Scripture reading – Luke 9
Luke 9
The Apostles’ Commission (Luke 9:1-2)
You will notice that Luke 9 is a parallel record of events we have considered in Mark 6 and Matthew 10. In Luke 9:1-5 we find the LORD calling and sending “His twelve disciples” and giving them “power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases” (Luke 9:1). We read that “He sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:2).
The Apostles’ Support (Luke 9:3-6)
Jesus charged them, saying, “Take nothing for your journey.” As the LORD’s ministers, the disciples were to be dependent on the households they entered to sustain them financially and materially (Luke 9:3-4; Matthew 10:9-11). Should a family or city not receive their ministry and support them, the disciples were commanded, “When ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them” (Luke 9:5). Then the disciples went out as they were commanded and “went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where” (Luke 9:6).
King Herod’s Fear of Jesus’ Ministry (Luke 9:7-9)
The record of John the Baptist’s beheading is recorded by Luke, as well as King Herod’s growing anxiety when he received news of Jesus’ miracles and growing popularity. (Luke 9:7-9; Mark 6:14-29; Matthew 14:1-12).
The Apostles’ Return and Their Report (Luke 9:10-12)
In an earlier devotional, we considered the apostles’ report after they returned to Jesus. After they “told Him all that they had done…He took them, and went aside privately into a desert plane belonging to the city called Bethsaida” (Luke 9:10). Yet, the people followed Jesus, and “He received them” (Luke 9:11).
The LORD of the Impossible (Luke 9:13-17)
The Feeding of the Five Thousand is a favorite Bible story of children. Perhaps because it is so familiar, we miss the subtle spiritual lessons found here. This miracle is recorded in all four Gospels, giving us a complete picture of that day (Luke 9:12-17; Mark 6:35-44; Matthew 14:15-21; John 6:5-14).
Jesus, having received the people, preached and “healed them that had need of healing” (Luke 9:11). When the afternoon came, the disciples urged Jesus to send the people away, “that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place” (Luke 9:12).
Jesus, however, would not send them away hungry. According to John 6:5-6, Jesus asked Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (John 6:5). What is interesting about that question is the verse that followed: “This [Jesus] said to prove him [Philip]: for He himself knew what He would do” (John 6:6). In essence, Jesus asked Philip the question to test his faith, though He knew already what He was about to do.
How did Philip’s faith fare? Seeing the challenge through faithless eyes, he declared that not even “two hundred pennyworth of bread” (i.e., 200 days wages) would be sufficient to feed so many, even if “every one of them may take a little” (John 6:7).
Jesus then turned to the other disciples and commanded them, “Give ye them to eat” (Luke 9:13). Like Philip, when they assessed the need (for there were “about five thousand men”) and their limited resources, they said, “We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people” (Luke 9:13).
John recorded that the “five loaves and two fishes” belonged to a boy Andrew had found (John 6:8-9). Probably packed by the boy’s mother, it was a hearty meal for a child, but for five thousand men? Yet, undaunted by their faithlessness, Jesus “said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company” (Luke 9:14).
Sitting down as they were told, Jesus “took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude” (Luke 9:16). Not only did all the people eat, but they “were all filled: there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets” (Luke 9:17).
Closing thoughts –
How did the disciples respond to a miracle of the impossible? Mark wrote in his gospel they “considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened” (Mark 6:52).
In other words, those closest to Jesus missed the whole point of the miracle. They failed to see Christ’s divine power expressed in “the miracle of the loaves” (Mark 6:52). They did not appreciate that He could meet and satisfy the hunger of both body and soul.
The next day, following the storm on the Sea of Galilee (John 6:15-21), Jesus taught the people and said, “For the bread of God is he [Christ speaking of Himself] which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:33). When the people demanded, “Lord, evermore give us this bread…Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:34-35)
Jesus Christ is the sovereign of nature and “the bread of life” (John 6:35). He taught His disciples that He is more than the “bread giver;” He is the giver of eternal life!
Questions to ponder –
- What did the disciples urge Jesus to do when the evening was come? (Luke 9:12)
- What did Jesus purpose to do for the people? (Luke 9:13)
- Why did Jesus question Philip? (John 6:5-6)
- How did Jesus engage the disciples in the miracle of feeding the five thousand? (Luke 9:16)
Copyright © 2024 – Travis D. Smith
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