Feeding 5,000

John 6:1-14

Jesus created many situations where the disciples had to learn to trust Him, and He does the same for us today. Remember that the point of John’s gospel is to help us understand how Jesus is God and the Messiah of the world so that we, too, will believe in Him and trust in His power. In this passage, Jesus invites Phillip into the problem of feeding the 5,000 and uses it to show him and the rest of the disciples that He is all-powerful so that they will believe.

Jesus knew that He could feed 5,000 people easily, and He could have done so with a snap of His fingers. He did not need the disciples' help or even the little boy’s loaves and fish to accomplish His will. But, in this passage, we see how much Jesus cared for not only the crowd He was feeding but also for His disciples. He asked Phillip where to buy bread, not because He did not know but because He wanted the disciples to understand the immensity of the problem so that they would better understand His immense power. Like Phillip, who calculated the cost and immediately felt hopeless, we often try to take problems into our own hands, forgetting that we follow an all-powerful God.

When He multiplied the loaves and fishes, He invited the disciples into the work of distribution so that they would know just how much of a miracle it was that there was enough food. Not only was everyone fed, but 12 baskets of leftovers were gathered afterward. Ephesians 3:20 says He can “do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” There is no problem that God cannot solve, and He can provide abundantly for His people.

This passage is an excellent reminder that God is bigger than any problem we face, and sometimes, He uses them as teaching moments so that we will better understand His power. He provides abundantly for us, which is such an undeserved gift because His death on the cross was enough. It was enough that God loved us so much that He sent His son to earth to take on our punishment on the cross and then rise again to give us free access to relationship with Him. That was enough; it was more than we deserve, but still, our God provides all that we need and more through His power.

Is there anything you are trying to take into your own hands? Pray and ask God to take it and teach you about His power through it.