How To Choose A Caterer

Gospel	Mark 6:34-44

The feeding of the five thousand

As Jesus stepped ashore he saw a large crowd, and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length. By now it was getting very late, and his disciples came up to him and said, ‘This is a lonely place and it is getting very late. So send them away, and they can go to the farms and villages round about, to buy themselves something to eat.’ He replied, ‘Give them something to eat yourselves.’ They answered, ‘Are we to go and spend two hundred denarii on bread for them to eat?’ ‘How many loaves have you?’ he asked. ‘Go and see.’ And when they had found out they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people together in groups on the green grass, and they sat down on the ground in squares of hundreds and fifties. Then he took the five loaves and the two fish, raised his eyes to heaven and said the blessing; then he broke the loaves and handed them to his disciples to distribute among the people. He also shared out the two fish among them all. They all ate as much as they wanted. They collected twelve basketfuls of scraps of bread and pieces of fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.

Just think, your catering problems would be over if you had Jesus on your team!  At the drop of a hat He fed five thousand men and who knows how many women and children? 

Why did He have to do this?  What was the point?  Well, one of the characteristics of the Messiah was that He would usher in a period of prosperity and plenty.  Feeding a multitude of people at the spur of the moment certainly shows that Jesus was the very essence of prosperity and plenty.  Feeding oneself no matter if you were a caveman or you work in a modern office is something that we work for on a daily basis.  Unlike our ancestors, we do not have to gather in a group and attack and kill our prey or even plant and harvest it personally.  In this country there is abundance and plenty.  Not so for the people of Israel.  They worked harder than we can imagine to make food appear on their table.  When Jesus fed them and there was no effort, no price to be paid and they had filled their tummies to the full, well, they just knew Jesus was the one.  But Jesus did not come here to be a bread king.  When they were going to carry Him away and declare Him king, he was not there.  What a waste of a great publicity stunt!  But it wasn't a stunt.  It was a sign that the time had come and that the savior was indeed in Israel.  He wanted to be the king of men's hearts and so His mission went on.  But all would remember the day that they were fed to complete fullness by a Man who brought nothing with Him.