Five loaves and two fish: 

The feeding of the 5000 is an incredible miracle. And it’s more incredible than it seems when you put it into context. First of all there were more than 5000. Estimates are anywhere from 10000 to 15000 or more. There were 5000 households. There could have been anywhere from 1-10 in a household on the mountain. Second, it was illegal for crowds to gather like this. There would’ve been watchmen looking out for Romans ready to break up the party in not so pleasing ways. Third is the feast itself. 

Jesus knew people were hungry but he also knew that they were spiritually malnourished. He feeds them with 5 loaves and 2 fish with leftovers. But there’s so much more to the story.

1. We physically don’t need as much as we want. We always want more. More food. More things. More time. More money. But in reality we need very, very little.
2. If we don’t  listen to and wait on  God we will miss the miracle. Imagine if you were there that day but left early because you had the munchies? It’s like going to the bathroom during the Darth Vader reveal scene.
3. We live in a malnourished world. Much of the world goes to bed hungry. Much of the rest goes to bed full of nutrient-poor food. We either are starving or are gluttonous. The same is true spiritually. There’s a big part of the world who go to bed each day unaware of God’s love surrounding them. And there’s another part that only sees just a fraction of God’s love and doesn’t accept the challenge to seek both justice and mercy. Gluttony can be both physical and spiritual too.

When we pray for God to give us our daily bread, we are asking for so much more. Jesus is from Bethlehem, the house of bread. And as we seek the bread of heaven let us always remember that God can do so much more with us than we think, if we only stick around to see it.

Until Everyone Hears,

#faith

#prayer

#HolyMischief