Matthew 14:13 -21 (NRSV)
Read Matthew 14:13 -21 on biblegateway.com
Verse 13Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. Verse 14When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. Verse 15When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves." Verse 16Jesus said to them, "They need not go away; you give them something to eat." Verse 17They replied, "We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish." Verse 18And he said, "Bring them here to me." Verse 19Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. Verse 20And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. Verse 21And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Devotion
You give them something to eat. This must have seemed an impossible task to the disciples. There were thousands of people in this crowd in the desert. This was not a planned event! There were no volunteers, no coordinators, no planning meetings, no committees to draw from and no sign-up sheets had been posted on the bulletin boards. So the logical solution was to break up for the day and send people out to fend for themselves.
Here Jesus breaks with logic (again) and says, "No. You give them something to eat." He doesn't leave the disciples guessing how they are to follow his directions; he supplies the way for them to get the job done. Left to themselves, the disciples couldn't feed the people; with Jesus, all were filled and there was even leftovers.
So it is with us. We cannot, or will not, take care of everyone on our own. With Jesus though, we can take care of some. There is enough-God's abundance is sufficient for all.
Prayer
God of abundance, in your mercy you fed the crowd who came to meet Jesus in their need. You feed us at the table of mercy where we come to meet Jesus and find forgiveness and community with him. There are those in our midst who are in need. Help us to see them and move us to care for them. Amen.