Devotional:

“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.” — Matthew 14:13-21

A fun fact as we look through this passage today, is that this is the only miracle other than the resurrection of Jesus that is recorded in all four Gospels. Our last devotional about the invalid at the pool of Bethesda was only recorded in one Gospel, the book of John.  Not all accounts in the Gospels were written by eyewitnesses. Mark and Luke interviewed people for most of their Scripture writings because they were not with Jesus during His ministry. John wrote very specific details and accounts of Jesus, much from his own witness because he was very close to Jesus, as was Matthew. 

Mark was likely a teenager during Jesus’s ministry and was not mentioned in the Bible until after Jesus’s ascension in Acts 12:12, but his mother was a believer and their home was used as a gathering place to pray for Peter to be delivered from prison. Mark later became a devoted follower of Jesus and traveled with Peter and even stayed with Peter while he was in jail. Peter referred to Mark as his son in 1 Peter, so we know Mark was very close to someone who was a significant part of Jesus’s personal life and ministry. 

Luke was a physician and did not know Jesus personally. He became a follower after Jesus’s death. He was likely a gentile and we know he was led to Christ through Paul’s teachings. Luke followed Paul throughout his ministry and was with him even to Paul’s martyrdom. I could have chosen any of these accounts of this miracle for this devotional today (and I encourage everyone to read them as they are all unique and Holy Spirit inspired), but I chose to use Matthew’s account because of some specific details that were not recorded in the other Gospels. 

In verse 13, it says, “Now when Jesus heard this…” we need to understand what Jesus heard and why He was going to find a place to be alone. From the beginning of chapter 14, we find out that Herod, at the request of his daughter Herodias, had John the Baptist beheaded and his head brought to her on a platter. The disciples retrieved his decapitated body from the prison he had been in and buried it. After burying his body, they told Jesus what had happened.  

Jesus hears of this and is sad and wants to mourn His cousin and friend, John the Baptist. So, He gets on a boat and attempts to find a place to be alone. Instead, He is greeted on the other side by a mob of people waiting for Him. 

Once again, word had gotten out and the crowds came and disrupted His plan to be alone, but Jesus didn’t get angry, He didn’t ignore them and He didn’t stay on the boat and go in a different direction. He came ashore and saw compassion for them. Only Jesus could have done that. He laid aside His needs for those who needed Him. 

What does Jesus do next? He gets to work. He puts His sorrow aside and tends to the needs of these lost and hurting people. He starts teaching them and healing their sick, up until evening. And when it started getting late, the disciples thought they needed to tell the people to leave because soon everything in the villages would be closed and they wouldn’t be able to find food.

But instead, Jesus tells the disciples to feed them, and with the five loaves and two fish they had, Jesus blessed it and handed it to the disciples to give out. And it was enough for all 5,000 men, plus women and children, so probably around 15,000 or more. And it says the 12 baskets were full of leftovers after they took them up. 

When we read a story that is so familiar, like this one, we tend to go to the children’s Sunday school version immediately. Jesus sees hungry people, has compassion for them and shows them mercy by feeding them which is all true. But, if we slow down and pray when we read these accounts, God speaks to us in different ways through these familiar Bible stories. Jesus performed every miracle with a purpose and a plan. What does God want to reveal to us about this miracle? Although I have read this story many times, there were two things God revealed to me differently this time. 

First, the miracle of addressing people’s hunger is not the point of the story. Jesus, the bread of life, is the point of the story. We tend to focus on the benefit of the food and miss the blessing of the Savior.

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ” — John 6:35

Maybe Jesus thought this would be the moment they would finally get it. He would multiply the bread and fish and they’d have as much as they wanted, eat until they were full, plus leftovers and then boom…make the connection. Jesus is the bread of life, always satisfying and always enough. They would finally realize He was there for so much more than their temporary hunger. He was the life-giving bread they needed.

But that didn’t happen. The people left full, but still didn’t get it. We read later in John 6 that they were following Him around again a few days later, wanting to see His works, but still not believing. In John 6:36, Jesus calls them out, saying, “you have seen me and yet do not believe.” They saw Him as a miracle worker and not as the Son of God, the Messiah, their Savior.  

My second takeaway had to do with the leftovers. Jesus had the disciples hand out the food and then gathered what was left and it says the pieces filled the baskets. Twelve baskets were full of food. Jesus not only provided for the people gathered there, but he also provided for His 12 disciples. This was Jesus’s way of showing the disciples that He would provide everything they needed to do the work required to reach the lost and hurting people.

Jesus calls us to do more than follow Him. Jesus calls us to be His hands and feet like the disciples were that day. It isn’t always going to be easy. We will grow tired, get frustrated and have lots of questions and people will let us down over and over again. But Jesus is the great provider and will give us what we need to do His will.  

God, give us the strength to persevere even when we don’t have the resources, tools or energy to be Your disciples. Take away the doubt and uncertainty that creeps in and let us remember that You provide all the needs for those willing and able to show others Your love. May we never forget Your miracles. God, You are greater than any obstacle or fear we may have. Amen