Posted by If you’ve been going to church for any length of time or if you grew up going to Sunday School you’ve heard the story where Jesus fed the 5,000 with a boy’s happy meal. If you haven’t read it in a while take a minute and do so, you can find this amazing story in Mark 6:30-44. I want to focus in on verse 44 that says:
“And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.”
Commentators conservatively suggest that those 5 loaves and 2 fish fed 20,000 people with gusts up to 25,000. At church tonight, my pastor talked about this story and mentioned this fun little fact which I glossed over because I had heard it before. Then, about halfway through the service, it hit me: 20,000 is a lot of people! The sanctuary I was sitting in this evening seats about 1,800 people, which is a lot, trust me, I’ve cleaned those seats before. Even so, Jesus fed 11.11 times more people than fits in what I consider a giant sanctuary at my church.
The American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX seats 18,500. Jesus fed more people than can fit in the arena where the Mavs play!
I feel like this story is an opportunity for us to just remember how big our God is! I’m having trouble picturing 20,000 people, let alone the logistics of how to get them all seated in neat and orderly groups. I would’ve needed months to prepare for an occasion like this!
Think about it! You would literally need tons of food to feed 20,000 people. Even if each person received a 1/2 lb. of food that would still be (by conservative estimates) 10,000 pounds. This means that Jesus gave away 5 tons of food in that one miracle!
And there were left overs!
Wow! Our God is so much bigger and better than I can ever hope to understand! If he could provide that much for those people in need, what can and will he do for you in your life?
Do you believe he can take your sack lunch and turn it into 5 tons of food? I sure do.
Work in Progress 