Matthew 14:13–21 (ESV)
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
13 Now
when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion
on them and healed their sick. 15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a desolate place, and the day is now over; send the crowds away to go into
the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” 17 They said to him, “We have only five loaves
here and two fish.” 18 And he said, “Bring them here to me.” 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked
up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken
pieces left over. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
What I like the most is Jesus
telling them “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” Jesus was asking them to do the impossible. I think about what it takes to feed 100 or 200 people… and it is a lot of work and planning. It also cost
money! Jesus does the impossible by feeding them with no money. He is teaching them that He (Jesus) is God! I’m proud to have feed 250 in a single sitting. But 5,000… with no money????
Really??? I would have been amazed too!
I pray: Jesus, you are the creator of all things. It was nothing for you to feed the 5,000. Yet
you have much bigger things to do. Physical food is great, but spiritual food is eternal. Amen.