Jesus The Ultimate Provision

Luke 9:10-17

10 On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. 12 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, "Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place." 13 But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people." 14 For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

In our Susatyo family, if you do not know, there's only one woman that cooks delicious food, and that is Grace - "wo de lao po". And she's very much accustomed to hosting and cooking for 20 people. Now, we're talking not only just 1 or 2 dishes, but can be up to 5 to 6 dishes. And, to your surprise, she can likely cook all those dishes within half-a-day. She's that good!

But let's just say that I told her on a Saturday morning, "Grace, there'll be 100 people coming to our house at 1pm for lunch. Can you cook for us?" How would you think she'll react?

I think she'll say 'Yes. Let's go to Costco'. Just Kidding! She'll probably say to me with a big fat NO and point this back at me, "We only have 1 fridge and where would we get the ingredients for 100 people? There's no way!"

As weird as that story sounds, Have you ever had these moments with God? When all of the sudden, and out of the blue, God's telling you to do the impossible, or put you in a very hard situation. (Here you go, BAM! Do this for me.) And we can't really say 'No' because it just happened. And looking at what we have, we said to "look God. I don't have what it takes." It's too much for us to handle. And we tell God that, you couldn't have chosen a better timing. Like now, God? Where everything else is in chaos in my life at the moment.

Maybe for some of us, those moments could be:

That unexpected in-class exam at school
That project assignment team member that just bailed out at uni
Perhaps, at work, your manager just place a hard deadline task on your lap
Or, you just been ask to pay the huge amount of debt you were supposed to pay
Maybe it's as simple as a call from our family that they are on their life-line.

These difficult and unexpected situations normally lead us to look at ourselves to solve these problems with what I have in my hands. Why? Why do we look to ourselves knowing that it will never be enough. Is it deep down in our heart we are doubting God? Will He provide? Can He make things right in our lives? How can I trust God in the midst of uncertainties?

This tension of seeing our self inadequacy and trusting God is what we will be learning from tonight's passage. We'll look at how the disciples react, when Jesus gave them the impossible task to feed the crowd, and how Jesus respond and provide for them

For Luke's passage tonight, I've separated into 3 points:

The Withdrawal
The Hunger
The Provision

1. The Withdrawal

Luke 9:10-11

It is important for us to understand what the apostles did before returning to Jesus. We can read the previous verses:

Luke 9:1-2, 6 "[1] And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, [2] and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. [6] And they departed and went through the villages, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere."

The apostles (or also called the) disciples just returned from preaching about the kingdom of God and healing people all over Galilee, which was an amazing experience of God's power and provision in their ministry.

And we could imagine that their ministry was intense and tiring. And as they return to Jesus, they report on what they have done. According to the Gospel of Mark, the disciples had not even had a chance to sit down and eat, so therefore Jesus invited them to come away and rest. So they withdrew to a desolate place at Bethsaida on the Sea of Galilee, the town from where the disciples came from. Jesus withdrew with the desire to be alone with the disciples.

But in [v11] the crowds learned about Jesus where abouts, they followed Jesus.

Now if I imagine the crowds using today's technology, they all must've had smart phones and instagram apps opened, and followed a viral influencer. And, instead of following food, the crowds were looking to find where Jesus and the disciples were, because that's where all the healing and miracles are happening. And that's probably how the crowds were able to know Jesus' location and follow him.

But here's where we can see the heart of Jesus. Instead of turning the crowds away, Jesus still welcomed them. He spoke about the Kingdom of God and cured those who were in need of healings.

In this verse, we can see Jesus, who is moved by compassion, still welcomes the crowd, instead of feeling inconvenienced, in spite of the need to rest and be alone with the disciples. The Gospel of Mark mentions that the crowds that were following him were like sheep without a shepard, and Jesus began to teach them.

I don't know about you, but most people like us would have been tempted to ask them to come back later, or to send them away altogether. Hello!? Can't you just leave us alone? We need to rest. Come back tomorrow! We just need our peace and quiet.

But unlike us, Jesus still welcomes all those who came to him. He was willing to be inconvenienced and interrupted, as long as he had an opportunity to preach the kingdom and perform its miracles.

