“Feeding the Multitudes”
Day 25 – Wednesday, April 3, 2019
Feeding the 4000 men and their families
Matthew 15:29-39
After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee,
and he went up the mountain, where he sat down.
Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame,
the maimed, the blind, the mute, and many others.
They put them at his feet, and he cured them,
so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking,
the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing.
And they praised the God of Israel.
Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said,
“I have compassion for the crowd,
because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat;
and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.”
The disciples said to him,
“Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?”
Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said,
“Seven, and a few small fish.”
Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground,
He took the seven loaves and the fish;
and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples,
and the disciples gave them to the crowds.
And all of them ate and were filled;
and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.
Those who had eaten were four thousand men, besides women and children.
After sending away the crowds, he got into the boat and went to the region of Magadan.
Imagine that you are one of the people who came to the mountain to see Jesus.
What did you hear that made you want to go?
After what you have witnessed, how would you tell someone about it?
Gracious God;
Give us the strength to be bold, that we may proclaim every day
and to all people the name of Jesus, who makes the broken whole.
He is the bread of life, and through him we are nourished and made clean,
so we might spend eternity with you.
Teach us to make the blind see and the deaf hear
the glory of our savior Christ Jesus, your son, in whose name we pray; Amen.