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Matthew 14:14-21
14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”
16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.”
19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.
20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.
21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
When the problems are to big in our lives, Jesus teaches us to look to Him.
1. Jesus moves with compassion Jesus had compassion on the people who had followed him, he had such great love. He knew his time on earth was short, he pressed forward to do all that God had called him to do, even when it seemed difficult. And He’s still the same today. He knows the pain and struggles we face. He understands. He’s never too busy, or too distant to care. He knows the grief we feel today, for He felt it too.
Psalm 34:18
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as [a]have a contrite spirit.
2. Jesus is bigger than any problem we face When his disciples came to him with the problem, he instructed them to "give them something to eat," v.16. In other words, he encouraged them to look for a solution, to take their eyes off the pressing problem and put them on the Answer. Jesus is still the Answer, to every problem we face today. In a world filled with darkness and fear, He is the only solution for the troubles that surrounds us. And He sends us out, in His power and His Spirit, He instructs us today to be salt and light, to “give them something,” the very Bread of Life, who can make an eternal difference in their souls. This Truth remains,
1 John 4:4
The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as [a]have a contrite spirit.
3. Jesus asks us to bring Him all we have He asked the disciples to give him what they had, v.18. The little boy whose very smart mom had packed his lunch that day, gave all he had, 5 loaves and 2 fish. Offered it all up, though it seemed so meager. The disciples must have thought Jesus was crazy to even ask for it. Among 5000+ people, this would hardly feed even one family. But they still obeyed, they still brought it all to him. And this single obedient act ushered the way for Jesus to perform that amazing miracle story still talked about today. This truth remains, obedience paves the way for great things to happen. He desires our hearts to be fully yielded to Him, and great miracles can occur as a result.
Matthew 22:37
Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
4. Jesus can bring blessing and life from what is broken Jesus, worker of miracles, loving Provider, took what they gave and offered it before God. He gave thanks, blessed it, and broke it, v. 19. Such powerful words, because if we've walked through broken times, we know that however hard it is at the time, there's also great blessing and power that can come through it. He offers our lives, broken pieces and all, and brings us before the Father. That's the grace and favor that He alone can bring into our lives in the midst of dark places. Fast forward some months, there was another time Jesus gave thanks before the Father and broke bread with his disciples, it was the Last Supper. And it was the very picture of what He was willing to endure on our behalf - the brokenness of the cross, and the blessing and power of the Resurrection.
Matthew 26:26
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, [a]blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
5. Jesus multiplies what we give to Him And there was enough to feed all. It even says they were all "satisfied," full, content. That's a lot of mouths to feed on such a small offering of food. But with God, it was enough, it was more than enough. And surely in our lives, when we feel inadequate or what we have to offer seems so small, through Christ, it is enough. He makes it more than enough, v. 20. He is able to multiply our efforts, our gifts, our offerings, and bring complete satisfaction to the deepest places of our souls. So interesting to note that there were 12 baskets left over.
Ephesians 3:20
Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
Praying today that no matter where we are in life right now, He would take what we offer up to Him, all of our brokenness and pain, all of our loss and short supply, all of our inadequacies and doubt, and that He would breathe His blessing and favor over it, multiplying greatly all that we offer.
He is Able.
To make it more than enough.
And to bring life and blessing to all those around us.
Our Lord of miracles is more than Able.