Leftovers

January 25

Genesis 44

Psalm 16:1-6

Proverbs 13:15-16

Matthew 15:21-39

Leftovers

“And they all ate and were satisfied and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full.  And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children.”  Matthew 15:37-38 LSB

“Now unto Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.” Ephesians 3:20 KJV  I always think of this passage in Ephesians when I read the account of Jesus feeding the 4,000.  I love the wording in the King James Version that says He is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think.”  In our reading today, no one came to Jesus asking for help.  The disciples or people in the crowd did not come to Jesus complaining that they were hungry.  He knew their need before they asked.  He realized that they had been with him for three days without eating so they had to be hungry.  Jesus instructed the disciples to feed the crowd.  They explained to Him that they didn’t have any food to feed them all.  Bear in mind that they had already witnessed Jesus feeding 5,000 men so they knew that He could do it.  There is no indication that they came to him and said, “Why don’t you feed these people like you did the  other crowd?  They are getting hungry.”   These are two separate incidences.  The details are different and Matthew includes both of them in his account. 

            The common factor in both accounts is that Jesus took a small number of bread and fish, blessed them and multiplied them to feed thousands of people.  When everyone had eaten and were full, they picked up more leftovers than they started out with.  I’m a good Southern girl and I love to cook.  I love to have people over to eat and I DO NOT want to run out of food.  The worst faux pas I can imagine is for someone to leave my house hungry.  I almost always end up with leftovers, which is not good because Brian doesn’t love leftovers.  But I have never ended up with more leftovers than the amount of food I started with.  Jesus does do anything half-way.  He always provides for us in ways that are better and more abundant than we can even imagine. 

It is interesting to study Jesus’ miracles.  He was capable of healing every person who was sick, feeding everyone who was hungry, and meeting any other need that was presented to Him, but that was not why He came.  He performed some miracles but that wasn’t His primary purpose.  Everyone He healed eventually got sick again and died.  Everyone who ate food that day, got hungry and needed to be fed the next day.  Jesus did not come just to meet the temporary needs of those He encountered.  He came to meet our ultimate need, to provide a way for us to be in right relationship with God.  The miracles He performed had a purpose.  He fed the 4,000 and the 5,000 to demonstrate that He cares about even our most basic needs.  He can provide everything we need from the most basic, food, to the most profound, eternal life, if we trust Him.