Mark 6:30-44–30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. “This is a remote place,” they said, “and it’s already very late. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.” 37 But he answered, “You give them something to eat.” They said to him, “That would take more than half a year’s wages[e]! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?” 38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.” When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
What do we make of Jesus’ question, “How many loaves do you have?”
Point 1. Jesus asked the question because He intended to use the disciples to distribute a miracle. The disciples distributed a miracle. They didn’t perform the miracle. They stewarded God’s miracle. Wouldn’t it be cool to be one of the distributors of God’s miracles? In that moment, that was the furthest thing from the disciples’ minds. They weren’t thinking this was a moment for a miracle. They weren’t considering they could be used of God to handle the massive need. This was a big issue. The way they viewed it, it had too big a big price tag. There was no way they could fund a meal for 15,000+ thousand people (counting the women and children). Their resources were inadequate. They were tired. They were hungry themselves. But God told them to feed the people and asked them how many loaves they had.
Point 2. When Jesus asks you to do to something, He will make a way for you to be able to do it. You don’t have to know how it will happen. You just have to answer the question when Jesus asks, “How many loaves do you have?” Your answer might be, “I don’t have any loaves.” Notice that they were told by Jesus to “go and see” in verse 38. There was a boy with some lunch in their midst. (See John’s account.) Sometimes we can’t see what is right in front of us. Sometimes, we don’t see the resources God has placed in our proximity. The disciples hadn’t brought lunch, but that didn’t mean there were no resources nearby. The disciples didn’t have to have the food for 15000+ people. They simply had to open their eyes to what God had already placed in their midst.
The disciples weren’t prepared to feed the crowd, but what they didn’t know was that Jesus had prepared someone else to supply some resources. Now, the little boy’s lunch didn’t feed the people. It couldn’t feed all the people. But the little boy’s lunch became the seed needed for the miracle. When God is about to do something miraculous in a situation, He has already prepared someone to provide the seed that is needed to get things started. You just have to obediently answer the question, “How many loaves do you have” and be willing to look around so that you can get an accurate account of the resources in your midst. Just believe that if God tells you to feed someone, or to witness to someone, or to help someone in a crisis, even if you, yourself are hungry or tired and even if you don’t have the resources in your immediate possession, God will make a way for you to be able to do whatever He asks.
When Jesus asks the question, “How many loaves do you have?” He is inviting you to take part in a miracle.
Point 3. You never know who God will use to spark a miracle. It just might be you! That little boy never thought, “Today, I am going to be used to spark a massive miracle, one that will feed 15000+ people and will satisfy them all. It will be a miracle so great that everyone present will see that Jesus is greater than the Old Testament Prophet, Elisha. I’m going to be the conduit for a miracle that will be the backdrop for Jesus being able to go on and teach that He is the Bread of Life. Just after this episode in John’s Gospel, Jesus called the crowd out on out on their reason for following Him. Look at what He said in John 6:26: 26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
The crowd had experienced the mass miracle that left them feeling full physically and so they knew Jesus was a supplier, a producer, a provider. Jesus said, however, there is more. Believe for more.
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[c]”32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
The little boy’s willingness to give his lunch up “for the cause” created the opportunity for Jesus to invite people to believe in Him for more than lunch! God used that little boy to feed the people, yes, but he also used what happened to teach them He had more to offer than physical bread. The miracle of the multiplication of food became an invitation to trust Jesus for every spiritual blessing He had to offer.
Point 4. You can willingly surrender your resources in full confidence that God will take care of you. When the little boy gave up his lunch, what did he lose? NOTHING! He didn’t go without lunch. The little boy surrendered his lunch, but he got to eat. He didn’t go hungry. Sometimes we think, “We can’t give. We need that money for ourselves. We can’t sponsor a child for Christmas. We’ve got to make sure our own children are taken care of. We can’t surrender something, even if it is an extra something we have in a closet, because, well, one day, we might need it.” God will never ask from you without also supplying for you.
Well, the Scripture says they all ate and were satisfied. When we answer the question, “How many loaves do you have?” and bring whatever resources we have to God for Him to bless, He will do the impossible in our midst. Those who experience it will be satisfied and will be invited into a deeper walk with Jesus, the Bread of Life, who satisfies our every longing.
