Enough - With Leftovers!

John 6:1-15

Jesus has crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee with His disciples. He looks up from his mountainside position and sees a great crowd of people following Him. They are following because He can heal thier physical infirmities. Miraculous healings - the blind could see, lame could walk, lepers were made whole. Jesus was healing the hopeless, and the crowd came to be healed, or witness the healings.

The crowd would also be hungry, Jesus knew, but had little access to food. He turns to His disciple Philip and asks, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" This was a test for Philip.  You can almost see him doing the math; "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" he answered. Philip wasn't sure where the bread would come from, but knew the cost of feeding a crowd of this size would be 2/3 of a year's wages.

Andrew, another of the disciples, speaks up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish..." He sees that there are some resources available, but "...how far will they go among so many?"

Jesus simply has the crowd sit down, takes the five loaves and two small fish, and thanks God for what He has provided. When the food was distributed, it was enough for all to eat as much as they wanted. The leftovers were gathered so nothing would be wasted. Twelve baskets were filled.. This, after five thousand men were fed from five loaves of bread and two fish; that count didn't include the women and children who were also fed. Truly a miracle!

Philip calculated what it would cost to feed the crowd, and the figure made it impossible. Andrew found food, but common sense told him it was too little to feed such a large group. Jesus saw the five loaves of bread and two fish and knew that it was plenty with His Father's blessing. He thanked God for what He had provided and started passing it out. He didn't scrimp - each had all they wanted, and there were leftovers.

Are we caught up in the numbers of what it costs to serve? Are we overwhelmed by so much need and so little resources?  We should thank God for the blessings we have, knowing He can provide for every need - with leftovers!