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It is easy to become so familiar with the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 that we overlook the miracle that Jesus offers us in the same circumstances 2,000 years later.
John 6:1-15
1 Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias),
2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick.
3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.
4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near.
5 When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?"
6 He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
7 Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!"
8 Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up,
9 "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?"
10 Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.
11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted."
13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
14 After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."
15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.
What you can learn from Jesus' miracle:
1. No problem is too big for God to solve.
When Jesus arrived at His destination, thousands of people were waiting for Him. They were hot, tired, and hungry. While Philip, one of the disciples, became anxious looking for solutions to the hunger problem, Jesus urged him to look for a Jesus-solution. Jesus wanted Philip to see that his problem may have been too big for him, but it wasn't too big for Jesus. Know where to turn - bring your problem to Jesus. Make sure you include God in your calculations.
2. No person is too small for Jesus to use.
Jesus used a little boy with five barley loaves and two small fishes. The boy gave all of his lunch to the Lord. He didn't hold back part of it and he ended up being fed as well. God asks you to give Him everything you are and have. There is no gift too small for Him to use. Transfer what you have to Jesus, no matter how small your "lunch." Jesus will accept what you have and will transform it for His purposes.
3. No hunger is too deep for Jesus to satisfy.
The miracle He did that day is significant, not because He fed 5,000, but because through it He taught that He can meet the deeper, spiritual hunger of our hearts. Jesus told them, "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of man shall give to you" (vs. 27). See beyond the temporary things of this world. Jesus is the one thing that endures, and the only thing that satisfies. Jesus is the bread of life, and if you will feed upon Him, you will live forever.
4. Seek Jesus.
What we all need is the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to hunger and thirst after Him, and when we do that we will find blessedness. "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled" (Matt. 5:6). You will never need anything else spiritually besides Jesus. Seek Jesus purposefully. Seek nothing more, and settle for nothing less - not a denomination, creed, church membership, or moral code.
5. Accept His invitation to the banquet.
All the people had to do was to sit down and enjoy the food. Jesus is the one who says Come and eat. Like each of those 5,000, you have the choice to say, No, thank you, I'm not hungry, and go away empty, or say, Jesus, You are what I need. You are what I hunger for. I want you.
Let us sit down at the table with the one who can turn a boy's lunch into a feast. Let us nourish our soul on Jesus and never go hungry again.
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