I’m sure we’re all familiar with Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the 5,000. It must have had a profound effect on everyone who witnessed it, but I’m particularly interested in what happened before the miracle took place. Jesus asked Philip where it would be possible to buy food for the people, and then John added that Jesus knew exactly what he was going to do and was merely testing Philip. Philip gave the not unreasonable answer that even if they worked for months, they wouldn’t have sufficient money to pay for enough food. Andrew then emphasised the hopelessness of the situation by pointing out the young boy with his packed lunch. With despair he observed: “what good is that with this huge crowd?”

This all feels very familiar. When we look at the problems of our world, or even our local community, it is very easy to get depressed. There is so much to be done. The needs are not only vast but also extremely complicated. We look at our resources and, like the disciples, conclude that there is absolutely nothing that we could do to make a difference. The boy’s packed lunch didn’t contain enough to satisfy the needs of one grown man, let alone a vast crowd of hungry people.

Jesus’ miraculous feeding of this enormous crowd was a lesson that the disciples needed to remember throughout their lives. In the years to come, they were all going to face great challenges as they served God, and they needed to keep their eyes on Jesus rather than the problems. We should apply our logical thinking to the challenges that we face, but we must never forget that we are serving a God of miracles who is able “to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

In what way do you find Jesus’ feeding of the 5,000 an encouragement?

Lord Jesus Christ, I place my faith in you. Forgive me for those times when I become overwhelmed by the problems and forget that you are a miracle worker. Amen