All the Multitude Full - Luke 9:17

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. For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. And they did so, and made them all sit down. Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude”, and in chapter nine and verse seventeen of his book Luke shared how the multitude, “did eat, and were all filled” where we read:

And they did eat, and were all filled:

and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.

The verse reads, “And they did eat, and were all filled:” Luke began with the words, “and they did eat” or “and the people within the multitude ate the pieces of food”, “and were all filled” which means “and each, every, the whole and everyone of them were full of food”. Luke shared how the people within the crowds “all” ate the food provided by Jesus and distributed by His disciples and were completely satisfied from their hunger.

The verse continues, “and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.” Luke added the words, “and there was taken up” which means “and the disciples gathered and collected” “of fragments that remained to them” or “from the broken pieces of food that were left over from the crowd” “twelve baskets” which means “twelve wicker baskets”. Luke shared how there were “twelve wicker baskets” full of leftovers that were not eaten by the multitude.

When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we learn how the entire crowd of people ate until they were “satisfied”, and afterward “twelve wicker baskets” of the broken pieces of fish and loaves were collected. Jesus performed a miracle that fed five thousand men and their families, and there was so much food supplied that they gathered the excess as well. God works in amazing ways, and He demonstrated it through His Son Jesus Christ. He is able to provide every physical and spiritual need people who believe and trust in Him may have. Those who are wise yield their lives to Jesus who will supersede their expectations when they commit themselves to His ways.

Next time Luke shares how Jesus asks His disciples, “whom say the people that I am?”, 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".