A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on April 27, 2025.
On their return the apostles told him all that they had done. And he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida. When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” And they did so, and had them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces (Luke 9:10–17).[1]
Jesus’ twelve apostles had just returned from their first mission, where they proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and healed the spiritually and physically sick. As they were sent out by and with the power and authority of Christ, their mission was effective. Even Rome’s regional ruler, Herod the Tetrarch, took notice. But it was a short-term mission, and they soon returned to Jesus, eager to tell him all that they had done.
Imagine what that reunion must have been like, story after story shared from each of the twelve. Surely, Peter’s were most dynamic, John’s the most poetic, and Matthew’s the most descriptive, as they told of reception and rejection, stories of the sanguine and sorrowful. Never before had these ordinary men healed diseases, and then they did; never before had they cast out demons, and then they did; never before had they preached the gospel, and then they did. They were not merely disciples of Jesus now but ministers of the message and miracles of the kingdom of God.
Mission accomplished, Luke says, Jesus “took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida” (Luke 9:10), a town on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. How long they were alone, Luke does not tell, but I agree with J.C. Ryle’s expository thoughts:
The lesson is one which many Christians would do well to remember. Occasional retirement, self-inquiry, meditation, and secret communion with God, are absolutely essential to spiritual health. The man who neglects them is in great danger of a fall. . . . We must make time occasionally for sitting down and calmly looking within, and examining how matters stand between our own selves and Christ.[2]
As Christ’s disciples, we need time alone with the Lord, each of us. Let me encourage you then to devote yourself to a time alone with the Lord daily. The time invested is incomparable to the reward. The cares and concerns we are tempted to carry, may be cast upon the Lord in daily prayer. The opportunities and difficulties we face day to day, may be processed through a systematic exposure to the Word of God. And, as I have found, often matters that I am struggling with are addressed specifically in my daily reading of the Word, providing the opportunity to practically apply what God has said. You need, and I need, a daily time, every day to be alone with the Lord. May God give us each the desire and discipline for this devotion.
Its necessity is due in part to what else Luke reveals: “When the crowds learned [where Jesus was], they followed him . . .” (Luke 9:11a). Time alone with the Lord is precious before the day’s demands begin. In the case of their retreat to Bethsaida, the retreat was over, the people found him, and the demands upon Jesus began again. But note Jesus’ response: He did not recoil in exhausted frustration but “welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and cured those who had need of healing” (9:11b).
The Christian life, and especially Christian ministry, is not a retreat from the church but to it. Though the people found Jesus, he welcomed them, told them about the kingdom, and met their needs. And as we might expect, the people didn’t want to leave. Nor should we. It is a beautiful thing to be together with the Lord.
While Christ has resurrected, ascended, and sent his Spirit to us in his stead, we are a gathered people, which is what the word translated “church” (ecclesia) means, “the assembled ones.” Our assembly is not merely a social one (but it is a social one!) but a time where we gather in worship, to read the Word, pray the Word, sing the Word, and hear the Word preached, together, and loving every minute of it. If you come to church out of the drudgery of duty, you are missing an essential ingredient to the Christian life: the joy of the church. We should look forward to gathering and a bit sad when we depart. We should want to be together, because where two or three are gathered in his name, he is here among us.[3] And when we find ourselves in times of need, where we have no idea what to do, then we come together to listen to the Lord, to obey his Word, and to look for his provision.
Listen to the Lord
Like many of us on Sunday mornings after the worship service, the people did not want to leave. Apparently, Jesus didn’t either. Note that as “the day began to wear away,” it was not Jesus but the twelve who wanted to send the crowd of over five thousand away (9:12a). After all, they were, as we say, “in the middle of nowhere.” It made much more sense to send everyone away “into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions (9:12b). But Jesus had plans to stay, and so said to the twelve, “You give them something to eat” (9:13a), after all they had just returned from a mission trip full of miracles.
Apparently, their recent experiences did not translate into their immediate concerns. Or maybe they were just tired and hungry, hearing Jesus’ command as an unreasonable demand of men of meager rations and cash reserves. Of course, we get tired and hungry too, so easily forgetting God’s provision in the past and limiting our expectations of his provision for today. And when that happens, we think we see clearly what is needed and grow frustrated that God does not provide the way we perceive that he should. We may not be so arrogant as to name it and claim it, but our expectations may demand it, rendering us anxious or frustrated, and certainly perplexed. When this happens, we need remember what God says about our thoughts and ways compared to his:
For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts (Isa. 55:8-9).
The circumstances of our life then need to be met with the truth of God’s Word, and we need to listen.
When the twelve responded with the facts of five loaves and two fish, Jesus did not argue with them but graciously responded, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each” (Luke 9:14b). This may sound like an insignificant detail of organization, but the point is Jesus did not acquiesce to their perception but revealed his perfect will to them, and as it turned out, he perfectly provided for them all through it. And just as clearly as Jesus directed his disciples that day, so he has graciously spoken to us in his written Word. As the Westminster Confession of Faith explains,
[I]t pleased the Lord, at sundry times, and in divers manners, to reveal himself, and to declare that his will unto his church; and afterwards, for the better preserving and propagating of the truth, and for the more sure establishment and comfort of the church against the corruption of the flesh, and the malice of Satan and of the world, to commit the same wholly unto writing: which maketh the Holy Scripture to be most necessary; those former ways of God’s revealing his will unto his people being now ceased.[4]
If you truly want to hear from God personally, go to the Bible, because God has chosen to commit his Word “wholly unto writing.”
