CHARACTERISTICS OF A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST:
Meditations on Jesus' feeding of the 5,000:
Part 1 of 4
Meditations on Jesus' feeding of the 5,000:
Part 1 of 4
Luke 9:10-17 records the story of Jesus' miraculous feeding of 5,000. In actuality, there were significantly more than 5,000 since Luke only numbers the men present. This event is a beloved piece of biblical history and sacred literature, and pictures Jesus as a tender, compassionate, and powerful divine person.
However, many fail to understand this story is not only defining who Jesus is, but is also describing the ideal follower of Jesus. At the beginning of Luke 9 Jesus calls together the 12 disciples and commissions them in authority and power to proclaim the message of the Gospel. They were granted the ability to heal, caste out demons, and cure diseases. They were commanded to preach authoritatively and to be totally committed to this project. They were to allow no distractions or detours. They were to simply preach and bring healing. Verse 10 of this same chapter records their return to Jesus to report "all that they had done". The very next sentence (v. 11) says that Jesus took them and withdrew to a town called Bethsaida. It is here that the crowds found and came to Jesus.
The context of this story is the service of Jesus' followers. They return to Jesus excited and enthusiastic about their accomplishments.
Jesus simply listens..., then Jesus does something amazing. In the middle of their reports about the power and authority they exercised, the crowds slowly begin coming to Jesus. A few here...a few there. A steady, constant flow of people--almost as if a faucet has opened somewhere and people begin to pour through. The stories being told by the disciples are interrupted as people are begging to see and hear Jesus.
Jesus preaches. Perhaps at this point the disciples were agitated. After all, they had some pretty cool stories to tell. They had healed people of life-threatening diseases. They actually saw, and had power over, a demonic being. Maybe they even raised the dead. They saw things few other human beings had ever seen, and they themselves had done these things with the power Jesus had given them. All of this, and Jesus stops listening to their stories to preach a sermon! Geeeesh!
The day begins to waste away, and evening begins to settle in---yet Jesus is still preaching. Finally, the disciples interrupt and ask Jesus to send the crowds away (it is dinner time after all). The disciples realize the people will not leave on their own, and recognize their own inability to provide food for them. Yet Jesus tells them to feed the crowds! Perhaps the disciples were angry. They wanted to tell Jesus the stories of their power, and here Jesus was asking them to do what is logically impossible.
Then Jesus, quietly, and without fanfare, begins to feed the crowds. The small provisions are somehow multiplied over and over. No booms, no lightning, no thunder---just the almost inaudible sound of bread being torn.
It was then that the disciples began to understand. They wanted to talk about power, now they begin to realize that Jesus is power. They wanted to proclaim their deeds, Jesus simply did them. They wanted recognition, Jesus just wanted hungry people fed. They saw people as a means, Jesus saw people as the end. They wanted to tell a story, Jesus was inviting them to be part of the grand story.
When we see Jesus for who he really is, it shapes us and changes us. This account highlights three characteristics of a follower of Jesus. Over the next three days we will explore these three traits of a disciple: (1) A follower proclaims the message of the good news of Jesus. (2) A follower practices the example of Jesus, and (3) A follower prostrates herself before the all-powerful Jesus.
However, many fail to understand this story is not only defining who Jesus is, but is also describing the ideal follower of Jesus. At the beginning of Luke 9 Jesus calls together the 12 disciples and commissions them in authority and power to proclaim the message of the Gospel. They were granted the ability to heal, caste out demons, and cure diseases. They were commanded to preach authoritatively and to be totally committed to this project. They were to allow no distractions or detours. They were to simply preach and bring healing. Verse 10 of this same chapter records their return to Jesus to report "all that they had done". The very next sentence (v. 11) says that Jesus took them and withdrew to a town called Bethsaida. It is here that the crowds found and came to Jesus.
The context of this story is the service of Jesus' followers. They return to Jesus excited and enthusiastic about their accomplishments.
Jesus simply listens..., then Jesus does something amazing. In the middle of their reports about the power and authority they exercised, the crowds slowly begin coming to Jesus. A few here...a few there. A steady, constant flow of people--almost as if a faucet has opened somewhere and people begin to pour through. The stories being told by the disciples are interrupted as people are begging to see and hear Jesus.
Jesus preaches. Perhaps at this point the disciples were agitated. After all, they had some pretty cool stories to tell. They had healed people of life-threatening diseases. They actually saw, and had power over, a demonic being. Maybe they even raised the dead. They saw things few other human beings had ever seen, and they themselves had done these things with the power Jesus had given them. All of this, and Jesus stops listening to their stories to preach a sermon! Geeeesh!
The day begins to waste away, and evening begins to settle in---yet Jesus is still preaching. Finally, the disciples interrupt and ask Jesus to send the crowds away (it is dinner time after all). The disciples realize the people will not leave on their own, and recognize their own inability to provide food for them. Yet Jesus tells them to feed the crowds! Perhaps the disciples were angry. They wanted to tell Jesus the stories of their power, and here Jesus was asking them to do what is logically impossible.
Then Jesus, quietly, and without fanfare, begins to feed the crowds. The small provisions are somehow multiplied over and over. No booms, no lightning, no thunder---just the almost inaudible sound of bread being torn.
It was then that the disciples began to understand. They wanted to talk about power, now they begin to realize that Jesus is power. They wanted to proclaim their deeds, Jesus simply did them. They wanted recognition, Jesus just wanted hungry people fed. They saw people as a means, Jesus saw people as the end. They wanted to tell a story, Jesus was inviting them to be part of the grand story.
When we see Jesus for who he really is, it shapes us and changes us. This account highlights three characteristics of a follower of Jesus. Over the next three days we will explore these three traits of a disciple: (1) A follower proclaims the message of the good news of Jesus. (2) A follower practices the example of Jesus, and (3) A follower prostrates herself before the all-powerful Jesus.
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