The Commands of Christ, Part Twenty-Four

Bread and fish: most of us know the story. Not everyone knows it happened twice. When I was much younger and didn’t yet have the joy I do now of diving into God’s word, I thought people were just confused when they talked about the 4,000. I’d heard the story of the 5,000 in Sunday school, so clearly these guys were mistaken, right? I mean, it’s just the number, the miracle is the real story, right? But it happened twice. So, where’s the command in all of this? Let’s start with the 5,000 (and, just so it’s mentioned, in both stories only the men are counted, the numbers would have been much larger if women and children were included).

We’ll start in Matthew 14:15-16 (NASB 2020), but you should really read the whole story, which goes on to verse 21.

Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is secluded and the hour is already past to eat; send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go; you give them something to eat!”

Now, were the disciples wrong to want to make sure folks had a chance to get fed? Of course not! At least, not this time (we’ll come back to that). They told Jesus in verse 17, “We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish.” I can certainly understand why that might not seem like enough, but, and hear me when I say this: Christ can make anything or anyone enough.

It’s easy to give the disciples a hard time and say things like, “They should have known who they were traveling with!” and maybe there’s some merit to that, but don’t we often make the same mistake? How often do we fail to tithe because the little that we give “can’t make that big a difference?” How often do we fail to act because we “good enough?” How many times in your life have you let your little get in the way of being part God’s great! How many times have you seen a need, but not allowed God to use you to help fill that need? How many times have you looked at what you have to offer and thought to yourself, “it’s just not enough”?

God made five loaves and two fish enough. If He wants to use whatever you have to give, He can make it enough. But that’s not the only lesson across these two stories.

Have you ever experienced something awesome that God has done but let yourself believe it was just a one time thing? Maybe you thought that even though God did it once, he won’t do it again?Let’s skip ahead to Matthew 15:32-34

Now Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with me now for three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”

“Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place…” Do you ever wonder if Jesus face palmed? While I remain convinced that He does face palm every time He sees me do something stupid, I often wonder if He did it in front of His disciples. If He did, I think this would have been one of those times. The fleshy, arrogant part of me screams at the page: “DON’T YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MAN CAN DO WITH JUST 5 LOAVES AND SOME FISH! YOU HAVE SEVEN THIS TIME!” But I know that I’m guilty of the same thing the disciples are here: forgetting what Christ has done for me, letting it slip from my mind instead of holding onto it to use as confidence in the future.

Every time God helps us through something, whether He had to pull us through it kicking and screaming or we were eagerly walking beside Him, it’s a milestone worthy of remembrance. I learned about making spiritual milestones when I did the Experiencing God Bible study by Henry Blackaby. It’s a really easy process. Take out a sheet of paper, blank or lined, it doesn’t matter. Think of the most recent time God delivered you from something. Write it down. Then think of the time before that. Keep going until you can’t think of anything else. Then, the next time you’re facing a situation where God is telling you: “You give them something to eat,” you can fall back on it and remember that God can take your little and turn it into His great.