Do You Dismiss When Jesus Asks You to Address?
Luke 9:12-13 (NIV)
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." He replied, "You give them something to eat."
When the needs are great, what can you do? That’s a lesson the disciples had to learn after some tough love from Jesus at the feeding of the 5,000.
They asked Him to dismiss the crowd to the “surrounding villages and countryside” because they were in the middle of nowhere. Jesus told them He wasn’t letting them out of their work as disciples, which is a concept I’m not sure they understood at that point.
You see, He wanted them to think higher than “here’s a big need we can’t meet.” He wanted them to stop thinking in terms of “let’s get this party wrapped up and get back to being disciples.” I’m sure they wanted to rest and eat and talk to Him on the personal level they were used to, but Jesus was preparing them for something else. He was preparing the disciples to grow their faith practically.
The people following Him around all day didn’t just want to engage with Him on a spiritual level. They had physical and emotional needs too, and that’s what Jesus is saying here. He wants your spiritual incarnation to become ministry engagement. Let’s look at how he did that.
Step in when it’s inconvenient. Jesus responded to their request with a directive to accept that the crowd’s spiritual transformation is His doing, but their care, comfort, and connection must be the disciples’ concern. He could intervene in this situation very easily, miraculously providing provision, but in this case, He didn’t do that—yet.
Look at how He’s blessed you. He says, “I’m going to push you today. I’m not sending this crowd away. You feed them. We don’t send people away to search for the solution since we are the solution they need.”
So, the disciples look around for what resources they have. They locate a basket filled with two fish and five loaves of bread. That’s enough to feed maybe two people. They bring it to Jesus, He blesses it, and the entire crowd of 5,000 men and their families are fed and the disciples collect 12 baskets of “leftovers.”
Jesus used their “offering” to pour the blessing.
Remember who lives inside you. He’s given us His Holy Spirit. And the Spirit’s gifts are discerning need and sensing threats. Jesus is telling us we don’t get to just sit in the observation tower and grow spiritually. We must walk beside those in need to grow ourselves spiritually. Walking with Jesus makes you observe and when you see need, you are its first solution.
In what ways are you asking Jesus to dismiss what He’s asked you to address?
