OUR FATHER WHO GIVES US OUR DAILY BREAD

The Lord Jesus, hearing about what happened to John the Baptist at the hands of king Herod, went to a deserted area to seek seclusion and to lower His political profile but word got around where He was and huge crowds travelled to the territory.

Even though it was not a good time for Him to be with so many, He was moved with compassion for all the convoys of people and their sick family members who they brought and so He overode His own comfort and ministered to them and healed the sick. Matthew chapter 14 verses 13 - 21 recorded this interaction between Jesus and crowd that went late into the evening and the disciples advised Jesus to send the crowd away to buy food for themselves before it was too late. 

It was at this time that the Lord famously charged His disciples with feeding the large crowd. 

13 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself 21. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”

16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”

17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”

18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

The disciples, looking at the crowd of perhaps up to 10,000 people, were at a loss as to how to feed them as the Lord had commanded them since they only had five loaves of bread and two fishes so they pointed out their connundrum to Jesus.

Asking for the small ration that they had, Jesus looked up to heaven, blessed the food and broke it apart and gave it to the disciples to distribute to the multitudes.

The bread and fish were materially multiplied as they were divided and distributed so that they were able to feed all the people till they were full and had  twelve baskets of bread and fish fragments remaining.

The Lord is able to provide.

Amen.

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