At Jesus' Feet, Part 1

by Brooke Bergan
Published July 19, 2005

Imagine the scene: Jesus is teaching on a hillside. 5,000 men and their families have spent all day seated there to learn about His teachings. The men are sweaty and the wives tired, while children are at play near the base of the hill. Their pre-made meals eaten hours ago, many children are rejoining their families with that hungry look that tugs on every mother's heart, yet nobody makes a sound. Then it happens. One of the disciples, perhaps Peter, begins to worry. Whoever it is, he quickly gathers the other disciples around him to discuss this imminent problem.

"Have you noticed the crowd?" Peter asks. "They're getting awfully restless."

"And it's no wonder, they haven't eaten all day." John touches his stomach. As if on cue, it growls, then makes its retreat to a high-pitched whine, which is interrupted by Thomas's voice.

"What should we do? If we tell Jesus, He'll only lecture us for our lack of faith. Besides, He's in the middle of a sermon."

"But we have to tell Him!" Peter's brow deepens, and his face turns red. "Doesn't He know it's rude to starve people?"

"Fine," Andrew says. "You go. If you think it's so important He know, you be the one to interrupt Him!"

Peter turns to glare at the others. Why don't they grow up? It takes some doing, but for now Peter manages to hold his tongue. He takes a deep breath, filling his lungs to near capacity, and with a pretense of proud authority approaches his Lord. The other disciples trail behind, anxious to see what will happen.

Instead of the sensible answer the disciples are expecting, imagine their surprise when Jesus answers them by saying, "You give them something to eat."

"But Lord," they respond, "we only have five loaves of bread and two fish."

Judas speaks, anxious to get in on the argument. "Unless we go out and buy food for all of them." His sarcasm bites deep.

Jesus must have sighed and, exhausted from a full day of teaching, held out his hands for the food. The miracle that followed is remembered to this day by nearly every believer, as well as many unbelievers.

So what happened here? The first disciple's good intentions created an atmosphere of anxiety. He then allowed that anxiety to spread by dragging others into unnecessary worry about the most basic of needs. Rather than sit back and enjoy Jesus' presence, they began to focus upon providing food for the crowd.

I'm reminded of Jesus' statement regarding a demon-posessed boy whom the disciples failed to set free later in the same chapter:

"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you and put up with you?" -Luke 9:41 (NIV)

That said, let us trust the Master to provide for our needs, just as He has already done thus far.

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