All four gospels mention the feeding of the 5000 but only in Mark 6:32-44 do we read that He “began teaching them many things”. Mark also tells us that the feeding of the 5,000 came after the day was “far spent”.
There is a difference between Jesus view of the 5000 and the disciples view of them:
•The disciples saw them through the eyes of their needs and said, “Send them away, we’re weary!”
•Jesus saw them through the eyes of their need and said, “Come unto me all you who are weary!”
The disciples had two suggestions for solving the problem:
Send them away: Give these people ample time to go and find their own provisions. I’m of the opinion that this is the one that the disciples preferred as it would mean less work for them and more down time with Jesus.
Raise enough money and go and buy enough bread so that all could have something to eat: A denarion was a silver coin worth about $35 today and 200 would be $7,700 or an average year’s wage. This didn’t seem feasible as they didn’t have enough resources for such a large crowd, so that everyone would be able to get even a little. Not to mention that they would have to go to several villages to find enough bread to purchase for 5000 men plus women and children.
What an effective committee of problem solvers these 12 were!
Saints, Jesus isn’t interested in what we lack. His only interest is in what we have! They adopted a “corporate business plan” to assess the situation which was to “measure their available resources”. But Jesus offered them the “Biblical Plan” which was to “Determine God’s will and then trust Him to meet the need.”
Then Jesus took the little lad’s lunch that Andrew had found and did three things that we must remember:
•BLESSED IT
•BROKE IT
•GAVE IT
Jesus broke the five loaves and two fish and the disciples kept on giving it out. Jesus illustrates for us that, “Blessings and breakings always preceed feedings.”
We must allow the Lord to bless our lives and break our lives if our lives are going to be a nourishment for others! What a lesson for these corporate disciples that they were not “manufacturers” they were only “distributors”! They were to get whatever He had given them into the hands of Jesus so that He could “BLESS IT” and “BREAK IT,” it is then that we “DISTRIBUTE IT” so that He can “MULTIPLY IT”! In the hands of Jesus our little becomes much more than a meal, if we put ourselves and what He has given us into the hands of Jesus where He can bless us, break us and give us away there is no telling what He can do! Remember God does not call the qualified, He qualifies the called!