Jesus Gives in Abundance even Beyond Our Wildest Expectations

“Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he gave the bread to the disciples, who distributed it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers. About 5,000 men were fed that day, in addition to all the women and children!”
(Matthew 14:19-21, NLT).

Jesus, acting as the host of the soon-to-be banquet, took the loaves and fish, thanked God beforehand for the provision he was about to give, and then broke the loaves – and the miracle occurred in Jesus’ hands. He gave the bread to his disciples to then give “to the people.” He did the same thing with the fish. The disciples acted as waiters (reminds me of doing part-time as waiter at the Hilton and Riverside Hotel), taking the bread and fish, distributing it, and then returning to Jesus to get more. They continued to serve the crowd until everyone had had enough to eat.

What an amazing miracle. Before the eyes of the disciples and the gathered crowd, the small offering of food had somehow multiplied so that everyone had more than enough to eat. Through this miracle, God was authenticating Jesus as his Son and portraying the generous blessings of the Kingdom through the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as God had provided manna to the Israelites in the wilderness (Exodus 16) and had multiplied oil and flour for Elijah and the widow at Zarephath (1 Kings 17:7-16) and oil for Elisha (2 Kings 4:1-7), he was providing bread for the people on this day.

The people, especially those far from the scene, probably couldn’t see Jesus multiply the loaves and fish. On the other hand, they had been watching Jesus perform miracles all day. The disciples had also seen the healings, yet even they wondered about Jesus’ ability to provide food for them and the crowd. Jesus took that small donation and increased it to an incredible amount, plus leftovers! (“…twelve baskets of leftovers”). God can do anything. He can, and will, multiply what we give to him – beyond our wildest expectations. Think about this: God gives in abundance. If we take the first step in making our time, abilities, and other resources available to God, he will show us how greatly we can be used to advance God’s Kingdom.

“If we just give God the little that we have,

We can trust Him to make it go around”
(Gloria Gaither)

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.