Elm Street Community Church

(Today's video clip is from the movie -It Could Happen to You).

Today we are going to look at the concept of divine multiplication, and one example of Jesus taking what little He is given and multiplying it to make an incredible impact.

Today’s scripture looks at Jesus feeding the 4,000, yet, this isn’t the first time that Jesus has fed the masses with minimal food. If we go to chapter 6, Jesus feeds the 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish. And after this Jesus walked on water and met the disciples. In fact, we see here that the disciples didn’t understand the feeding of the 5,000 because their hearts were hardened (Mk 6:52).

And here we are, some time later, and they find themselves in a similar situation.

There are some 4,000 people, and Jesus understands that they are hungry and has compassion on them. This should not be a surprise. They had been with Jesus for 3 days and were hungry. I just want to point out that Jesus, as an act of compassion, could have sent them home a day early so that they wouldn’t have hit the point of needing a miracle. A day earlier and He’s not as concerned that they are going to collapse. Jesus didn’t just lose track of time. There are other places where we would think that Jesus should be in a rush, yet He does things on the right timeline… His timeline.

So Jesus waited, and when He raises this potential problem to the disciple, they are perplexed. The fact that the disciples did not understand, that should be a little surprising to us, especially since he just fed the masses in a similar way not that long before, but Jesus will call them out on this a little further on in chapter 8 (for those who want to follow up with this).

The first question for us to ask is, “did Jesus need for them (the disciples) to provide the food to multiply it? Did He need them to give him the 7 loaves and the small fish, or was He able to provide it ex nihilo - out of nothing?”

I want to challenge you to understand that Jesus didn’t NEED them to provide the bread and the fish. He could have sent the disciples, many of whom were fishermen, to go cast out their nets, or have gone down to the shore and had the fish jump out of the sea (see Luke 5:4-10). and had manna fall out of the sky. Jesus could have done the work Himself, but chose to use the disciples. Why? I am sure it was to partner with them and to help grow their faith. Jesus used them as He performed this miracle!

The second question we want to ask is, “what did He do with what little He was given to work with?” 4,000 people were served with 7 loaves and a few small fish. The disciples had very little to offer, but Jesus was able to do what was necessary with what little they brought to the table. The numbers didn’t make sense… much like common core math, it seemed illogical, but the difference is, in this case, the numbers were perfect. They had little to bring, but with Jesus their little was more than enough. It wasn’t just enough, but more than enough.
This is divine multiplication! God takes what little we have to bring to the table, and does what He needs to do with it.

In chapter 9, there is a man who wants to see his son freed from demonic possession, and when he asks Jesus, he asks for the healing “if Jesus can…” (read Mk. 9:23-24).

If you come here today and you’re not sure where you stand, and your faith is wavering, feel free to say to Jesus, “I believe, help my unbelief!” God tells us in Jeremiah that “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jer. 29:13).” If you are looking to find Him, really seek Him! Hopefully if you are in that place, you are seeking Him with us in the Gospels. And if you are new, we are going through a challenge this year to read through the Gospels one chapter a day (the Gospels being Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). If you want to join us, or have lost your place, we are on Mark chapter 13 today.

For those who are followers of Jesus, we need to remember that just as the disciples struggled at time, we might as well. May He continue to reveal Himself to us as He did to them.

But we also want to remember that He is able to take what little we offer and multiply it. This includes when we give of our time, talent (using the gifts we have to serve), and our treasure (financial support). And as we give, we understand that He is able to divinely multiply our gifts and service to make a greater impact than we could ever imagine. Divine multiplication… what a wonderful concept.