The Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

September 30, 2019

The Miracles of the Loaves and Fishes

Page 129-130

Matthew 14:13b-23; Mark 6:30-46;

Luke 9:10-17; John 4:6-17a

Jesus fed a multitude with a few loaves of bread and a few fish. This miracle offers us two compelling opportunities for deeper meditation. The first concerns the miracle; the second concerns the response of the people.

In Luke’s version, Jesus “kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people” (Luke 9:16). 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. The disciples kept coming back to Jesus. 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 miracle gives us insight into making the life in Christ our way of life.

While there are some practical, logical things I can and should do, like Jesus organizing the very large group into more manageable parts, I don’t want to forget that I am called to live by faith. Living by faith means exercising diligence in prayer and in studying God’s word to discern God’s supernatural presence in meeting my needs. God does not intend for me to go it alone. Seeking the God of miracles is as much a part of the life of a disciple as is seeking to be a good, moral person. Living by faith means going back to Jesus, over and over and over again, so he can give me more bread. 

Secondly, God’s Messiah is a specific person with a specific mission. The miracles of Jesus were not just signs of his superhuman powers. They were signs that he was the Messiah, announcing the Kingdom of God was breaking through to the world. When people are only looking to Jesus for what Jesus can do for them, for Jesus to take care of their fears, pain, and discomfort, they are not seeing Jesus as he is: the Messiah. The Apostle John said when he saw Jesus as he is, “I fell at his feet as if I were dead” (Revelation 1:17). When you see Jesus as he is, you can no longer be self-centered. You become Christ-centered.

My Takeaway: When I am self-centered, my loyalties can be turned in any direction that offers less pain, less fear, more perceived abundance. When I am Christ-centered, my loyalties are firmly established in God’s Kingdom. When I am self-centered, I seek God’s blessings. When I am Christ-centered, I seek to Glorify God by being a blessing to others.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.