This truth and the way Jesus welcomed these people, also serves as a reminder for all of us that we can go to him at any time; he will listen to our cry for help. He welcomes the needy and weak. Luke tells us that Jesus cured anyone and everyone who needed healing. There was not one single case that he could not resolve. And, this is true for us spiritually as well. By His grace, Jesus is able to forgive our sins, renew our spirits, and comfort our sorrows. He is able to touch the wounded places in our hearts and make us whole.

And here, Jesus is also teaching us a pattern in our ministry. That even when we are tired and weary, wanting to take a break from other people and their problems, we need to be ready to give them the gospel and to help them in any practical way we can.

"The gospel means we don't look at our schedules, our emotional reserves, or our personal comfort as things we must fiercely protect at all costs. Jesus shows us that ministry means being constantly interrupted. When your heart is melted by the grace of a Savior who let His entire life be interrupted and broken for you, you stop viewing needy people as nuisances and start viewing them as opportunities to extend His kingdom." - Timothy Keller

Such a beautiful reminder for us from Tim Keller to look at how our savior melts our hearts through his grace that enables us to serve His church, even when we are being interrupted.

That quote leads me now to the 2nd point - The Hunger

2. The Hunger

Luke 9:12-14a

12 Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, "Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place." 13 But he said to them, "You give them something to eat." They said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people." 14a For there were about five thousand men.

So in [v12] it says that the day is getting late and dark. The evening was drawing in and you would think that the crowd would start dispersing and go home, but in reality the crowd were still staying put. The disciples probably began to be concerned about lodging and food for the people. There's a HUNGER situation here. They'd be wondering where everyone would get something to eat, not to mention a place to stay in a remote and desolated area. They probably wish there were Maccas and KFCs around.

Now if you remember, the disciples have not had anything to eat since coming back to see Jesus. Can you imagine being the disciples at that time? You're tired, and most likely 'HANGRY'. They're at that limit! Not to forget there's a crowd problem here. So trying to solve this hungry crowd problem, the disciples came to Jesus and started telling Jesus what to do, "Send the crowds away, tell them to look after themselves." And, the disciples most likely want to finally have Jesus back for themselves again.

What do you think about the disciples telling Jesus what to do? It seemed like an insult to Jesus. Perhaps they think after completing a recent successful ministry, preaching and healing, they think they know better than Jesus in solving a situation.

Or, perhaps the disciples actually forgot that hey! Jesus is right there with them, this is the same Jesus that has done wondrous things in front of them.

When you see the disciples trying to 'out-smart' Jesus, it's so foolish! But if we're honest, don't we do this too to God? We face and try to solve our problems with our limited human mind, and forget that we have a God that is beyond us, a Way Maker. And Jesus is reminding us right now to us, that I am here, remember WHO I am. Bring your struggles and your troubles to me. Trust in me for I have a plan for you. How dull are we not trusting in the sovereignty and goodness of our God.

Let's continue and look at v[13].

This is where Jesus responded and astonished the Disciples by telling them emphatically, "You give them something to eat." BAM! The bomb just got dropped by Jesus.

Can you imagine the reaction of the disciples when Jesus commanded this? They must've been at complete loss. They might be thinking:

Jesus, are you being serious here? Is this like the final test after our last preaching and healing ministry in Galilee? Jesus, can we just forget that we even mentioned getting provisions?

Let's look at the magnitude of what Jesus is asking here. [v14a] stated there's 5000 people. And this number does not include women and children, so the total roughly is ~12,000 people. This is almost equivalent to the number of seats in Olympic Park's Qudos arena. Which is about 15,000. Has anyone here watched a concert before? Last time I watched Coldplay and it was like a sea of people! And Jesus said, you feed them!

Then in [v13] it says, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people."

The disciples then started weighing their options and their resources.

Hey look, we have 5 loaves and 2 fishes from the crowd. That's the first option. Or, Should we go and buy food for these people? In one of the books of the gospels, it mentions that even 8 months worth of wages would not be enough. The disciples might say, "Jesus, remember that we all travel without money and so how can we afford this" and plus, remember in a desolate place, wilderness! This is impossible!

