Feeding the Multitude - Part 2 of 2

Part 2.

Now Jesus could have fed the five thousand without the assistance of the disciples, but he wanted to demonstrate to them how he wanted them to confront situations when he was no longer present with them in his physical body.

Let's examine Jesus's method of feeding the five thousand:

1. He Had The Crowd To Sit: God is a god of order, and this was a test of obedience. Christ had
commanded, and that was enough! He commands, and you obey without hesitation, reasoning, or arguing.
Mark 6:39 states they sat down in green grass. Green symbolized life and knowledge. We must rest in the green pastures of God's Word if our souls are to be fed! Mark 6:40 states “they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties”. In Luke 9:14, they sat in ranks of fifties. When you take one hundred and divide it by two, it equals fifty (“5”0). Fifty scripturally is Pentecost, and this is the time the Holy Ghost was given as a universal gift. It doesn't matter how you look at it, they sat down in the power of the Holy Ghost, the anointing of God!!
This is what the lad was carrying in his lunch box. He was carrying the ministry of God, the menu of God - five loaves of bread and two small fish, which represent the five fold ministry! The five loaves are the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher, and the two fish are the Jew and Gentile. This is the ministry set in the church by God to perfect the saints, work the ministry, and edify the body of Christ! (Ephesians 4:11-12)
Three plus two equals five. Five is ministry, and it's the number of grace. It was the dominant number in the tabernacle where God manifested his grace in the midst of Israel. Mathematically speaking three equals the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost plus two, Jew and Gentile (or you and me), which totals five. Understand that the lad represents us in an immature state carrying the ministry or carrying God's menu. Meaning, you may be a lad (not grown yet) coming into the kingdom of God, but the ministry is on the inside of you. But when you begin to eat from God's menu, which is the Bread (Christ's body), the hidden manna, it will get into your spirit and distribute the proper nourishment to every area of your life, heart, soul, mind, and body! Manna in Hebrew means WHAT IS IT? IT is the message of the kingdom in you and you in the kingdom!! St John 6:53 states “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you”! This is the menu that will raise you from a state of immaturity to maturity and from a lad to a Son of God!

2. He Looked To Heaven: This was a form of worship. Jesus is showing himself totally dependent upon his Father. It's recognizing that God is Jehovah Jireh, our supplier of all things! (Philippians 4:19 “But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”! For it is “in him we live, move and have our being” (Acts 17:28)!

3. He Blessed The Five Loaves and Two Fish: It is only as the loaves and fish are placed in the hands of Christ that they are made efficient and sufficient! You have brought God's goodness and favor upon it! When you bless something, you cause it to operate exceedingly in its purpose, even if it's spoken by mistake (Genesis 49:1-28). Once something is blessed, you can't take it back. That's why the food multiplied and fed so many people and had twelve baskets left over!

4. He Broke The Bread: Bread given in large portions will cause one to choke. When given in small pieces, it makes chewing and swallowing easier, showing us that before Jesus gives us out he breaks us! Brokenness causes us to respond to the Holy Spirit in repentance! Brokenness comes as as result of man doing things his own way. It's an acknowledgment of sin. But “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”! (1 John 1:9)

5. Then He Gave It: After the worship, the blessing, and the breaking of the bread, it was given! That's the nature of God in all that he does! He gives! He gave his Son! His Son gave his life, and that's the greatest love! This shows us that after he has processed us, he gives us himself with all his power, authority, right to use his name, appoints us, anoints us, ordains us, and gives us the MULTITUDE TO FEED!! St. John 14:12 “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do”! HALLELUIA!!!

Remember, in Christ is unlimited power and authority to do exceedingly and abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us! Do not allow the lack of resources to blind you to God's unlimited power. He is the GREAT I AM, El Shaddai, The Almighty God, the power with all power and not a God in recession or depression.

When Jesus said on the cross, “It is finished”, that's exactly what he meant! He finished what the Father had sent him to do, and he has deposited himself on the inside of us (the church) to continue his work in the earth! What we must know and understand is that we (the church) have been equipped, called and authorized by God to feed the multitude. Why? Because we are now HIM in the earth because he lives on the inside of us!

- Evangelist Brenda Hansley