Key Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18 In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (NKJV)
Turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 6.
John 6 NKJV
1 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.
The Sea of Galilee is the largest body of fresh water in
This lake is also known as Kinneret, the
Due to the geographical situation of the lake it is prone to sudden and violent storms especially in the winter. In Jesus’ time multitudes would gather here to take advantage of the warmer climate awaiting the spring and their return to farming and foraging.
With the abundance of natural
2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.
3 And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
Matthew 14, Mark 6 and Luke 9 give us insight into this event from their added perspectives. It seems that after ministering to many sick and needy people, Jesus and His disciples sailed across the lake to a deserted place on the northeast shore to a hillside belonging to the fishing town of
4 Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.
5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"
We are elsewhere told that it was now late evening and Jesus saw these multitudes as lost sheep without a shepherd to care for them. He had compassion on them and wanted to help them while also stretching the Apostles with another discipleship lesson.
6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
7 Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."
This amount was more money than Jesus and His disciple’s net worth combined. It would take a small fortune to give these thousands of people even a small piece of bread each.
8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him,
9 "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"
10 Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
Luke 9:14 says that Jesus told the disciples to make them sit down in groups of fifty. This gives us some indication of about how many people one disciple can manage to intimately care for at one time. Without the multiplication of shepherds, sheep may continue to go without their intimate needs met. The fields are ripe and ready for harvest, only the labors are few …
We are also encouraged to realize that even the biggest of projects can be accomplished when they are broken down into manageable, bite size steps.
11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
Get the picture here. Jesus did not multiply enough food for the whole multitude Himself. Jesus supplied food to the disciples and the disciples continued the miracle to make supply from their portions to feed the each group, most likely returning after each group of 50 were fed to receive more from the Master.
12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."
God is liberally conservative. What does that mean? It means that God wants you to have all you need and even all you want but not to be wasteful. Eat, drink and be merry. Eat the fat, drink the sweet and send portions to those for whom nothing has been prepared. For a man to enjoy the fruit of his labor is a gift of God. God has given us richly all things to enjoy. However, after enjoying all you want to enjoy, don’t forget that:
All blessings come from God and those are His scraps … be liberal but don’t be wasteful!
13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
What a miracle, especially for the lad who gave the little he had. Don’t you imagine that his mother was amazed that evening when this young boy came home with servants carrying the 12 baskets full of food as a return on his offering that day.
Matthew 14:21 tells us that there were 5000 men, besides the women and children. Easily the number of people fed that day could have been more than 15,000 in all.
Tonight I want us to go back and take a look at the catalyst for this miracle … verse 11.
John 6:11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
Even Jesus, with all His power and glory, the Son of God, Messiah and Savior of the world, understood the necessity and propriety of giving thanks.
Tomorrow when we sit down at our many tables, looking over the abundance of food we will consume on this Thanksgiving Day in the United States, let us all with a true heart of humility give thanks to our God, the Creator of the universe Who has abundantly supplied bread from the earth and fruit from the vines to give us strength and meet our need and fulfill our desire.
Our nation has reason to be thankful, but so do each one of us individually, not only on Thanksgiving Day, but also on every day!
Let’s stand and give God thanks right now as we close.
