About Five Thousand Men - Luke 9:14

The beloved physician Luke wrote how Jesus took His disciples, “and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spoke unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. But he said unto them, Give you them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people”, and in chapter nine and verse fourteen of his book Luke shared how the crowd consisted of, “about five thousand men” where we read:

For they were about five thousand men.

And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.

The verse reads, “For they were about five thousand men.” Luke began with the words, “for they were about five thousand” or “because, since and on account that the multitude was made up of five thousand” “men” which means “male human beings”. Luke shared how there were “five thousand” males within the crowd of people whom Jesus told His disciples to feed.

The verse goes on to say, “And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.” Luke continued with the words, “and he said to his disciples” which means “and Jesus uttered, declared, proclaimed and ordered His students, pupils and attendants”, “make them sit down by fifties in a company” or “have the people be seated in groups of fifty within a row”. Luke shared how Jesus instructed His disciples to have the people be seated in rows of “fifty”.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we see how there was such a large crowd of people which included “five thousand men” in addition to the women and children who were there. Jesus knew they needed an organized way to “feed” the people, so rather than have the crowd in a large bunch, He had his disciples form rows of “fifty” people which would allow the disciples minister to all of them. Jesus had a plan to feed these people, and when things seem impossible for us, we may rely upon Him to organize and provide whatever we need. Those who are wise will turn to Jesus and rely upon His ability to take care of any situation that arises in our lives.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus' disciples, “did so, and made them all sit down”, 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. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".