who is Jesus? Which was asked and answered in the sections on either side of this one.
This passage that we are going to look at today describes the only miracle of Jesus that is described in all four Gospels, you can look those up in your spare time Matthew 14, Mark 6, and John 6. We aren’t going to borrow any details from those other accounts today, we are just going to focus on what the Holy Spirit provides us through the pen of Luke.
Now remember that the disciples had been sent out by Jesus into the villages of Galilee to teach and to heal and now they had gathered again with Jesus. Also, around this time Jesus and the disciples learned of the death of John the Baptist.
10 On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. 12 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
Let’s pray.
Luke’s account of the feeding of the five thousand is definitely more of a summary account than some of the other Gospels, he doesn’t include all of the same details but there are some things worth noting.
First of all, in verse 10 this is the first time the disciples are referred to as “apostles.” This is important considering what all else is going on at the time.
A disciple is a learner, a student, or an apprentice, and so the Twelve were at this point and would continue to be until they were given the Great Commission to go and make disciples as recorded in Matthew 28 and Mark 16.
An apostle is one who is sent as an emissary, or a missionary. Jesus sent out the disciples to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal and to cast out demons, and the fact that He sent them out qualified them to be called apostles, the ones Jesus sent. Luke goes back to calling them disciples after this until we get to his second book, the Book of Acts, also known as the Acts of the Apostles.
It’s very tempting for me to drill down on this statement by Luke that the apostles to Jesus all they had done as if it wasn’t y the power and authority that Jesus had given them to do the work. Perhaps wiser disciples would have reported to Jesus all that He had accomplished through them. I’m not sure that’s really the point but I’m also not sure it isn’t.
It’s possible that the feeding of the five thousand was meant to be a lesson in humility for the apostles, possibly a rather harsh lesson.
They came back to Jesus and reported all that they had done and then they are face with a huge crowd of hungry people late in the day that needed to eat Jesus very clearly told them in verse 13, “You give them something to eat.”
Almost like he was saying to them, “You guys have all this talent and ability and power to heal a cast out demons, you must also have the power to feed all these people!”
Maybe Jesus was reminding them of their true powerlessness and His almightiness again, but I’m not sure that it was that harsh. That kind of makes Jesus look like a jerk and I’m positive that He’s not. Since He is the gentle Shepherd that had compassion on this crowd of weary, hungry, shepherdless, sheep, I’m sure that the lesson He had for the disciples and for us is a more gentle one.
So let’s look at the reality of the situation. The apostles had just returned from their successful missions trip and were weary, they had around this time learned of the death of John the Baptist which was an emotional blow to all of them and Jesus suggests that they retreat for a while to the wilderness near Bethsaida to rest.
The crowds also heard where Jesus was and went there to see Him and hear Him and be healed of their various diseases. The Gospels all record that they crowd that gathered was about five thousand men. This was a round figure that didn’t include women and children in its accounting so this crowd could very well have been over ten thousand people, hungry, and out in the wilderness with nothing to eat late in the afternoon.
While the disciple were content to send the crowds away to get some food and find a place to spend the night Jesus says, “No, you feed them.”
Their response? We have nothing, just five loaves and two fish. These weren’t loaves of Wonder Bread either, more like dinner rolls or even crackers.
And this is where the first of two miracles takes place.
12 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” 13 But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down.
What was the first miracle? The disciples trusted Jesus and asked the crowd to sit down.
Alistair Begg said, “When Jesus says, ‘Give them something to eat,’ and we have nothing to give them, then we are ready for God’s dramatic intervention.”
The disciples recognized that they had nothing to offer the people, five loaves and two fish weren’t even enough for the Twelve and Jesus to have enough to eat!
Jesus said, “You feed them,” and they said, “We have nothing to give them,” and Jesus says, “You’re right, but it’s okay, I’ll handle it.”
This is not so very different from our everyday experiences, this is no different from Jesus’ call to us all to be ministers of the gospel. He says, “Serve the people,” and we say, “We have nothing to give them,” and He says, “You’re right, just set the tables and I’ll take care of the rest.”
We’re called to give what we do have, to be faithful with our little bit, and trust Him to use it according to His will.
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “…he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
Again Alistair Begg said, “If you and I are prepared to acknowledge before God that the responsibility entrusted to us to serve others immediately shows us our inadequacy and our emptiness, then if we will offer our open hands to Him He will place within our custody that which He has provided, and allow us, surprisingly, wonderfully, the privilege of extending it to others.”
The miracle of the willingness of the disciples to trust Jesus made room for the second miracle.
And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
Out of the little He made much, He blessed what was of little account and had plenty to spare.
Are we as a church family or even individual disciples content to say, “that was just for them then,”?
Is it not possible that the Lord may well do the same thing again with us? Is it not a great blessing to be of little account so that the power of Christ may be made manifest in us?
The fact that we are gathered here today is evidence that the Lord will show Himself strong and more than adequate to work and do His good will with little.
That’s the story of my life, and I bet it is of yours too!
2 Corinthians 4:5-7 says, 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.
Amen.
