Today’s passage includes Luke’s telling of Jesus feeding the 5,000. I see some interesting nuisances in the story, such as Luke using the words that were later incorporated in the church’s sacrament of Holy Communion: Jesus ‘took the bread’, ‘blessed it’, ‘broke it’, and ‘gave it’.
I also noticed something for the first time: “. . . he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people.” Jesus didn’t break the loaves into pieces and then sit back as the disciples distributed them. He gave a piece of the bread to the disciples, they distributed it to as many people as they could, then they came back to Jesus and got another piece of bread. They kept coming back to Jesus.
For me, this episode in Jesus’ relationship with his disciples reveals the hardest part of being a Christian. Our natural tendencies are to try to solve our problems the best we can. Perhaps we pray first and ask God to bless our efforts or maybe even ask God for wisdom. But then we launch into trying to fix whatever it is that is broken. This episode reveals to me three essentials in learning to be a follower of Jesus.
1- There are some practical, logical things I can and should do, like Jesus organizing the very large group into more manageable parts.
2- As a Christian I am called to live by faith. Ultimately it is remembering that I can do all things by God’s power within me. It takes diligence in studying God’s word and prayer for me to discern God’s supernatural presence in meeting my needs. But, God does not intend for me to go it alone. Seeking the God’s of miracles is as much a part of the life of a disciple as is seeking to be a good, moral person.
3- As a disciple I need to keep going back to Jesus, over and over and over again, so he can fill my cup.
What word or phrase in these verses
attracts your attention?
Reflect on that word or phrase.
What insights come to you?
How does this passage touch your life today?
12-Jan-12 Luke 9:18-36
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