Devotion 18/05/05: Busy?
Hello! Know all of you guys are busy. But that’s the point! Would like to share this with busy people! And that's you! Hehehe… It is from Matthew 14 :13-23. It's the famous passage when Jesus fed the 5,000 till just before Jesus walked on water. This passage may be familiar to you, but I would like to see it from a different point of view.
13When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."
16Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
17"We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.
18"Bring them here to me," he said. 19And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
Jesus had just heard that His cousin, John the Baptist, was murdered (Matt 14:1-12). John was the person that knew Jesus the most at that time, and probably the person who understood His ministry the most as well. And he was just beheaded! It was like your best friend, or your husband or wife was killed! Jesus was deeply saddened. He needed a time alone to grieve. Just then His disciples that He sent out (Matt 10) came back. He sent them out, giving them authority to drive out demons and heal the sick, and now they are back, excited with stories from their ministries: how the crowds' eyes widened when they taught them, how they healed the crippled and saw the blind seeing and the deaf hearing and how they and drive out demons. And… guess who followed the disciples? Men, women and children! Jesus decided to withdraw by boat privately to a solitary place. But surprise! When He reached the other side of the lake, the crowd had followed them on foot! Jesus’ plan was interrupted. But Jesus had compassion on them and so healed their sick. There were so much demand from the crowds. What a busy day! Then Jesus asked the disciples to feed the crowds: 5000 men, not counting their women and children! After all, the disciples were just sent out with authority to declare the Kingdom and do miracles. They should know what to do now. But! They looked at Jesus one kind and said, “…but do you know how many people out there? It would take 8 months of wage! You must be kiddddiiinggg…” They let Jesus down.
What I want to point out here is this.
1. Jesus was very, very busy. In one day, He experienced grief, excitement, interruption, high demand from the crowds and inept assistance of His disciples. What a bunch for a day! So whatever you are feeling right now, no matter how overwhelmed, remember that Jesus understands. He didn’t have to go through all these… but He did, just to tell you that He understands.
2. Throughout the whole passage, Jesus’ relationship with the Father is clearly reflected. Jesus spent time with the Father on the way to the other side of the lake. He prayed and gave thanks to the Father before He broke the bread. And after He dismissed the crowds, again He spent a solitary moment with the Father just by Himself. Just like Jesus who spent such an intimate time with God, I would like to encourage all of us to check our relationship with God. The busier we are, all the more we have to get closer to God. Just like Jesus, that is where we draw our strength for every minute of every hour of every day. Remember that God loves you, and no matter how busy you are, all He want is you.
God bless!
13When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. 14When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
15As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food."
16Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
17"We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered.
18"Bring them here to me," he said. 19And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. 20They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. 21The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
22Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,
Jesus had just heard that His cousin, John the Baptist, was murdered (Matt 14:1-12). John was the person that knew Jesus the most at that time, and probably the person who understood His ministry the most as well. And he was just beheaded! It was like your best friend, or your husband or wife was killed! Jesus was deeply saddened. He needed a time alone to grieve. Just then His disciples that He sent out (Matt 10) came back. He sent them out, giving them authority to drive out demons and heal the sick, and now they are back, excited with stories from their ministries: how the crowds' eyes widened when they taught them, how they healed the crippled and saw the blind seeing and the deaf hearing and how they and drive out demons. And… guess who followed the disciples? Men, women and children! Jesus decided to withdraw by boat privately to a solitary place. But surprise! When He reached the other side of the lake, the crowd had followed them on foot! Jesus’ plan was interrupted. But Jesus had compassion on them and so healed their sick. There were so much demand from the crowds. What a busy day! Then Jesus asked the disciples to feed the crowds: 5000 men, not counting their women and children! After all, the disciples were just sent out with authority to declare the Kingdom and do miracles. They should know what to do now. But! They looked at Jesus one kind and said, “…but do you know how many people out there? It would take 8 months of wage! You must be kiddddiiinggg…” They let Jesus down.
What I want to point out here is this.
1. Jesus was very, very busy. In one day, He experienced grief, excitement, interruption, high demand from the crowds and inept assistance of His disciples. What a bunch for a day! So whatever you are feeling right now, no matter how overwhelmed, remember that Jesus understands. He didn’t have to go through all these… but He did, just to tell you that He understands.
2. Throughout the whole passage, Jesus’ relationship with the Father is clearly reflected. Jesus spent time with the Father on the way to the other side of the lake. He prayed and gave thanks to the Father before He broke the bread. And after He dismissed the crowds, again He spent a solitary moment with the Father just by Himself. Just like Jesus who spent such an intimate time with God, I would like to encourage all of us to check our relationship with God. The busier we are, all the more we have to get closer to God. Just like Jesus, that is where we draw our strength for every minute of every hour of every day. Remember that God loves you, and no matter how busy you are, all He want is you.
God bless!
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