Multiplicity

Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?

Father God I pray that you would open the eyes and ears of all those gathered here unto your Word and your truth. Dear God, your word is truth. For this we thank you, in Jesus name we pray and for your glory, amen. 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells of the eyes to see and the ears to hear that have been closed. It is through unbelief lest at any time they should turn and be healed. For has he not promised to forgive their sin and heal their land. How often some of us fall into this condition, being but partakers of the human nature ourselves. Here God says as to the church at Ephesus and Laodicea ‘remember where you have fallen from, remember your first love, remember lest you forget.’ My dear friends, this Word applies to all of us, both you and me. In the text we see Jesus working to feed the great multitude which came to hear him, from both far and wide. See, the power of God is to change things and that is just what he does here. You know, how often in ministry, there is the tendency to get overwhelmed. It is far to easy to forget what has been seen and heard. Easier still to become overwhelmed with the crowds, the condition, and the capacity of life. Yet here the power and love of Jesus transcends all that. Before we talked about charity from out of 1 Corinthians 13 and how it is different from regular giving. Yet here it is on display again. Look with me if you will at the provenance of God. It is his providing, his love, his compassion, his justice, and his holiness all wrapped up into one. Oh, our Father God is perfect, is he not. Only he could put something like this together. Only he could see all things, hear all things, know all things, and still keep up with all of them.

When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they said, Seven. And he said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand?

Here again, the Lord’s provision, just like his provenance is perfect. Only, pause here for just a moment and reflect upon the situation with the Lord. I have a feeling there is something in it to be learned. The disciples have just fed a vast multitude of people with only a bread basket and a few small fish. Some of you like talking about the unlimited feast you get at certain places. Yet here I imagine the disciples were feeling like a bit of a basket case themselves. See, not to sound irreverent, but Jesus’ power goes well beyond that. It should be seen that once he multiplied each one had plenty. Indeed, there was enough for all with some left over. So much so that the disciples took up the remainder for a testimony and the future. See, when he provides in Psalm 23:5 our cup runneth over. Not because you or I got together with some wag and had a bit too much to drink. But rather it is because he is filling it. It is rather hard to imagine being led beside still waters with a feast on the table. Harder still to imagine being fed in the presence of our enemies is it not without any comprehension of the fact. Here the disciples did as commanded them, came back with questions, had a come to Jesus talk, and promptly forgot about it all. Herein is the miracle, not that they forgot but that they lacked his comprehension. How often Scripture says his ways are higher than our own. Indeed, as in Isaiah 55:8-9 they are past finding out. It seems then that the miracle lies in the multiplication of the two. Let me see here, we have twelve baskets remaining among five thousand. It corresponds with the twelve tribes of Israel down across the way. See, there might be a lack and no people with not enough to eat right now. Yet when God is through there is plenty enough to spare and all to fill his house. You see, nothing is ever lost missing or wasted in the house of the Lord. So then too are the seven baskets among four thousand. There were seven remember, just as the Lord walked among the lampstands of his seven churches. It seems the God who cares for us is the same God that remembers. For some it is more than anyone hoped, dreamed, or even dared to find. Here also in the want and in the need we see a circumstance designed perfectly by God the Father. How well some of us should do to rather sing, ‘Jesus loves his little children, all the children of his world,’ For indeed they are precious in his sight. Hardly a sparrow falls without his mighty hand there to protect and care as planned. How well would some do to trust the keeper of our lives with this as in all things we find. Yet again how well some fail to comprehend his care for us despite all things provided. Even so how much more is the value more than what ever could have been. In sum and total is it more than even the birds of the air and liillies which grow. How much more are we worth to him than them. So also is being arrayed like one of these.