Friday, July 27, 2001
Friday, July 27, 2001
And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of
broken pieces.
"Have the people sit down," Jesus ordered. And all of them sat down on the grassy slopes. There
were approximately 5,000 men in attendance plus women and children. Then Jesus took the
loaves and gave thanks to God and passed them out to the people. Afterwards he did the same
with the fish. And everyone ate until full! When all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples,
"Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled
twelve baskets with the pieces left over by those who had eaten.
Jesus will take care of our needs not our greed.
(Luke 9:17
NRSV)
A huge crowd, many of them pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for the annual Passover
celebration, were following Jesus wherever he went, to watch him heal the sick. So when he went
up into the hills and sat down with his disciples around him, he soon saw a great multitude of
people climbing the hill, looking for him. Turning to Philip he asked, "Where shall we buy bread
for these people to eat?" Philip was from that general area, so it was only natural that Jesus would
have asked him about the best local place to obtain food for the crowd. Philip immediately
declared the situation hopeless. "Eight months' wages," he declared, "would not buy enough bread
for each one to have a bite!" We can appreciate the disciples' attitude. The situation looked
impossible on the surface. Then Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up. "Here is a boy with
five small barley loaves and two small fish." Then Andrew adds with an air of resignation, "But
how far will they go among so many?"
Lord Jesus, thank you for taking care of my needs. Amen.
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