Sometimes I feel bad for the apostles. I mean, they didn't really get much background on the whole Kingdom of God, Jesus thing, before they signed on, and it is painfully obvious that they are learning on the fly - ojt as the business people call it.
The feeding of the 5000 might be their shining moment, and they don't even know it. "You give them something to eat." With those 6 words Jesus forever changed the nature of the relationships between him and them and the apostles the world. Matthew's account doesn't have this event in the same chronological place as some others do - these disciples aren't fresh from casting out demons - these disciples are still scratching their heads over crazy kingdom of heaven parables and getting run out of Nazareth of all places.
"You give them something to eat." If this were a reality show, this moment would be the BIG TWIST. You can see their faces, dumbstruck like the girls on Rock of Love or the guys who have to use communal showers on the Bachelorette. "Um Jesus, yeah, the thing is, well, we ain't got but 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish."
"You give them something to eat." Jesus takes their offering, blesses and breaks it, but the multiplication (yes I believe in miracles) didn't occur until they pass it out. They are feeding the 5000+ plus with a just little faith in (and a lot of the faith of) Jesus.
Today is the feast of William Wilberforce, a man who heard God (among others) say, "you end the slave trade," and he did it with just a little faith in (and a lot of faith of) Jesus.
The feeding of the 5000 tells me that we can do anything for the kingdom of heaven. God has been pulling at me the past couple of days to get off my ass (apparently I've become complacent). So please pray for me as I try to discern what God is telling me to do for the kingdom.
No comments:
Post a Comment