They All Ate and Were Satisfied
"He told the crowd to sit down on the ground.
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.
They all ate and were satisfied."
(Matthew 15: 35-36)
One of the miracles of Jesus which brought in a change in my life. Even though this incident happened thousands of years back, the magnitude of influence that it could make in our lives is greater. On one hand, it shows the Lord's miraculous power to make abundance out of scarcity, and on the other, it reminds how much our Lord cares about our needs even before we worry about it.
The simple description of the above incident we have read in the verses shows how much Jesus cared for those who were concerned about listening to the Lord's words. Even though they were normal people like us, who become hungry at least twice in a day, their priority for the last three days had been to listen to what Jesus had to say. The bible says that 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." What care! What a concern about those who gave the Lord the importance for the last three days. Jesus was concerned about their hunger and He asked His disciples to get something for them.
We understand that for the last three days these people have been listening to the Lord without even feeling their hunger. They had been filled for the last few days with the words of the Lord which fed the hunger of their souls, and the hunger of their physical body never disturbed them. And this comes only when our minds give the priority to the Lord. There is nothing supernatural about it. There is nothing extremely beyond the normal order. Don't we feel filled when we have good news? Don't we go empty even without worrying about it when we have achieved something that we so badly wanted in life? And for these people, the Lord's words of life were so life-changing and filling, that they even forgot their hunger. This just shows us how much important were the words of Jesus for these people. And they listened to Him for hours and hours.
Now the moment has come for the Lord to care for their physical needs. Indeed, these people set the words of Jesus as their priority for the last many hours, and now Jesus makes their hunger His priority. Jesus had to take the boat and sail to the area of Magadan after these three days. It was the end of a large convention. And the teacher, indeed, was on the next mission - to travel to Magadan. But, isn't it amazing that Jesus paused, worried about these people who were listening to Him and He cared to feed them all and send them satisfied when they leave from His presence. None of these people asked Him, and surprisingly none of them worried about it too. Surely these people are not electrically charged robots. They are just like you and me, with the normal human body, with the same primary drives. Probably they would have started thinking about food on their way, and indeed that would have even made them collapse. The mere realisation that they did not have food for the last three days would have brought in that natural call for food - the hunger. But Jesus knew. Jesus, the Lord, the Son of Man was in human form. He knew the heartbeats. He knew the suffering of hunger. And He responds.
Look at this conversation between Jesus and His disciples. Interesting.
When Jesus expressed His concern about them, saying that He wants the people fed, His disciples answered,
“Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?”
“How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked. (so the bread and fish was available)
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish."
There we go. The disciples were, indeed, disciples. Just like all of us, they were people with the limitations of human thoughts and boundaries. And they began to think only within these limitations. Time, space, quantity and demand was their measure. But, for the Lord, just the scarcity of food was enough for Him to make abundance out of it! Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 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. The bible says, that all the people ate and were satisfied. Afterwards, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were leftover. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children.
Isn't that amazing? Today, in our lives there are many things to be worried about. Right now, at this very moment, your mind could put up an entire list filled with the needs that have to be met. And this is a beautiful message today. In the midst of all these needs and worries, has your heart given priority to what God has to say in your life? Are you diligently seeking Him with faith? Remember that the Lord cares about your needs and He is indeed concerned about your next steps and worries. He knows that you need them. He knows that you may collapse without these. The Lord knows these are essential to you. He knows that you have a world to face. Jesus knows that you have obstacles to go through. And remember, today, He is concerned about you. All that you need to do is to go to Him, be at His feet and listen to what He has to say. His will in your life and His words in your heart must be your utmost priorities. And be assured, that the Lord will fill you with everything that you need, and when He feeds you, you will be satisfied. When His abundance fills you, your needs will be met even beyond your dreams and expectations.
Do not limit what God can do in your life based on your human limitations. Your boundaries, your savings, your knowledge, your qualifications, your influences, your skills and even your physical abilities do not matter to Him. When the Lord wants to do it in your life, be assured that He will fill the baskets of your life with abundance so that you will also be able to share with others from this abundance of God. Matthew 6: 33 says "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
I pray that all of us would give priority to God and His will in our lives, and let us be assured that the Lord will fill us with all that we would have ever needed. May the grace of our Lord Jesus and the guidance of the Holy Spirit be with all of us.
May God bless you.
Yours in Christ,
