God's Mission
Matthew 14:12-21
12 John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
13 When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 “We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered.
18 “Bring them here to me,” he said. 19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. 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 the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21 The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Pondering Point
Both Jesus and the disciples had already been doing ministry to the point of weariness, as Mark’s Gospel describes (6:31-33). On top of that, He was experiencing personal grief over John the Baptist’s death. Yet, with minimal time to retreat, reset and restore, Jesus’ compassion is pouring out again – and the disciples were right there with Him all day. But Jesus still had much to teach His closest disciples – a life-altering lesson about supply and demand for both the crowds and the disciples.
God bless our time in His Word this week as we see love in action through godly compassion. May the lessons learned lead us to godly transformation in us so that others can see love in action through godly compassion on our part.
Prayer
Father God, continue to root us in a loving relationship with You and our brother and sisters
In Christ. From there – knowing that we have limitations physically, emotionally and mentally – help us muster compassion when called for. Let it be one way we can live lives of glory for You – full of love – in the name of Jesus our Lord, our Savior, our example. Amen.