So what is Jesus trying to tell us here through his disciples:

When Jesus said to them, "You give them something to eat." He wanted the disciples to see and realise that the task given is 'humanly' impossible and they were unable to give people something to eat. And this is true for us, that sometimes God calls us to do hard tasks just so we will find out how inadequate we are.

Let me give you a small illustration:

Imagine there's a little boy trying who just started kiddy school. And at school, the boy had to carry a heavy school bag up to a long staircase. At first, the child insists and says to his parents, "I can do it myself!" The boy struggles, stumbles, and becomes frustrated trying to prove he's strong enough. But eventually, on the third way on the stairs, when he was tired and near tears, the boy finally reached out for the parent's hand. The parent just smiled and lovingly helped carry the bag up the stairs.

Maybe we are that small child right now. We felt that we were strong enough, but in reality, we struggled and felt frustrated. Whether that's something in our job, our school or uni, in our family, or even in our church ministry. God often allows us to feel our weakness so we would stop relying only on ourselves and run to Christ.

"It is often our (God-given) duty to attempt tasks to which we are conspicuously inadequate, in the confidence that He who gives them has laid them on us to drive us to Himself, and there to find sufficiency. The best preparation of His servants for their work in the world is the discovery that their own stores are small." - Alexander Maclaren.

When God calls us to do something for his sake, he provides us with what we need, with what we do not have in ourselves, so that we are able to carry out his will — but not in our own strength but in his.

"It is when we know that we are at the end of 'our-self' that we are ready to see what God will do."

3. The Provision

Luke 9:14b-17

14b And he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." 15 And they did so, and had them all sit down. 16 And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. 17 And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

So despite the protests, grumbling and the lack of obedience from the Disciples, Jesus still responded to them and was willing to help with their needs. In [14b] it's also amazing to understand, in spite of the chaotic atmosphere created by the disciples, God is not phased by the chaos. Jesus showed that He is the God of order when he organised the groups of 50. His supernatural provision is structured and done in orderly. And for the disciples, in [v15] it says 'They did so' which reflects that even though the disciples didn't know what Jesus was planning to do, they still followed Jesus's instruction.

The next 2 verses is where the miracle happens:

[16] And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

[17] And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

In [v16] Jesus did not do the miracle on His own. He took 5 loaves and 2 fish. He looked up to heaven and blessed them. He broke the loaves and gave. And, finally the disciples receive the bread and pass them to the crowd.

In [v17] it says, they all ate and were satisfied. And there were twelve baskets of broken pieces left.

So what is the Luke trying to tell us about in this feeding of 5000 miracle:

a. God's provision

As God miraculously provided for the crowd in the wilderness, the promise here is that, so will He provide for us—not necessarily in the same miraculous way, but by the same powerful grace.

I believe this point is a powerful reminder for all of us as the church, especially how God is working and moulding us in this season of change, and the lack of resources.

We are so easily tempted to forget this truth. We need to remember that God has promised to provide for our needs, both as the church and as individual Christians. He will give us our daily bread. He will meet our needs. He will give us the guidance that we seek in faith. He will provide a way for us to serve him. And when God gives us the opportunity to serve, he will give us all the resources we need to fulfill our calling.

b. God's Hands

This miracle also reminds us that we, as Christians, we all have a part to play in the work that Jesus is doing on earth. Remember in [v16] that Jesus was the one who broke the bread, but He gave it to his disciples to distribute. It's humbling and amazing that God still uses us and calls us to take part as being the extension of His work. To be part of God's hands in his Kingdom, in extending the miracle of Grace, that is the Gospel to those who are in need of good news.

And for some of us, you may not be involved in a ministry at the moment, and you may feel you do not have what it takes. But Jesus is saying to you, that even if we do not feel that we have very much to offer, God can still take it and use it for His Glory. We must never forget to give what we have for the work of God's kingdom, and ask God to use it for the glory of Jesus Christ.

c. God's Abundance

Lastly, Jesus provided food more than 5,000 hungry men plus women and children could eat—basket-loads extra. We could probably imagine that it's like a K-BBQ buffet, with all-you-can-eat-bread. You know, Jesus was pumping the bread as he broke the bread and gave it to everyone until everyone was overly satisfied, even to a stage of food-comma.

