Matthew 14:13-21 records the story of the feeding of five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fish. Actually, there were a lot more people fed that day. Matthew states at the end of the story that the women and children were not included in the tally. Bottom line: it was a really big crowd.
Frankly, the actual number of people present is inconsequential. Why? Because five small loaves and two fish were nothing more than someone’s supper. That’s it. It was intended to feed one person one meal.
This miraculous story actually begins with Jesus learning that John the Baptist had been beheaded. That moment for Jesus was very difficult. Not only was John related to Jesus, but they were significantly connected by the redemptive work God was accomplishing. The news of John’s execution was a stark reminder to Jesus of why the Father had sent Him into the world. He, too, would soon be executed. Upon hearing the news, Jesus must have thought, “And so it begins.”
Jesus got in a boat and headed away from the disciples and the crowd. He needed to be alone.
The crowds anticipated where He was going, and they hurried along the shoreline to get there. They succeeded at catching up to Him. So much for finding time and space to breathe.
Matthew records that Jesus had compassion on the crowd, and He began healing their sick. As the day wore on and evening approached, the disciples advised Jesus to send the crowd into the villages so they could buy food.
We can’t blame them for suggesting it. They were hungry, too.
Jesus responds by telling them to do the impossible, “They don’t need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
It was seriously impossible. Have you ever seen the amount of food required to feed a hundred people at a church potluck? It’s a lot. The amount required to feed a crowd of up to eight thousand? We can just imagine the eye-roll glances passed between the disciples. What a ridiculous suggestion.
To make their point, one of the disciples must have yelled out to the crowd, “Does anyone have any food here?” Apparently, one person had come prepared with their supper. They took it to Jesus to drive home a point. Their total resource was seven: five loaves and two fish.
Instead, Jesus drove home a point to them.
When they brought the food to Jesus, they should have said, “Jesus, we have five loaves of bread, two fish, and You.” That was their mistake. They counted to seven and left Jesus out of the tally. They should have counted to eight.
The rest is history. Upwards of eight thousand people ate their fill, and twelve large basketfuls of fish and bread were left over. Jesus taught the disciples a powerful lesson that day: When adding up available resources, don’t forget to count me.
Seriously, they had just spent the day watching Jesus heal sick people. The power of God was flowing through Him, and what they witnessed must have been spectacular. Yet somehow, they couldn’t apply that miraculous power to something as mundane as food. It leaves us asking, “How could they have missed the obvious?”
Sure, we can be critical of them, but don’t we often make the same mistake? We assume that our resources define the limit of what we can do. It’s not true.
As believers, we have access to an unlimited resource. His name is Jesus. With Him, there is always enough and more – infinitely more. More grace. More mercy. More love. More peace. More joy. More hope. More! Always more and new every day!
Friends, when you have an infinite supply of these precious treasures, you realize you have all you need. Whatever you are facing today, whatever struggle, challenge, or trial may come your way, don’t leave Jesus out of your tally of your available resources. Remember to always count to eight.
By the way, if you lay the number eight on its side, what do you have? You’re right, it is the sign for infinity. I pray that every time you see the number eight, it will remind you that in Jesus, you have all you need – and more!
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19
