Scripture Sunday: Matthew 14: 17-20

Every Sunday on this site I will take some time to look at a passage from the Bible that I like and think is great... though they could obviously be presented by themselves without further mention, I will throw my two cents in on what the verse(s) mean to me.

Today I would like to look at a couple verses from the 14th chapter of Matthew. It is one of the most popular and well-known parts of the Gospel, and it is also one of my favorite! It is the multiplication of loaves and fish.

(17) But they said to him, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have here." (18) Then he said, "Bring them here to me," (19) and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. (20) They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over - twelve wicker baskets full."

The most obvious thing that jumps out in this Gospel is the miracle performed by Jesus, who turned five loaves and two fish into more than enough food for five thousand men (plus women and children).

However, to me, the deeper meaning of this Gospel passage is different.

When Jesus asks the Apostles to perform a task (feeding the five thousand), they are incredulous - they do not trust that the Lord will provide for them and allow them to carry out the mission that they have been called to perform. In Mark's Gospel version of the story, they say "Are we to buy two hundred days' wages worth of food and give it to them to eat?"

But Jesus tells them to bring everything that they have, however little it may be. They are surely thinking that He is crazy, but Jesus knows that if they just give what they have, it will be enough. Indeed, it will be more than enough.

The same is true in our own lives. Sometimes we are called to things in our own lives that we do not think we are capable of, or tasks that we may feel are too great to perform. However, if we just give Jesus everything that we have, however little we may think it is, it will be enough. Indeed, there will even be some left over that God gives to us.

If Jesus can turn five loaves and two fish into enough to eat for 5,000+ people, what can he do with our time and talent?