As a progressive Christian, I believe there are many names for God and many ways to a loving God; this article reflects one of those ways. Take from here what works for you. Celebrate life with joy and peace!
I love a story about compassion and allowing God to multiply the gifts and talents we already have; and the joy is watching how God uses them to make a huge difference in our life, or someone else’s life or multiple lives!
Let’s take a look at Matthew 14. A crowd had followed Jesus out into the wilderness, and it would be getting dark soon. Concerned, the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.”
Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
Well, you can imagine the disciples’ surprise when Jesus said that! “He wants us to do what?” they probably said to each other!
“We only have five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Bring them here to me,” he said. And he directed the people to sit down. It is obvious that Jesus is in charge of the situation.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish, Jesus looked up to heaven and gave thanks and broke the loaves.
Isn’t this a beautiful foreshadowing of The Last Supper? He blessed, broke, then gave … and the disciples gave the food to all the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and then the disciples picked up twelve baskets full of broken pieces that were left over.
What an amazing story! Let’s look at a few truths here:
First, there’s Jesus’ concern for the multitude.
Matthew begins this story by saying, “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick …” Nothing new in that. Throughout the Gospels Jesus shows compassion to everyone – especially the least and the lowest.
Jesus came with one purpose and desire – to seek and save all people to live their best life now. When he gazed out over Jerusalem before entering on a donkey on what we celebrate as Palm Sunday, he wept. Jesus wept. Why? He knew the heartaches, the headaches and the hungers that go with being human. The compassionate Christ cares for each and every one. This is what we are called to do.
Now, to really appreciate the compassion Jesus had for the multitude, remember how the story actually begins: “When Jesus heard what had happened to his good friend, he withdrew by boat, privately, to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns …” Did you catch that?
“When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew to a solitary place.”
What was it that happened? If we go back a few verses, we discover that Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, had just been beheaded by King Herod. How do you think Jesus felt when he got this news? How would you feel? A family member that you were very close to has been the victim of an atrocious crime. No wonder Matthew said that Jesus withdrew to a solitary place. Don’t you think that maybe Jesus wanted to be alone to grieve the death of his cousin? But then Matthew adds, “Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns.”
Jesus can’t even have a few moments alone to grieve. If this had happened to me, I think I wouldn’t feel like seeing a crowd of people coming to me for help. But that’s me, and perhaps that’s you, but that’s not Jesus. Jesus had compassion for the crowd. And he still looks at us with that same compassion today.
But there’s a second thing we need to see: Not only does Jesus have compassion, he’s also capable. Jesus is competent to do for us more than we can even imagine!
Many people have tried to give a rational explanation for the miracle of the fishes and loaves. But when they do that, they miss the point. The important point of this story is that Jesus is able to supply our needs, no matter how he does it.
This may be the point where a lot of us are missing the joy of our faith. We believe God cares about us and our needs, but we don’t really believe that God is able to help us. And so we lead joyless, powerless, just get-through-the-day lives. But what good is compassion without capability? Jesus is able, more than able!
But there’s one more thing that needs to be said: Jesus uses what we give him to work with.
What if that young boy hadn’t been willing to share his five loaves and two fish? I think Jesus would still have found a way to feed that multitude, but think of the blessing that that young boy had as he gave what he had to Jesus – and then saw it blessed and multiplied more than he could’ve even imagined possible! There seems to be a clear principle of faith here: God works with what we have and what we give.
Are there some things in your life that you can use to bring joy into someone else’s life? Jesus has compassion for our needs. And he is able to meet our needs. And sometimes (many times) God uses us to meet the needs of others.
God is able to use us in a wonderful way, if we are willing to take even the little we have and let God bless it and multiply it. God is compassionate and capable. Let us be compassionate and bring love to our world.
