In my quiet time this morning, I've reached Luke 9 - the feeding of the 5000, a story you probably know really well, but just in case:
Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” He replied, “You give them something to eat." They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
Verse 13 (in bold) stood out to me this morning as I reflected on this passage. It's not a verse I've ever spent time thinking over before, I'm usually too excited to get on to the miracle of God's provision through the feeding of these 5000 people in this most extraordinary way.
It would be easy to pass this verse off as Jesus not really understanding the situation. The disciples come to Him with a problem - Jesus gives them what He thinks is the solution - they tell Him 'well that won't work' and He says 'oh, ok let's do it this way' (paraphrase) - but I think there is something more to this verse.
Jesus' command to the disciples here is very clear and very simple - "You give them something to eat". He knows they aren't currently hiding a couple of containers of fish and bread backstage. He can see quite clearly, that there are many thousands of people needing food. He see's and knows full well the issues that are facing them - and yet still He says "You give them something to eat".
The issue here is not that Jesus doesn't grasp the severity of the situation, but that the disciples don't understand the authority and power they have in it. Jesus' expectation of what the disciples can do in this passage is far higher than the disciples own expectations of themselves. Jesus is gracious, and takes them, step by step through the process - but his intention at the outset was clear - they should have enough faith in Him, and what He could do through them simply to get on and feed the people.
I don't think we can lay too much blame at the feet of the disciples here for their initial lack of faith. How often do we feel God calling us to do something but our response is to say "oh no, no, no God, you've got it wrong, I can't do that. I could maybe do this bit - which looks like what you're asking of me, but not that - it's too much. You don't understand my limitations."
For me, this was a reminder (again) - that Christ is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. (Eph 3).
After reading this I found myself listening to this relatively new song 'Yet not I but through Christ in me' - if you feel like listening, then maybe ask God (as I did this morning) to re-open the eyes of your heart, so that you might see Him and what His power at work in us is able to achieve.
