Luke 9:1-17 — Jesus=Provider

READ THIS: Luke 9:1-17

1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere. 

7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8 others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9 But Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to see him. 

10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. 

12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” 13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

WHAT’S THIS MEAN, ANYWAY?

Herod* asks an important question here...who IS this Jesus? He thought that he had taken care of the important character who was distracting from Roman authority, but apparently not! So, who is Jesus? In these verses, Jesus is a provider. He provides/gives what we need. 

In verses 1-6, the disciples had to trust that, despite not bringing any food or extra clothes, that some of the people Jesus sent them to meet would provide for them. They had to trust that Jesus wouldn't send them out with nothing, only for them to wither away and fail. 

Then, in verses 10-17, Jesus provides healing, knowledge about the Kingdom of God, and food to a hungry crowd. He provides for everyone physically and spiritually in abundance! If you look at verse 17, you'll see that He gave more than what was even needed. 

But, the disciples struggle with the idea of provision. Even after trusting Jesus enough to go on a journey with little to no supplies, they don't trust that He can feed thousands. Beyond that, it almost seems like they don't want Jesus to provide for all those people. They would rather the others fend for themselves while the disciples continue to trust in Jesus' provision. If we're not careful, we can become the same way. We might fully trust Jesus to provide for us, but we start to look at all the troubles in the world and think that Jesus can't possibly help. Then, we look at certain people and think that Jesus shouldn't help those people, anyway. But, what these verses show is that Jesus IS a provider, and that doesn't change depending on who He is around. 

*This is a different Herod from the King Herod in the Christmas story. This Herod is a tetrach, which means he ruled a fourth of the kingdom that King Herod had split between his four sons. 

THINK ABOUT IT:

1. Do you believe Jesus will provide for you, physically and spiritually? Why or why not? What do you think Him providing those things look like?

2. Who are people you think Jesus shouldn't want to provide for? Why shouldn't He? Is there a difference between wanting to provide and actually providing? 

TRY THIS:

Practice being a provider today. Ask God to show you one person today who needs something, physically or spiritually, and to help you fill the need if that's His will. 

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