The Feeding of the 5000 is an extraordinary moment in the Gospels. It is so important to our understanding of who Jesus is that all four evangelists include this miracle in their gospel account.

Recently, as I was reading this passage in John 6:1-15, I couldn’t help but wonder about the boy who left home that morning as he would have on many other days. He couldn’t have imagined what would become of his modest little lunch. Neither would he have been able to conceive that millions of people would be hearing about it nearly 2000 years later. But such is the significance of this story.

This miracle was part of Jesus’ training of his first disciples, something he continued to do over a period of approximately three years leading up to his death and resurrection. In this instance he was helping them align their expectations with God’s abundance. The high point of this particular lesson was the demonstration of Jesus’ sufficiency in the midst of deficiency. What a lesson for each of us at every turn and trial and challenge in our lives and in our service in the Lord’s Name.

The Feeding of the 5000 is not the first time we see God miraculously providing food as an immediate solution to an immediate need. Consider the manna in the wilderness. For 40 years many thousands of people were fed daily. We can reasonably assume that some in the crowd surrounding Jesus that day would have made the connection and possibly wondered, “Who is this man?”

We also remember the life sustaining provisions for a widow and her son: “The jar of flour will not be used up, and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.” (1 Kings 7:14)

In addition to the astounding miracles to the glory of God in each of these accounts, we notice what I call a stewardship factor that accompanied the miraculous provisions.

First, the people involved in these events realized that there was not a human solution readily available for them. In John 6:6 we are told that Jesus saw the situation and that he had a plan.

Jesus had a plan, a purpose, and the power to fulfill every aspect of the pressing need and he enlisted his disciples to cooperate with him as a miracle unfolded before their eyes.

Here are a few points that can be applicable for us today.

  1. There are billions of spiritually hungry people in our world today and they need a personal encounter with Jesus who is the Bread of Life. The message of his cross and resurrection make possible the forgiveness of sin and a personal relationship with God who freely gives the Bread of Life to anyone who will receive it.
  2. We who have received the living bread are commissioned by the Lord just like the early disciples-in-training. We are to look to Jesus, listen to his instruction, offer him what we have, organize in such a way that all can hear and respond to the gospel, engage in the distribution of the message and steward the miraculous results with his help.
  3. EHC’s earliest ministry operations were influenced by the Feeding of the 5000. From the start, our founder began to look at the world as groupings of people by cities, towns, villages and homes. Just as Jesus organized the crowd in groups so that no one would be missed, EHC engages in a systematic home by home outreach with gospel literature village by village, town by town, city by city. This approach ensures that every home receives the message that people need most of all. As a result, by God’s grace we continue to see millions of precious people nourished by the Bread of Life across many nations and cultures every year.

This same Jesus is alive today and watches over his people, intervening as only he can do. Whether in our personal lives or in the mission of reaching lost people with the gospel, we know he is present and able to provide. I hope you can take encouragement from this.

Let us pray for one another to courageously cling to the truth that circumstances that often appear as human impossibilities are sometimes divine opportunities.