We have probably all heard about Jesus feeding the 5,000 with only five pieces of bread and a couple fish. This is a story we learned about when we were children. You have probably also heard that it was much more than 5,000 people; that was only the men. When we begin to account for women and children, the number could easily rise to 20,000 or more.
We love the story because it is a great miracle, but something that jumps out at me is this feeding took place shortly after Jesus sent His twelve disciples out in groups of twos. These men had been given authority to heal the sick, cast out demons, and perform miracles.
So when they encountered this situation, they should have been jumping at the chance to see another miracle. Instead, they told Jesus to send the crowds home because it was getting late and there was nothing to eat. How quickly they resorted to thinking about things naturally!
In Matthew 14 Jesus told the disciples that it was their responsibility to feed the crowd. “But Jesus said, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They said to him, “We have only five loaves here and two fish (v.16-17).’”
Common sense said there was no way to feed thousands of people with one boy’s lunch, but Jesus turned it into an all you can eat buffet. We can be just like those disciples at times, evaluating our resources and concluding there isn’t enough to make a difference. However, we know what Jesus is capable of, so let’s bring our five loaves and two fish to Jesus and let Him do what He so often does.
Just 5 small loaves and 2 little fish–that’s all the disciples could find,
But put them in the Master’s hand, and thousands were satisfied.
So maybe the gift that you can bring seems relatively small,
But in the hand of Jesus there will be plenty to eat for all.