One of the miracles in the life of Jesus that has always impressed me is the feeding of the five thousand. This story, found in John 6:1-5, involves a crowd of people who pursued Jesus to hear His words. Jesus, although tired and in need of rest after hearing the news of the death of his cousin, John the baptist, has compassion on the crowd, and so teaches them.

At my church, one of the recent messages was on this topic, and the pastor made some points that I had not heard or considered before.

In the story, the disciples were themselves tired, and knew that Jesus was tired also. They advised Him to send the people away. But Jesus decided that the needs of His hearers was greater than His own need for rest, and he spent time teaching them and healing their sick.

As it was getting late in the day, and the people (5,000 men, plus women and children) were getting hungry. Jesus then took what was clearly an inadequate amount of food, five small loaves of bread and two small fish, blessed the food, and had the disciples distribute it. And that small amount was multiplied to be so much that not only were all of the people fed, but afterwards there were twelve baskets filled with the leftovers.

Notice here that Jesus didn’t bless the fish and loaves, and suddenly a mountain of food appeared at his hands. He had the disciples begin to pass it out, and as they did this, they noticed that the food did not run out; it apparently continued to be replenished as it was distributed.

In the sermon message about this miracle, several important points were made, some that I had not considered before:

• In the events of your life “story” recently, how often have you been saying to the Lord, “Send them away”?
• Jesus took this interruption of the people finding Him and wanting to hear His words, and made it an opportunity for a miracle to occur. If Jesus had listened to the discples and sent the crowd away, the miracle would not have happened.
• No matter how little you might think you have, if you place it in God’s hands, He can multiply it.
• Depending on how God uses your little offering, the miracle may just pass through your hands (just like it passed through the disciples hands as they distributed the food).

Although the song I’d like to highlight today is not by Don Francisco, it does fit with the theme of songs that deal with the life of Jesus. Illustrating the effect of giving your all, not matter how little it is, here is Ray Boltz from his 1996 albumn No Greater Sacrifice, with the song What If I Give All.

He heard the preacher say
A single dime can feed
A hungry boy or girl
With nothing to eat
So he pulled a dollar
From the pocket of his jeans
And he asked his mama
How many will this feed?

She just smiled
And when she told him ten
He reached back in again

“What if I give all I have?
What will that gift do?”
My child, a gift like that
Could change the world
It could feed a multitude
He didn’t close his eyes
Or turn away
I can see him standing tall
He saw the need
And I can hear him say
“What if I give all?”

Three birthday dollars
Could have bought a special toy
But he reminds me
Of another little boy
Who gave to Jesus
A gift of fish and bread
I wonder if he said

“What if I give all I have?
What will that gift do?”
My child, a gift like that
Could change the world
It could feed a multitude
He didn’t close his eyes
Or turn away
I can see him standing tall
He saw the need
And I can hear him say
“What if I give all?”

And long ago a Father and a Son
Saw the children lost in sin
Can you see the tears
In the Fathers eyes
As Jesus says to him

“What if I gave all I have?
What will that gift do?”
My Son, that gift
Will change the world
It will free the multitudes

So what if I give all I have?
What will that gift do?
My child a gift like that
Could change the world
It can feed a multitude
We cannot close our eyes
And turn away
When we hear His Spirit call
We see the need
Now let Him hear us say
What if I give all?
What if I give all?

1996 Shepherd Boy MusicASCAP (adm. by Word Music) and Screaming Toad MusicASCAP (adm. by Addison Music).