The Life Of Jesus – Feeding Of The 5,000
Shane Johnson shares another story from the life of Jesus – the feeding of the 5,000 from John 6. Shane shows us that God enjoys expanding our faith, sometimes in remarkable ways.
Expanding Our Faith
The Lord Jesus works in us to expand our faith in order that we may glorify God and come into His blessing. He is continually orchestrating the circumstances and situations we find ourselves in which require us to respond with actions or decisions of faith. It is through this process that we come to know Him more. Like blowing air into a balloon in order to stretch and expand its capacity to hold more, so the Spirit of God arranges circumstances into our lives that demand an expansion of our heart’s capacity to believe, so that from faith to faith we are expanded, as God takes us from glory to glory in our soul’s transformation to His likeness.
A Scene From John 6
John chapter 6 gives us a bird’s eye view of this very process. There we see the Master’s method for developing faith in his fledging and faltering disciples. Seeing a great multitude coming toward them, Jesus, always in control, asked Philip this question: “Where shall we buy bread that these people may eat?” (John 6:5)
He said this even though He knew what He Himself would do. Here is yet another instance of the Word made flesh, of Jesus our incarnate God, demonstrating His divine knowledge of all things. He not only knows what He is going to do in the coming hour but also what He intends to do with Philip in the coming years. With this in mind, Jesus proceeds to feed the five thousand with the disciples’ participation, despite their lack of faith. Surely it must have been a thrilling and formative experience for all those involved.
Jesus asked Philip this question, “Where shall we buy bread that these may eat?” in order to test him. The balloon of Philip’s heart was about to experience some rapid expansion. Philip answered: “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little” (John 6:7). Jesus wasn’t thinking at all of buying bread, and He wasn’t thinking of just giving them a little to eat either. It was Andrew who spotted the little boy with the five loaves and two fishes, but what is that among so many? he inquired. “Make the people sit down,” Jesus gently commanded.
At this point, no one knew what the Lord Jesus would do. He is the unpredictable Lord Jesus. His ways are past finding out. His disciples had seen Him heal the sick. They had witnessed His power over the wind and the waves. They had watched Him cast out demons. Now what was He going to do? Maybe they thought He would teach the people for a few more hours and take their mind off their hunger. Maybe they even thought He would pray so that the heavens drop down manna again. Whatever it was, they implicitly trusted Him. So immediately made the people sit down.
Feeding Of The 5,000
Consider the divine multitasking of the Lord Jesus. Not only was He able to feed five thousand people with a few loaves of bread and fish but at the same time, He was able to instruct His disciples and expand their faith. Obviously He could have fed the multitude by Himself. He who turned water into wine could have, if He wanted to, turned stones into bread. But Jesus had greater designs in mind than feeding a man for a day. He not only wants to give a man a fish but wants to teach us to trust in the Provider of all our needs – regardless of the size of our needs. Past experiences are intended to stimulate future faith.
So He used He disciples to distribute the bread and fish. He used His disciples to make the people sit down. He used the disciples to gather up the fragments that were left over. Isn’t that amazing? He uses us to do His work! How gracious, how kind, how mind boggling is that! We don’t deserve to be used in such a manner. We are qualified to do His bidding. We are not able to fill His shoes. Yet He allows us to participate in His work. In human terms this would never fly. If you owned and operated a multi-billion dollar global company and chose me to represent you, and millions of others who are unqualified and incompetent just like me, your business would surely tank. But not so with the wonderful Lord Jesus Christ! His foresight and insight and divine might incorporate and compensate for all our blunders. For our good and His glory He is able to make all things work together.
The Lord Jesus has a monopoly on the bread markets of this earth. He is the only one offering something of great value at no cost to the buyer. And no wonder, for He Himself has footed the bill. Joseph provided bread for all of Egypt but the Lord Jesus provides it for the whole world. Whosoever will may come and eat and never hunger. To those who have no money, the Lord says in Isaiah 55 verse 1, “Come, buy and eat.” In fact, echoing the words of Isaiah 55 verse 2, which says, “Why do you spend money on that which is not bread and your wages for what does not satisfy,” the Lord Jesus says, “Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you” (John 6:27).
To those who come to Him by faith He will give that bread. But that is not all. To those who come to Him by faith He not only will give that bread but He will also entrust them with the task of delivering that bread to others. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
How long do you think we may have to wait for the Lord’s return? We would love to hear from you. Comment below or contact us at HopeStreamRadio.
Shane Johnson
Shane Johnson has been commended from Bethel-Park Bible Chapel since 1999. He resides in Brantford, Ontario with his wife Shelly and his five children.
He has his Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a minor in History. His passions are teaching children, inspiring young people, writing, music and playing soccer.
Shane is a regular contributor to our Christian internet radio station, HopeStreamRadio through his program entitled “Christ Up Close.” He has also produced “Raising Fathers,” and “Proverbs-Wisdom for Fools.”
You can find his producer’s page at: https://www.hopestreamradio.com/producers/shane-johnson/
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