The Lord Provides

Hello everyone.

We will pick up the story of Luke 9, in verse 10.  Jesus has given the apostles power and authority and sent them out to teach and heal.  Now in verse 10, they have returned to Jesus, reporting what they had done.  Having healed the sick and driven out demons, the apostles had to be very excited about what they had been able to do. They must have performed some powerful miracles, otherwise there would be nothing to report. 

Now, Jesus and his apostles attempt to withdraw away from the crowds, but the crowds follow them. Mark mentions that the crowds were so thick that Jesus and the apostles were unable to eat. Matthew gives a detail that Jesus has just learned about the beheading of John.  It is easy to imagine that Jesus had more than one reason to desire a time of quiet rest with his disciples.  They had just returned from an exciting mission.  His friend and relative John had just been executed and there would be a need a time to grieve and the crowds were overwhelming. 

Matthew and Mark both mention Jesus getting into a boat, while Luke says that they went to Bethsaida.  Perhaps Bethsaida was a short boat ride from where they were. No matter, Jesus and the apostles were not able to get away, because wherever they went, whether on a boat or not, it was not very far and the crowd followed. 

When the crowd caught up to them, Jesus, in spite of his own need for some alone time, welcomed the crowd and continued his mission of preaching and healing.  He feels sympathy for the crowd, even though they won’t leave him alone, and are not allowing him to get any rest. At this point in Mark’s account it says that Jesus had compassion on them, "because they were like sheep without a shepherd." (Mark 6:34) They were weak, vulnerable, confused, lost.  In his sympathy, Jesus begins teaching them. 

He teaches until late in the day.  The apostles finally come and say, “Send the crowd away, so that they can go into the surrounding towns and the countryside so that they can find food and lodging, since we are in such a remote place.” It wasn’t that apostles were unsympathetic to the crowds, they just lacked the faith and insight that Jesus carried. 

Here is a thought.  I am going to read into the text just a little:  Jesus tells his disciples to feed them.  He had just given them power to perform miracles.  Now they had an opportunity to perform one.  Jesus already knew what he was going to do. (John 6:3) He may have wanted to see what they could do, but the apostles are still looking at things through the lenses of limited faith.   

The disciples are limited by what they can see. As it turns out they have five loaves of bread and two fish. They comment that it is not nearly enough to feed that many people, unless someone went and bought food for them. They are not outside of the box thinkers.  They see only two options.  Spread out five loaves of bread and two fish that they have among thousands, or go buy food.  They did not yet see with eyes of faith and do not imagine the miracle that Jesus is about to perform.  

It is not difficult to imagine the wheels in their brains turning thinking about how much it would cost to provide food for that many people.  The money would easily run into the thousands of dollars.  The apostles did not have that kind of walking-around money. In Mark 6:37, the apostles respond that it would cost two hundred days wages to feed that many people. 

Any way, five loaves of bread and two fish is not much, but Jesus can take a little and translate into a lot.  Ultimately each apostle got to pick up a basket of leftovers.  Do you remember in Luke 4, when Jesus was being tempted by the devil,? Jesus had chosen not to turn stones into bread, but rather to trust God for his provision.  Jesus is now teaching his apostles to trust him for their provision. Darrell Bock points out that in a way the apostles do what Jesus has said.  They give the people something to eat.  Jesus breaks the bread and fish and creates more, while the disciples dispense it to the people. They are then able to minister to the people, but only through the power and provision of Jesus. (Bock, 832.)

How complete was Jesus' provision here? Luke uses the phrase Ἐχορτάσθησαν πάντες. (Exortasthasan pantes) All were filled or satisfied. Jesus' provision was absolute for all those who were hungry. There were 5000+ grateful and satisfied people who could attest to his provision. Jesus offers to fill us still.  

Tom