Grace and the Feeding to the 5000

I have just been re-reading Philip Yancey’s brilliant book What’s so amazing about grace?  In the light of this I was reading the Feeding of the 5000 in Matthew's' Gospel and realised what a grace filled occasion it was.

The context for this miracle was that Jesus has just been told that John the Baptist, his relative, the forerunner of his ministry, has been beheaded by Herod.  I am sure Jesus was very upset and the Bible says ‘When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place’ (Matthew 14: 13).  

However Jesus was not going to get any private grieving time or time to process what had happened or talk to his heavenly Father because the crowd ran round the lake and were waiting for him.  Most of us, I am sure, would not have been pleased to see them but Jesus full of grace and truth healed all their sick.

As evening approached, the disciples, full of worldly wisdom, asked Jesus to send the crowd away to get food and lodging for the night. Jesus however replied ‘They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.’ (Matthew 14: 16).  

The disciples must have been amazed.  Most people hearing this suggestion would have gladly agreed and been happy to get rid of the crowd of needy people but Jesus not only does not seem to want to get rid of them but he actually expects the disciples to feed them.

In Mark’s Gospel the disciples told Jesus that for them to feed the people would cost half a year’s wage – a lot of money in anyone’s currency – but in the currency of heaven, all that is needed is 5 loaves and 2 fish.

Grace – being given something you don’t deserve – does the impossible and feeds a huge crowd, so that everyone ate and was satisfied. There was no portioning out the meagre rations. It was eat and be satisfied; have as much as you like.  Not only that but there was more food left over at the end of the meal than they started with. 

Grace is an attitude of life that Jesus exemplified. Jesus never decided if someone was deserving of a miracle or healing. He just did it. He healed all their diseases (Matthew 4: 24). Jesus didn’t look at the enormous, hungry crowd and teach them a lesson in personal responsibility, he graciously fed them.

Of course there were times when having healed someone, Jesus told them to ‘go and sin no more.’ However Jesus never waited till someone had got their act together before healing or providing for them.

When Mother Teresa spoke to President Clinton and top government officials at a National Prayer Breakfast, she confronted them about the appallingly high level of abortion in USA and it is just about as awful in all the Western world. She told them that if Americans did not want their babies, give them to her and she would take them and find homes for them. 3000 babies were sent to her. That is a level of grace and trust in God that falls into the Feeding of the 5000 category.

Mother Teresa was moved by compassion just as Jesus was. When he saw need, his heart was touched and he extravagantly met the need.  Grace does not decide the rights and wrongs of a situation; it just loves to bless.

I am so thankful for the grace God and many other have shown me. My prayer is that I grow in grace and compassion every day.

Significance not prominence

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. Luke 2:8

Looking today at the incredible birth of Jesus, we are overawed by the significance of this event – God becoming man in order to save the world from their sins.  The shepherds too must have realised this was a significant event though I am not at all sure they realised how significant. The heavenly host turning up in glory on their hillside, telling them of a Saviour born in Bethlehem and now lying in a manger, was a good clue though.

In today’s celebrity crazy, instant fame society of ours, it can be easy to get caught up in seeking prominence to give us significance.  Significance often comes though in places with no prominence; those helping the poor and weak of society in the city slums, those fighting for social justice and those in the mission field far away from the glare of media and cameras are often doing incredibly significant things with no prominence at all.

The Christmas story is full of people of no apparent significance or prominence who have gained significance by being obedient to God’s call on their lives.  Mary and Joseph, a poor couple looking forward to being married and having a life of their own in Nazareth are suddenly thrown into the spotlight on the stage of world history by the appearance of Gabriel. Shepherds, out in the fields doing their job, suddenly find themselves chosen to signify God coming to earth for the poor and marginalised of society again by the appearance of angels.

There must have been many unknown people who helped Mary and Joseph during their journey to Bethlehem and with the birth of Jesus – unknown to us but known to God. I am sure Mary, Joseph and God regard them as significant. 

Society seeks prominence and ten minutes of fame to applaud but God wants men, women and children of significance; significant because of obedience to his call on their lives. Mother Teresa gained prominence but I doubt if she particularly wanted it other than to draw attention to the plight of the poor in India.  For those poor people her life was very significant.

Frank Genor was an insignificant man who for 40 years handed out tracts on a street in Sydney, Australia in obedience to God to thank him for his salvation. He had no idea of the effect of this until just before his death when it transpired that literally hundreds of people had come to faith and were serving God all over the world, because of his obedience.

Has anyone ever come up to you to thank you for some kindness of word or deed that you have done that you have no recollection of but was very significant for them? That is the significance of great value to God; being obedient to his prompting to bless others. Fame and prominence are of little value even though highly prized by our societies. Significance through obedience whether we know about it or not is the prize of the Christian.