There was 5000 men but in total there was far more to be fed as there was also women and children. See Matthew 14:21. God often uses partners in His miracles and this is no exception.

1. God knows what he is about to do

Jesus tests the disciples. There is a lot of people who were getting hungry and Jesus didn’t want them to have to go away. He asks the disciples to give them something to eat. Philip says it will cost a fortune to feed so many people. It could have been 10-20 thousand in total. Jesus did had some money. We know that Judas was treasurer. Peter finds a small boy with 5 loaves and 2 small fish.

Jesus gets the disciples to get the people to recline in table groups of 50. There has to be order. God is a God of order. God is also a God of abundance and stewardship. There is a balance. We are to give to those in need and not be wasteful.

2. He needs to prove us

To “prove” is a bakery term. It is to do with allowing the bread to rise. God is trying to take people from the place of small thinking. God wants to expand their capacity. You can “overproof” but God will not allow it. When God is giving a test but he will expand you.

The word “prove” is also a word for training animals. A young ox was yoked with a wiser older one. Jesus was mentoring the disciples. Tell, show and do. He was passing on to the disciples. The disciples would do this to train others in the ministry.

3. Our ordinariness qualifies us to be used by God

Wheat was the rich man’s ingredient for bread. Barley was the poor man’s food. It was cheaper and also fed to the animals. See 1 Corinthians 1:26-28.  See Judges 7:13-14. You might feel you are ordinary but God uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary! Ruth was a refugee and met Boaz in the barley fields. The ordinary becomes greater when God is given control.

4. If we follow his instruction we create a sense of faith and expectancy

Reclining is the position of expectancy. We can do it with God behind us. The people threw themselves to the ground. They put themselves in the position to receive. Did they not realise there was only 5 loaves and two small fish? They had faith to believe in the miraculous and they were not to be disappointed!

5. The expectation causes us to partake in the miracle

You would have expected the adults to have had the sense to take food put in the wilderness. It often the ordinary who gives the most to God. Those who can least afford it. The young boy gave up his lunch. Jesus fed the disciples and the disciples gave it to the rest. It was blessed by Jesus and it multiplied in the hands of the disciples. A packed lunch fed thousands of people!

God wants to help the community and walk in the supernatural. The ordinary boy comes back home with much more than he had given!

Categories: John