PASSING OUT THE BREAD

Matt.14:19,20 – And ordering the crowds to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looked up toward heaven. He blessed the food and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces: twelve full baskets.

There is so much to learn from this miracle, feeding the 5000 with bread and fish. Like all of the miracles of Jesus a real need was being met. People were being fed. Other miracles were the blind could see, the deaf hear, the lame walk but each one carried their own hidden message. The feeding of the multitudes is spilling over with divine revelation. One of the messages of this miracle is what I want to address today. The disciples distributed the bread they received from the Lord’s hand. This was a picture of their calling, not many days from now they would be carrying the bread of life, God’s word, to the nations. This is our calling as well, we are to take the bread of life and pass it out to whoever will listen to our message, this is the only food that will satisfy hungry hearts. Here is how Jerome describes this miracle.

“He looked up to heaven that he might teach them to keep their eyes focused there. He then took in hand five loaves of bread and two fish; he broke the loaves and gave the food to the disciples. By the breaking of the bread, he makes it into a seedbed of food—for if the bread had been left intact and not pulled apart and broken into pieces, they would have been unable to feed the great crowds of men, women and children. The law with the prophets are therefore pulled apart and broken into pieces. Mysteries are made manifest, so that what did not feed the multitude of people in its original whole and unbroken state now feeds them in its divided state.”

This distributing of the bread was at the heart of the Protestant Reformation. Martin Luther translated the Bible into the common language of the people so that they could read God’s word for themselves. This one act changed history, Luther and his disciples begin to pass out the bread of life. This is how we can change the world, taking this bread to the hungry is what our lives are all about.