(And they all ate their fill and then they gathered up all the leftovers. The fragments filled twelve baskets to the top! Matthew 14:20)
An older woman came into the park where I work with a bag of bread. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she pulled the stale slices out one by one and ripped them into small pieces. Masses of starlings and sparrows from I-don't-know-where gathered at her feet as she held the crumbs out to their hungry mouths. Small skirmishes broke out among the feeders as they worried that the bread would run out before they got their fill. Finally, the bag was empty. The birds who were still hungry hung around a few minutes, hoping that another bag would appear. Soon, they flew away unsatisfied.
This was not the case for the people who were feed from Jesus's hands. Everyone knows the stories about the feeding the multitudes. Thousands of people came out into the countryside to see Him heal the sick and hear His amazing words. Observing their physical hunger (He was already feeding their spiritual hunger), He created enough food to satisfy every person in the crowd. He did it many times, sometimes He fed more than five thousand at a time starting from provisions that seemed too paltry to feed even one man.
Think about that crowd for a minute. They were the people who were disenfranchised from political and temple life. They were the poor, the sick, the needy who desperately sought out any chance of relief. But among the thousands, there were people who sought Jesus out for a different reason.
Some of those people were angry at the religious system and came out to heckle Jesus. Some came out to prove He was a fraud. Some were radical homosexuals or militant feminists who came out to protest Biblical teachings. Some had sexually transmitted diseases. Some of the people in that crowd came out to amuse themselves with this weirdo who said the strange things. Some came out to see a magic act. It was probably a sample from the whole range of society, including the bad and the ugly. They were the starlings and sparrows of humanity.
Yet, when they were hungry, Jesus feed each and every one of them to their full. He didn't weed out the sincere from the frivolous; He didn't care who was faithful and who was faking. He didn't give His all to the "good" and less to the "bad." This was part of His plan.
He didn't feed the people just to show compassion for their physical condition (hunger), but to demonstrate His limitless power to offer Himself. It was an object lesson to even those who came to disparage Him, that He can and will offer more than enough to cover their needs, spiritual and physical. It was a tangible way in which He could show them the purpose of His ministry. It was an exhibit of His infinite provision of grace. Everyone who feasts on the Lord is fed. Everyone who hungers but refuses to feast, goes hungry. Some of the people who witnessed this miracle understood the message in the meal.
He is still feeding us that same way, now. The more we hunger for His food, the more we receive. We cannot be hungrier than He can provide. Just like the fragments gathered up after the meal, God gives us each enough to feast on, and heaps to share with others.
There's an old gospel song that goes,
"It was just a boy's lunch, but in the LORD's hands,
It fed all the masses and reached every man.
And just like those fishes, His spiritual food
Fills every longing to make our lives good."
That day in the park, I couldn't help but hum that tune. I had once again met God in the garden.
(A wonderful thing has happened to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for the shall be filled. Matthew 5:6)
An older woman came into the park where I work with a bag of bread. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as she pulled the stale slices out one by one and ripped them into small pieces. Masses of starlings and sparrows from I-don't-know-where gathered at her feet as she held the crumbs out to their hungry mouths. Small skirmishes broke out among the feeders as they worried that the bread would run out before they got their fill. Finally, the bag was empty. The birds who were still hungry hung around a few minutes, hoping that another bag would appear. Soon, they flew away unsatisfied.
This was not the case for the people who were feed from Jesus's hands. Everyone knows the stories about the feeding the multitudes. Thousands of people came out into the countryside to see Him heal the sick and hear His amazing words. Observing their physical hunger (He was already feeding their spiritual hunger), He created enough food to satisfy every person in the crowd. He did it many times, sometimes He fed more than five thousand at a time starting from provisions that seemed too paltry to feed even one man.
Think about that crowd for a minute. They were the people who were disenfranchised from political and temple life. They were the poor, the sick, the needy who desperately sought out any chance of relief. But among the thousands, there were people who sought Jesus out for a different reason.
Some of those people were angry at the religious system and came out to heckle Jesus. Some came out to prove He was a fraud. Some were radical homosexuals or militant feminists who came out to protest Biblical teachings. Some had sexually transmitted diseases. Some of the people in that crowd came out to amuse themselves with this weirdo who said the strange things. Some came out to see a magic act. It was probably a sample from the whole range of society, including the bad and the ugly. They were the starlings and sparrows of humanity.
Yet, when they were hungry, Jesus feed each and every one of them to their full. He didn't weed out the sincere from the frivolous; He didn't care who was faithful and who was faking. He didn't give His all to the "good" and less to the "bad." This was part of His plan.
He didn't feed the people just to show compassion for their physical condition (hunger), but to demonstrate His limitless power to offer Himself. It was an object lesson to even those who came to disparage Him, that He can and will offer more than enough to cover their needs, spiritual and physical. It was a tangible way in which He could show them the purpose of His ministry. It was an exhibit of His infinite provision of grace. Everyone who feasts on the Lord is fed. Everyone who hungers but refuses to feast, goes hungry. Some of the people who witnessed this miracle understood the message in the meal.
He is still feeding us that same way, now. The more we hunger for His food, the more we receive. We cannot be hungrier than He can provide. Just like the fragments gathered up after the meal, God gives us each enough to feast on, and heaps to share with others.
There's an old gospel song that goes,
"It was just a boy's lunch, but in the LORD's hands,
It fed all the masses and reached every man.
And just like those fishes, His spiritual food
Fills every longing to make our lives good."
That day in the park, I couldn't help but hum that tune. I had once again met God in the garden.
(A wonderful thing has happened to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for the shall be filled. Matthew 5:6)
