[Tuesday's Devotional] - Feeding of the Five Thousand

Feeding of the Five Thousand The Mediterranean diet in the first century was very simple - people ate the fish they caught, the vegetables they grew, the grapes from the vine, the olives from the trees, the fruit from the bushes. Jews had dietary laws which proscribed which meats they might eat. The stories of the feeding of the five thousand (Matthew 14:13-21 and other gospels) or four thousand (Matthew 15:29-38) or the accounts in the other gospels, was an echo of the story in Exodus Chapter 16 where the Jewish Nation wandering about in the desert was fed manna and quail by God.  Manna means "what is it?"  I can imagine the surprised wanders finding the strange white substance on the ground and not having a clue what it was, until they tasted it and realised it was food, God-given food. This story is an example of the Israelites' forced dependence on God.  In the New Testament, there is a time of need and Jesus turns a small boy's lunch into an abundant feast. I know how tricky it can be to cater for the fluctuating numbers at Messy Church, or other church events (which is why we are so diligent about getting people to "sign up") – but what if we are talking thousands rather than around a hundred? It bothered the disciples, but Jesus was unfazed.  Jesus blessed the bread and the fish and multiplied it so that all were satisfied.  A true miracle.  But the point of the miracle was not that Jesus had the power to magic up food to ward off a catering emergency, but that God's love and provision is far in excess of anything we could imagine or wish for.  That is why we are told by Matthew that there were twelve baskets full of left overs.  Abundance not waste. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what your will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?" Matthew 6:25-27 [NIV] Do we really trust that God will provide? In good times and in bad? And when others are facing hardship, can we be the means of helping them in Jesus' name? What do you need God to provide for you? "Ask and it shall be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you. Matthew 7:7 [NIV] Mairi Mowbray   Twitter Website Copyright © 2017 St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a subscriber to the Daily Devotionals Our mailing address is: St. Matthew & St. Oswald's Church 1a New Street Rugby, Warwickshire CV22 7BE United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list Want to be added to our mailing list? - sign up here!