All the Multitude were Full - Matthew 14:20

Matthew the apostle wrote how, “Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give you them to eat. And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, Bring them here to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude”, and in chapter fourteen and verse twenty of his book, Matthew wrote how, “they did all eat, and were filled” where we read:

And they did all eat, and were filled:

and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

The verse reads, “And they did all eat, and were filled:”. Matthew began with the words, “and they did all eat” which means “and each, every, the whole and everyone within the crowd ate the loaves and fish” ”and were filled” or “were fully satisfied”. Matthew shared how everyone in the crowd ate the loaves and fish until they were “fully satisfied” from hunger.

The verse goes on to say, “and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.” Matthew added the words, “and they took up” which means “and the disciples of Jesus gathered, collected and assembled” “of the fragments” or “from the small pieces of food” “that remained” or “that was left over after everyone had eaten” “twelve baskets full” which means “twelve wicker baskets full of food”. Matthew shared how the disciples gathered the leftover “fragments” of food, and collected twelve wicker baskets full of them.

When we consider Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus more than amply supplied the hunger needs of the multitude. In fact, He so performed this miracle that there was one basket per disciple left over after everyone had gorged themselves. God is a more than ample God who desires to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when there is a need, whether physical or spiritual, He is able to do “exceeding abundantly more than we ask or think”. (Ephesians 3:20)

Next time we see Matthew shares how there were, “five thousand men, beside women and children” within this multitude, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.