So what does this abundance mean? Jesus is teaching us that He does not only provide the bare minimums but He provides in abundance and overflowing. And this is a reminder and assurance for all of us right now, that Jesus is all we need, and He is the all-sufficient for us for all our needs and everything we're facing right now.

"If you have Jesus Christ, you have everything you need to face anything that comes." - Timothy Keller

Now, do we truly believe that? That Jesus is all we need in facing our trials, our struggles in our lives, and even for our church ministry needs.

Now after hearing all this, it sounds easy to say to trust God for our needs, but in reality, the question is, How can I trust Him? How can we truly surrender our inadequacies, our helplessness to Jesus? How can we know for certain that He will graciously and abundantly provide our needs?

But first let's all right here, ask ourselves: Why do we feel inadequate in the first place? Why do we feel inferior when Jesus commands us to do something that is way beyond our comprehension and our strength? Like tonight's passage Jesus said to His disciples, "You give them something to eat." How would you feel if you're the disciples? Perhaps, right now.

For some of us, we feel like God is putting us in a season where we feel it is impossible to go through. Where we feel like we are losing grip of the control. Because the situation that we're facing is way beyond us. And at times, we try our best to have it under our control. Why? Because deep down inside, our heart says, we are afraid and don't want to lose control, Why? because we cannot seem to trust God.

But why can't we trust God? Do we know what Jesus did so that we can trust God? Do we know what Jesus did go through so that no longer doubt God, that He is good and He is in control

And in tonight's passage, we can see that Jesus cares about our needs, He cares about our struggles. That is why He multiplied the 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish, to show the disciples that He is good, He is more than enough, and all-sufficient and provide for them. How? By Him blessing the bread and breaking the bread, and multiplication happened. And just like He provided the physical needs of the disciples, we can trust Jesus will provide for our needs.

But what Jesus did, not only He provided our physical needs, He did so much more than that. There's an ultimate need that we all need - and that need - is to be forgiven from our sins, from our rebellion against God, of doubting Him, not trusting Him. But what did Jesus do to satisfy this ultimate need? If Jesus fulfilled our physical needs by blessing and breaking bread; in order to answer our ultimate need to be forgiven - Jesus broke His body at the Cross. His body was broken to pieces. He became the Bread of Life for us.

"At the cross, Jesus's broken body became the Bread of life as the ultimate provision for our ultimate needs - to be forgiven."

Why? So that you and I can receive the blessing. We can receive the blessing of the Gospel. So that we can be forgiven for all our sins. And in our weaknesses and in our flaws - we are accepted. And, when we come to God, we can be confident that He will embrace us, because Jesus went through the cross for us. That's how much He loves us. And at the cross, he took what belonged to us, our curse and our condemnation. He took them upon the cross, so that when we might be blessed by eating the bread of life.

That's what Jesus did for us. That's what Jesus did so we can trust Him today. And if you see and believe that Jesus did that for you, we will have absolutely no reason to doubt Him. We can trust Him despite our circumstances.

Let me leave you with this and I will finish. As a parent and as a father, I love my children, (sorry my big children). And there's nothing more rewarding to be able to help them in their times of need. And from a parent's point of view, seeing them come to for help, there's that feeling of joy being able to bless them through what we have.

You know, it's so much more even with our Heavenly Father, who is way more perfect and loving than earthly parents. He is opening up His arms to us and calling us right now. For us to bring our weaknesses, our insufficiencies to Him for our Father is the God of the universe, He holds the world in His hand. The sovereign, good and loving God. And the evidence of the Father's love for us, and the ultimate proof so we can trust in His provision, is when He gave Jesus, His one and only son to die at the cross for you and I.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (ESV)

So let us come and trust in our Saviour Jesus.

Let us pray.

Discussion questions:

What struck you the most from the sermon?
Have you ever been in a situation where God seemed to demand more than what you could do? What happened?
Why do you think it's much easier for you to look to yourself than to God in facing challenging circumstances?
How does the gospel assure you that God will not fail to provide for you?