Give You Them to Eat - Luke 9:13

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”, and in chapter nine and verse thirteen of his book Luke shared how Jesus told His disciples, “Give you them to eat” where we read:

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.

The verse reads, “But he said unto them, Give you them to eat.” Luke began with the words, “But he said unto them” or “however Jesus uttered, declared, proclaimed and instructed His disciples”, “give you them to eat” which means “you disciples grant, bestow, supply and furnish the multitude with food to consume and devour”. Luke shared how Jesus instructed His disciples to “feed” the people.

The verse continues, “And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.” Luke added the words, “and they said” which means “and Jesus' disciples uttered, declared and proclaimed”, “we have no more but five loaves” or “we disciples do not have any food other than five flour mixed with water baked loaves which were made in the form of an oblong or round cake as thick as one's thumb” “and two fishes” which means “and two small fish”; “except we should go and buy meat” or “whether, unless or perchance we disciples leave and depart to purchase food” “for all this people” which means “on behalf of each, every, the whole and everyone of the people who were in the crowd”. Luke shared how Jesus' disciples immediately began to reason with Him concerning what they had in hand and what they would have to provide food for the whole multitude.

When we meditate upon Luke's words in this verse, we see how Jesus' disciples began to “reason” how they might fulfill Jesus' directive for them to feed the crowd. They first evaluated what they already possessed, and they knew it was not ample supply. Secondly, they reasoned how they would need to go to the market and purchase enough food for everyone. In other words, they were looking at the natural way to supply the needs of the people. Jesus had something else in mind, and His way was beyond what the disciples imagined. God always knows what He is going to do in the lives of people who put their faith and trust in Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”, and those who are wise will trust Him to provide from sources that are beyond the natural means of supply.

Next time Luke shares how the crowd consisted of, “about five thousand men”, 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".