WALK WITH ME!  

Week Five (Jan 29-Feb 4) 

Matt 9:27-38; 10:1-42; 14; 15:1-20; Mark 6; 7:1-23; Luke 9:1-17; John 6; 7:1

 

“When Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.” Matt 11:1 

 

Sending of the Disciples

Jesus sent the Disciples after a time of teaching and training to do the work!  The lesson here is obvious I hope – learn and then go do!  God does not train us just to keep training us – He expects us to do the work of the ministry – making disciples who make disciples.  That is not just a commission – it turns out later to be call the Great Commission.  In Luke 9 of our reading we see that Jesus told them not to take anything unnecessary like bread?  He shows why later in the Feeding of the Five Thousand – He is the source of our needs.  He told them, “Don’t take anything for the journey. Do not take a walking stick or a bag. Do not take any bread, money or extra clothes.”  Luke 9:3

 

Feeding of the 5000 (Matt 14; Mark 6; Luke 9; John 6)

This is the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels – it is that important!  Crowds of people followed Jesus wherever He went. When people heard that Jesus and the disciples had gone off to be on their own, they wanted to go there, too. So they came running from all the towns in the area and got there before Jesus and His friends. They wanted to hear Jesus teach, and they wanted to see more miracles, more signs, and more wonders.  On the way to Jerusalem a large crowd had gathered and found themselves hungry and without lunch.  By that time it was late in the day.  Jesus looked over that large crowd and asked Philip, “Where can we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:5).

 

Jesus loved each and every person in that crowd. He knew that there was so much they still didn’t understand about the kingdom of God. So even though He needed rest, He put the needs of the crowd before His own, and He taught them. The Bible says the people in the crowd were like sheep without a shepherd, which means they were lost and confused about life. By teaching them, Jesus was a kind and loving Shepherd who took care of them.

 

This turned out to be a test for all the Disciples but Philip specifically.  Jesus was showing Philip and the other disciples that there was no way they could solve the problem on their own. There was no store close enough to buy this much food. And even if there was, it would have taken way more money than the disciples had! Jesus wanted the disciples to trust Him - to know that He alone was able to meet their need.

 

Lesson:  Nothing is too small for God to use it - even a little boy’s lunch. The disciples could not see how the child’s lunch could be of help, but showing Himself strong through our weakness is characteristic of the way God provides.  Later in Mark:  “Jesus looked at them and replied, “This is impossible for mere humans, but not for God; all things are possible for God.”  Mark 10:27

 

I know I spent the whole blog on one miracle but God thought this one special enough to add it into all four Gospels – so I gave it the whole page!  Just so you know that God is the same in both Testaments – check out a story later about Elisha.  There is a foreshadowing of Christ’s miracle in the life of Elisha in 2 Kings. Elisha told his servant to feed the people gathered there, although there was not enough food for the hundred men. One of the men said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” (2 Kings 4:42–43) In the end, however, the men not only had enough to eat, but “they ate and had some left” (2 Kings 4:44).  God is good!

 

This year the theme at Grace for our 70^th Anniversary is ‘Walk with Me!”  I am going to take us through 1^st John to see the heart of an Apostle 60 years after his ‘walks’ with Jesus to better understand what lasted 6 decades. And then to Elijah and Elisha see the power of walking together and then in the fall through 2^nd Timothy to hear Paul’s words to a preacher who had walked with him and reminding the shepherd of what was most important and what it might cost.  The only things that can prepare us for our life will be our ‘walks’ with Jesus and those He has given us to walk with – so walk with Him in reading and prayer and walk with other believers as we grow in Christ to grow others together.

 

Pastor Mike