We have a complete written canon of Scripture, Genesis through Revelation, and just as clearly as Jesus said to the twelve, “You give them something to eat,” so he has said to us beginning with, “In the beginning” (Gen. 1:1) all the way to the last, “Amen” (Rev. 22:21) and everything in between. If you wish to hear from the Lord as clearly as he spoke to his apostles, then, as he said to St. Augustine, Tolle Lege, “Take up and read!”[5] Read the Bible daily, systematically; memorize it; meditate upon it, be under the preaching of it regularly, but most of all: Obey God’s Word, even if you don’t understand it.
Obey His Word (even if you don’t understand)
We may presume that Jesus knew precisely what he was doing when he said, “You give them something to eat.” He knew there were over five thousand people but only five loaves and two fish. He knew it before they told him. He knew it was practically impossible to feed them all and that the better course of judgment was to send them all away. He also knew what the twelve needed to learn: to obey, even if it made no sense. And, to their credit, they did, obediently seating everyone, as if preparing for supper. But I still wonder if they were shaking their heads as they did it.
I am reminded of when God tested Abraham, telling him, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Gen. 22:2). The very next verse says, “So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him” (Gen. 22:3). He didn’t sleep-in hoping God would change his mind, but “rose early.” He didn’t wallow in self-pity at the likely loss of his beloved son but deliberately acted, prepping his transportation, team, and timber. He did this all immediately, faithfully, but can you imagine how hard it would have been when Isaac asked his father, “where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Gen. 22:7). How do you respond to that? Would you dodge the question or tell the kid to run? Would you use it as a “teaching moment,” even if you didn’t fully understand the lesson? We don’t know what Abraham was thinking, but this we do know: He obeyed, simply saying to his son, “God will provide . . .” (Gen. 22:8).
The writer of Hebrews helpfully explains that Abraham believed that even if Isaac died, God was able to raise him from the dead.[6] In other words, Abraham knew his responsibility was to obey God’s Word, trusting that God would provide, even miraculously, through it. Such was the case for the apostles, when Jesus fed the five thousand. And such is the case for us, as God speaks to us through his Word. We go to it, we listen, and we obey. Why? Because it is God’s Word.
And when we do, we find that obedience opens our eyes to God’s provision. Sin, in contrast, clouds our perspective, rendering us practically faithless. But as we take God at his Word and trust him, we find that he not only provides for us but also graciously allows us to see the miracle of his provision in all things, over and over again.
Look for His Provision
Luke records that Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, and said a blessing over the food. He did not secretly add to it, nor did he lament such meager portions. Instead, he looked up, acknowledging that “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above” (Jas. 1:17), and then included a blessing. His blessing wasn’t some kind of hocus pocus, transforming a little into a lot; it was a specific prayer of thanksgiving. He did not wait for God’s abundant blessings before he looked up and gave thanks. He did not reserve his blessing until the twelve baskets were filled. He acknowledged God’s provision over what he had, giving thanks for it, no matter how meager.
The apostle Paul tells us to “[give] thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5:20). Always and everything sounds like a lot, because it is, constant and comprehensive. Practically speaking, this renders the Christian life one of continuous, gracious gratitude. Sadly, many of us reserve heavenward acknowledgement only for bountiful blessings, not meager portions. Our prayers of thanksgiving are typically reserved for the feast not far less than enough. But Jesus thanks his Father first, because whether great or small, everything is from above.[7]
What followed Jesus’ blessing was indeed miraculous, but the point I want us not to forget is to look for God’s provision and so acknowledge him with grateful thanksgiving. In seeing God’s provision in all things, we not only learn to depend upon him more and more, but we also glorify him through it. Our mantra might be:
Yesterday, God helped me,
Today He’ll do the same,
How long will this continue?
Forever—praise his name.[8]
The Lord not only provided for them all, but “they all ate and were satisfied” (9:17a), with leftovers too, twelve baskets full. The significance of the twelve is obvious: twelve baskets for twelve apostles, abundant, tangible evidence for each. But the twelve were also the representation of the twelve tribes of Israel,[9] representing then the union of God’s old and new covenant people into one body, for whom the Lord provides, not merely in baskets of bread but in the bread of life himself.[10] And for all who look to him in faith, we find that his provision is not only sufficient but abundant, graciously granting us all things that pertain to life and godliness.[11]
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on Luke, Vol. 1 (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 2012), 226-227.
[3] Matt. 18:20
[4] “The Confession of Faith” 1.1, The Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms (Lawrenceville: PCA Christian Education and Publications, 2007), 1-2
[5] https://www.bible-researcher.com/tolle-lege.html
[6] Heb. 11:19
[7] James 1:17
[8] Anonymous, quoted in Philip Graham Ryken, Luke, Vol. 1 (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2009), 439.
[9] Luke 22:29-30
[10] John 6:35
[11] 2 Pet. 1:3
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