Message Title: The Way of Jesus
Message Text: Matthew 14:13-21
Message Truth: Potential is what you can do capacity is what God can do.
19 And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he blessed it and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people.
1.He takes (we discover capacity)
When Jesus took the loaves and fish and looked to heaven, he saw what no one else saw. Jesus saw not only the need of the people but also the capacity of the bread and fish. Capacity is based on God’s purposes and glory, it teaches us to look beyond our own “potential” to see the eternal and limitless provisions concealed in creation.
- He blesses (we consecrate, invite him in)
Jesus took the loaves and fish and blessed them, dedicating them to God’s higher glory. Jesus consecrated a simple meal and made it something that filled both a physical and a spiritual need. Consecration means “to make something holy or to set apart.” We must give God our daily lives—our assets, debts, work, families, and even weaknesses. When his holiness, presence, and power come into our one-dimensional lives, something powerful happens.
- He breaks (he reorders our lives through challenges)
Jesus did not hesitate to physically break the bread and fish after they had been consecrated . . . just as he does not hesitate to metaphorically break us from time to time. A consecrated life is usually not a perfect or easy one. Life throws us into wilderness experiences—death, disease, job loss, family problems. These painful and difficult events lead us to places of seeming loss and scarcity. Challenges test our deepest faith, but if we are in the wilderness, we are also in the place to find a new perspective on abundance and the provision of eternity.
- He gives (he provides, often through community)
Jesus gave others the loaves and fish to distribute. The miracle of the boy’s lunch could have been stopped in its tracks if the disciples, or the crowd closest to Jesus, had refused to participate. Authentic provision happens when we form communities that represent the body of Christ through serving one another. Jesus meets us as we let go of our own desires and selfishness and instead focus on how to love the people in our lives, even those who seem unlovable.
