The miracle of Jesus feeding the five thousand as told in John's Gospel is a very well-known Bible story; in fact it's one of the few miracles which is recorded in all four Gospels (see also Luke 9:12, Mark 6:36, Matthew 14:16). However, John's account is slightly longer and contains a detail which is not found in the others. See if you can pick it out.
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?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "It would take almost a year's wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). 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. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, "Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world." (John 6:5-15)
Did you find it? The detail which is missing from the other three Gospels is the little boy from whose meal Jesus creates the feast.
As I play this scene out in my mind, I imagine the apostles making their way through the crowd calling out for anyone who might have a scrap of food to share. Their desperation and their desire to please the Lord would have been written on their faces and evident in their voices.
In the midst of all of this, a boy comes forward and selflessly offers all that he has. From this simple offering, Jesus performs His miracle.
There are many ways Jesus could have solved this problem. He could have rained bread from Heaven, or He could have waved His hands and filled their stomachs. Instead, He took what was freely offered and turned it into something miraculous.
This pattern is repeated time and time again in our own lives. There are many ways God can help us during our times of need, but the most common pattern is for God to take what we offer and turn it into something greater than we can do on our own.
In conjunction with asking God for help, we need to ensure that we do the part that we can do. If we've lost our job, then we need to start working on our résumé right away. If we have an exam coming up, we need to study. Only once we have done all that we can do will God take over and do what only He can do.
If we are asking God to open doors for us, we need to be standing at the doorstep, ready to enter.
This Week @ Detonate:
It's finally here! July 4th Prayer March Out would not be possible without your vision and passion for your school! We are trusting God with faith and perseverance to win our schools for Christ:) Do check out with your team leader on time and venue to meet! NOTE There will be no youth service in our church building this week only.