Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand - Matthew 15:29-38

29 Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel. 32 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.” 33 His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?” 34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. “Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.” 35 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn to the people. 37 They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 38 The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan.

Reflection: This is the second instance of Jesus feeding a multitude on a few fish and loaves. The numbers and provision differ slightly, but the principles remain the same. Jesus after spending time in Tyre and Sidon where there was little response to his ministry, went by the Sea of Galilee. And rather than having time to rest, he attracted the multitudes to his side. All types of diseases, from all types of people were brought before him, and he healed them all. And the result: they all praised God! This is right and good that the supernatural healing led to praise of God. But since they had been with him 3 days (the first 3 day healing conference), they were naturally hungry. Jesus could have sent them away, but he had compassion or pity upon them. Meaning he felt badly they were hungry, and wanted to make sure they ate before they went away.

We see Jesus cared for the whole person, not just the spiritual or the physical. But the disciples wondered again how they were going to do it, even though Jesus had just fed 5,000 recently (how soon we forget!). He calmly asked them, "Well what do you have?" And when they offered what they had as meager as it was, when offered in thanks to God, it was distributed amongst them. And guess what? Everybody ate, everybody was satisfied, and there were even leftovers!

What might this mean for us? I don't know about you but nothing causes me more stress than when I wonder how am I going to do all the things I have to do for all the different people in my life with limited time and resources. This causes me to stop having compassion on others and start worrying more about how am I going to get it all done. My focus has gone from seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness, to worrying about my own. Notice Jesus doesn't lay the burden on the disciples, but only asks them to offer what they have. He doesn't say you are going to have to feed all these people on your own power with your own resources! Jesus did two things. He had compassion on them and then gathered what was available and gave it to God for multiplication. And they all ate and were satisfied.

Now I realize we can not be overly simplistic here, but the fact is everyday we face needs that none of us can meet in our power and resources. So the temptation is to think, I can't do anything, so why care? And Jesus says to us today, "You give them something to eat! Offer what you have as meager as it may seem and let me do the rest!"

Jesus as we go about our day today, help us be open to the people you would have compassion on if you were us. And as we are able, help us to offer what we have, give thanks to You, and let You do the rest. Amen.