Bread and Fish

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Opening Prayer

Holy God, You are sovereign, faithful and generous. On this new day I affirm Your goodness and grace.

Read LUKE 9:10–17

^[10] When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, ^[11] but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. ^[12] Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” ^[13] He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish-unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” ^[14] (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ^[15] The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. ^[16] Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. ^[17] They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

Meditate

One of the Names of God is Jehovah-Jireh, “Jehovah’s provision shall be seen.” Our God is willing and able to provide.

Think Further

Luke moves from a general account of ministry (1–6) to a specific instance of the disciples being asked to take responsibility. They are invited into partnership by Jesus to do something extraordinary. It’s a large-scale version of his earlier commission (1,2). Then, they were to trust God to provide food for themselves (3). Now, they’re to trust for food for well over 5,000 hungry people! Sadly, as in the storm-threatened boat on the lake (Luke 8:24), all they could think about was the impossibility of the situation (13). They had forgotten seeing Jesus provide far more fish than they expected (Luke 5:1–11). Despite this and despite their recent personal experience of provision, their faith didn’t stretch to this new challenge. Jesus had to show them how to do it (14–16)—and with what generosity (17)!

This is the one miracle, apart from the resurrection, recounted in all four gospels. Clearly it had special appeal to the early church. The common motif of loaves and fishes in early Christian art bears witness to this. Certainly, this story expresses several important truths. It is an undoubted miracle, an event that can’t be reduced to human dimensions, speaking of Jesus’ power to take the stuff of everyday life and transform it into something extraordinary. It demonstrates God’s strong commitment to provide for those in need.

This miracle also has a historical perspective, both backwards and forwards. It is a reminder of God’s miraculous provision of food and water when Moses led the Israelites in the desert (Exod. 16:11—17:6), and it anticipates the promised Messianic banquet at the end of the age, a banquet which is for all peoples (Isa. 25:6–8; Luke 14:15-24; Rev. 19:6-9)!

Apply

Consider how you might help feed the hungry locally, e.g., by regularly supporting a food bank.

Closing prayer

Lord, thank You for being my provider. You have given me more than I ever imagined, provision for my every need.

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