When Jesus saw all the hungry people on the hillside, he
made a point of how much it would take to feed all these people. He could have done it by himself: that had
been the first one of the temptations he had to face before he was ready to
cope with the program God had laid out for him.
Satan pointed out that anyone who had created the whole world could
easily turn rocks into bread. (Actually, he didn't actually need the rocks; if
he wanted, he could create whatever he needed!) But what he did is to turn that conversation
away from the emphasis on perishable food that only lasts a few hours to the
truly important spiritual food that we need to grow up into Him.
What Jesus actually did when he fed people, was that he
first asked what there was available, even though it was obviously
inadequate--except in His hands. This wasn't the first time this happened;
about six hundred years earlier, during a drought, the prophet Elijah was told
that a widow in Sidon, not even an Israelite, would provide for him. He found
the widow as she was getting ready to bake up the last of her flour and oil and
expected to starve, but Elijah told her that God was going to see that she
never ran out of flour and oil until the rains returned. Note that he asked what she had, and she
shared her last food with him, and then it was multiplied through the provision
of God. Elijah's successor Elisha was
faced with the widow of a prophet with debts to pay and nothing left in her
house except a jar of oil. By the provision of God through Elisha, they poured
out of this jar enough to fill every jar and vessel that had or could borrow,
which she then could sell to pay her debts and take care of her children. God
took what they had, and made it into enough to take care of His people.
We see something similar in the first miracle that we
have on record: Cana, the wedding that he saved for the host by turning the
jars of water that the servants brought into fine wine. It wasn't even a case
of starving people, but a joyful occasion that Jesus blessed. It is interesting that the Passover meal that
became our Communion service, by which we remember what Jesus did for us,
consists of bread--that is broken and given to us, and grapes that become the
wine that reminds us of His blood He gave for us.
Our church family has been blessed by the efforts of
people over the years who built our spiritual home, and those who joined with
us to renew and enhance a facility that was in trouble. Jesus can take what have and multiply it into
facilities to bless our communities with spiritual food and actual food. Jesus
created our world and turned us loose in it. He is taking a chance on us—that
we will learn what we need know. He asks us who do know Him to give what we are
willing in order that He will multiply His blessings!
No comments:
Post a Comment