32 And Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the people, because they have remained with Me now three days and have nothing to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to Him, “Where would we get so many loaves in this desolate place to satisfy such a large crowd?” 34 And Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
This story of miraculous feeding is similar to the miraculous feeding recorded in Matthew 14:13-21—in both we find Jesus having compassion on the multitudes, engaging the disciples in solving the problem, miraculously feeding the multitude and having plenty of leftovers. Here Jesus expresses concern that if sent away, some of those following may collapse of hunger on the way. The disciples see only their limited resources. Interestingly, leaders often find themselves facing difficult situations where they lack sufficient resources for meeting the needs of those whom they lead. But for leaders to absolve themselves of the responsibility by simply sending them away, that could be counter-productive to the needs of those very people.
In training the twelve here, Jesus engaged them by drawing their attention to the need, followed by a simple question. He knew the available provisions were meager, it was not for His own benefit that He asked. Rather, He wanted to emphasize to them how little He had to work with so that in the end they would see His glory, that is, how great He really was and is. As the Master discipler, He was also teaching them a practical lesson, namely, to look beyond their own abilities and resources and to engage God, a lesson which they had obviously not yet learned since the last miraculous feeding.
The source of what was available remains anonymous, unlike the story in John 6 where a boy’s lunch was used to feed 5000. Possibly in this feeding of the 4000 the food came from one of the disciples. At any rate, someone had rationed his available supply so that while everyone else had exhausted theirs, he still had a little bit left. It is a great sacrifice for someone to part with his well-planned last meal when others do not make their own adequate provisions. What possessed him to give it up? Did he alone remember what Jesus had done before with even less portions? Or did he simply trust the Master when asked for it? What we do know is that the Master needed it, so he willing gave it over.
The crowd was smaller this time by about 1000 people (or more). Whether one or a million, God cares for every person who comes to Him.
Lord, let me not be so focused on my own needs, but let me be willing to give You what I have, so that You can bless others through me.
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