Day 26 | Feeding the 5,000 Men

Read Mark 6:30-44

The feeding of the 5,000 men is one of Jesus’ most famous miracles. After His disciples performed their short mission (Mark 6:7-13), they returned exhausted to Jesus. He knew they needed rest, but He also knew that without them, the people were “without a shepherd.” So He used them for one more work before they rested. These twelve men were to feed 5,000 men, besides the women and children!

Though it is ultimately Christ who miraculously multiplies the five loaves and two fish into enough food for the entire crowd, twice He makes clear that the apostles are the ones acting out the miracle. After they respond with confusion to His first command to feed the masses, He instructs them to gather what little food the crowd has. So we see here that Jesus uses them to begin the miracle. He has them bring the humble beginnings of what will be a great work. Then after Jesus blesses the humble beginning of five loaves and two fish, He uses the apostles again. He uses them to distribute the food to the crowd. Imagine that! Ten minutes ago, one person could easily carry all the food, and now it takes twelve men multiple trips to bring it all to the crowds!

We Christians are sometimes guilty of “God’s got it”-ism. We convince ourselves that if something is really in God’s will, He’ll do it Himself or get someone else to do it. We think that either God can’t use us, or He doesn’t need to use us. Indeed, He doesn’t need us. He’s perfectly capable of doing everything Himself. But in this miracle, Jesus shows us that He uses us anyway, that we are the instruments He uses to perform His will. So consider how God can use you. You can comfort your grieving coworker. You can help your neighbor through financial hardship. You can bring your unbelieving friend to faith. You can do these things by His strength because God has called you to them.

Pray for 10 minutes