Our daily reflections follow the M'Cheyne Bible reading plan, designed for those who want to read the whole Bible in one year. Each reflection focuses on one of the chapters from that day's readings. Darllenwch rhain yn Gymraeg.
Lord, open my ears to hear what you have to say to me; open my heart to love your word, and open my mind to understand your truth.
Everyone knows about the five loaves and two fish that miraculously became enough to feed a whole crowd. With slight variations, the story appears in all four Gospels. Like many others, it has Old Testament roots: Elisha does the same sort of thing in 2 Kings 4.42–44, though he only fed 100 people; Jesus fed 5,000.
That’s not quite what the story says, though. Matthew, Mark and Luke all make the same point: it’s the disciples who fed the people, not Jesus. In Matthew’s words: ‘He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people’ (verse 19).
In other words, they gave what they had been given. It wasn’t their own wily resourcefulness that met the needs of the people, but the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ working through them.
This is a story to remember if we’re inclined to think we’re not up to meeting the needs we see around us. Maybe we’re called to some kind of ministry, and we don’t feel adequate; maybe we feel other people are demanding things we can’t supply; perhaps we’re just running dry. This story invites us to change our perspective. We can only give what we’ve been given, and we’ll be given what we need to do what we have to do. Jesus also said, ‘you can do nothing without me’ (John 15.5).
God, help me to be willing to be used by you to meet others’ needs; and when I’m feeling overwhelmed by the task, help me to remember that Christ works through me.
This reflection was written by Mark Woods, Bible Society's Editor
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