The Call of the King 1: Feed the Crowd
For Meditation
Who is Jesus? That’s the question we’ve been asking as we’ve been studying Luke, it’s the question the people following him have been asking, and Jesus has answered it through what he’s said and done. He’s proclaimed himself to be the Messiah and he’s shown that he has power over nature, over spiritual forces, and even over death itself! With that kind of power there’s nothing that Jesus can’t seem to do and the people who have been following him were likely anticipating the Messiah to begin his worldwide reign very soon.
However, as we’ve seen with Jesus thus far, he does not do things the way the people around him would have done or that we would have done. Instead of moving himself into a position of dominance and power, Jesus instead commissions his followers to go out and do the same work that he, himself was doing.
Not surprisingly, Jesus’ followers had success but they also had their shortfalls and failures as they went out on the mission of Jesus, but in all that they did Jesus was with them and was showing them that he would provide all that they would need and that all they would need is Jesus.
Do we believe this? That as followers of Jesus we are called to be sent out to do the mission of Jesus? That we have him with us and having him with us is all that we need
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Luke 9: 1-2, 10-17
1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.”
They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
