This section continues the theme in Luke, where Jesus is describing the kingdom of God and the King of that kingdom. Remember that this is a spiritual kingdom; the kingdom is the people of God, Christians.
In the first two verses of this section, we see Jesus' approachability. He had withdrawn from the crowns, taking His disciples off into a desert place. But the people found Him our and came after Jesus -- this is an example for us to never let anything stand in our way of getting to Jesus. And Jesus' response was not to drive the crowds away and tell them He wanted to be alone. He welcomed them -- Jesus receives all who come to Him! And He taught them about the kingdom of God and healed them.
So what was Jesus teaching about the kingdom of God? What is new about the New Covenant?
- Being right with God depend's on God's grace. (In the Old Covenant, men had to perform (circumcision, sacrifices) in order to be in the Covenant.)
- There is love and acceptance in Christ Jesus. (The Old Covenant was one of fear and doubt.)
- Christ is the light of the world; the darkness of the Old Covenant is lifted and God is made known in all His glory.
- Sin has been slain. In its place is peace, unity, comfort, and purity.
- The King of this kingdom has come as a servant, to serve others.
- Humility is the rule, rather than pride and religious pomposity and display.
- The Law says, "You must"; Jesus says, "Only trust."
In verses 12-17, the apostles see that the huge crowd of people who have come to see Jesus have no way to be fed. They suggest that the crowds be sent away to go eat. But Jesus says, "You feed them." Jesus has given them a task that they are unable to do, so they respond that they cannot do it.
Jesus was teaching an important rule: as Christians, we are responsible for ministering to our brothers and sisters in Christ -- we are responsible for their welfare. But the job is too much for us, we cannot do it! And that is exactly what God would have us to learn -- that the task is beyond our strength and requires His help.
Note the disciples first response at seeing the hungry crowd. They did not come to Jesus with a problem, they came to Him with a solution! And we are often tempted to do the same. We decide all of our plans for how to execute a ministry objective, deciding entirely in our own wisdom and maybe a book or two. Then we show our plan to God and ask Him to bless it. This is completely wrong! Bring the problem to God, and ask Him what you should do.
Next, Jesus gives the disciples a ministry. He gives them something to do, and they do it, in an orderly fashion. The apostles ministered by arranging the people into groups of 50. Jesus takes the small food that they do have and blesses it; then, the food is given to the apostles who distribute it among the groups of hearers. All are fed and twelve baskets are needed to contain the leftovers.
There are several lessons for us here. First: Nothing is too big or difficult for Jesus. He will take care of all aspects of His work. Next, we see that God tends to use human means. Jesus could have made everyone attending instantly full, or miraculously distributed the food among the hearers. Instead, He used His disciples to pass the food around and feed the people. We see that God met the disciples in their need. When they realized that the work He had given them was beyond their ability, He equipped and enabled them to do the work.
Finally, we see that God gives an abundance of blessing. Twelve baskets of leftovers! God will give so that His people do not lack. If you lack anything spiritually: Joy, assurance, faith -- ask Him and He will give, and give abundantly!
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