“Big Miracle”
Luke 9:10-17
A sermon for 1/16/22
Second Sunday after Epiphany
Pastor John Bright
Luke 9 “10 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. 12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.”
13 But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.
16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.”
This miracle story has a special place in my heart because of something that happened almost 20 years ago. I was at a District clergy meeting. The DS was leading a devotion. He read this story and asked us to break up into small groups and discuss the reading. My little group went right to power of God Almighty to create an abundance out of just a little. We talked about the God who created the whole universe with a word. Jesus’ miracle of multiplication was that same power in Him.
When we were called back together, the DS asked each group to share. One of the ministers in my group spoke up first and shared our view of the power of God in this miracle. Without comment, the DS asked another group to share. They mentioned that in John’s account of the Feeding of the 5,000, there is a boy who shares the five loaves and two fish(John 6:9). So, they explained, when everyone saw the boy sharing his food, the other people shared what they had and there was enough for everyone.
This is what we call “The Stone Soup Analogy”. Since not everyone understands that reference, let me tell you a story that dates back to the early 1700s.
The Story of Stone Soup
Once upon a time, there was a great famine. The people in one small village didn't have enough to eat, and definitely not enough to store away for the winter. People were afraid their families would go hungry, so they hid the small amounts of food they did have. They even hid their food from their friends and neighbors. One day a wandering soldier came into the village. He asked the different people he met about finding a place to eat and sleep for the night.
"There's not a bite to eat in the whole county," they told him. "You better keep moving on."
"Oh, I have everything I need," he said. "In fact, I would like to make some stone soup to share with all of you." He pulled a big black cooking pot from his wagon. He filled it with water and built a fire under it. Then, he reached slowly into his knapsack and, while several villagers watched, he pulled a plain gray stone from a cloth bag and dropped it into the water.
By now, hearing about the magic stone, most of the villagers were surrounding the soldier and his cooking pot. As the soldier sniffed the stone soup and licked his lips, the villagers began to overcome their lack of trust.
"Ahh," the soldier said aloud to himself, "I do like a tasty stone soup. Of course, stone soup with cabbage is even better."
Soon a villager ran from his house into the village square, holding a cabbage. "I have this cabbage from my garden." he said as he held it out for the soldier. "Fantastic!" cried the soldier. The soldier cut up the cabbage and added it to the pot. "You know, I once had stone soup with cabbage and a bit of beef, and it was delicious." The butcher said he thought he could find some beef scraps. As he ran back to his shop, other villagers offered bits of vegetables from their own gardens--potatoes, onions, carrots, celery. Soon the big black pot was bubbling and steaming. When the soup was ready, everyone in the village ate a bowl of soup, and it was delicious.
The villagers offered the soldier money and other treasures for the magic stone, but he refused to sell it. He had many offers for a cot to sleep on that night. The next day he traveled on his way.
(Adapted from the classic folktale from the Aarne-Thompson folktale system)
So, if you had never heard The Story of Stone Soup, now you have and you can understand how those clergy and the DS would look at this account shared in all the four gospels – they see the work of men, women and children learning to share. Here’s my problem with that interpretation: it takes all the wonder-working power out of this big miracle. In fact, it is no longer a miracle. Miracles depend upon the physical laws of the universe being BROKEN!
We use the word “miracle” in all sorts of ways. The miracle of birth – actually that is a normal biological process. Someone sees a rainbow on a bad day and calls it a miracle – actually that is the refraction of light on droplets of rain. We even put Miracle Whip on our sandwiches – actually I prefer Duke’s Mayo😊
For 2000 years, the Church has seen the Feeding of the 5000 as a “miracle of provision.” They have often connected it to God’s provision in the Old Testament:
Exodus 16 “4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. 5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”
(Elisha) 2 Kings 4 “42 Then a man came from Baal Shalisha, and brought the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley bread, and newly ripened grain in his knapsack. And he said, “Give it to the people, that they may eat.”
43 But his servant said, “What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?” He said again, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the Lord: ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’ ” 44 So he set it before them; and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.”
Up until this point in Luke’s gospel, we have seen Jesus, the Son of God, have authority over every part of creation – He has healed diseases, cast out demons, raised the dead, and calmed the storm with a word. Now, He is going to show the disciples that even food is subject to God’s power in Him… and in them.
You give them something to eat.
“12 When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.”
13 But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” 14 For there were about five thousand men.”
These men have returned from their “short term mission trip” and now a crowd has gathered. Jesus teaches them and heals them. Then the disciples want to send them away. They only have a little food and there are lots of people. Since only the men are counted, there were probably 10 – 20 thousand folks there. So, Jesus is asking for the impossible – just like He did when sending them out with the “power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.” (Luke 9:1)
I believe Jesus is giving them the opportunity to keep doing the impossible, but they seem to have their eyes fixed on the natural world where it takes thousands of loaves and fishes to feed thousands of people. Since they still need some instruction in performing miracles, Jesus shows them how.
Not much explanation
“16 Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.”
He just did it!
What would that blessing sound like? All Jews blessed their food with a simple benediction – “Blessed Are You God, our Lord, King of the World” and then would add the endings for each food at the table:
For Bread: "Who brings forth bread from the ground”
For Fish: "Everything was created through His words”
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/brachot-blessings-before-eating
It was not in the words or the instructions for how they should divide the people in groups. It was not in the generous sharing of the five loaves and two fish. It was not in the serving. It was a demonstration of power by God Almighty. If it was explained here in God’s Word how Jesus did it, then it would not be a miracle at all.
Do miracles still happen today?
Let me share my “Loaves and Fishes” story: Way back when, I was the youth pastor at a UMC church in my hometown of Suffolk. We often took the youth to different ministries to do mission work. One place we went was a “soup kitchen” in Virginia Beach. There were lots of homeless teens back then who ran away from home to live at the beach.
That night, we were serving the food they had prepared that afternoon. The main dish was big pot of thick, hot soup. The pot was full and they said to give everyone a full bowl of soup. So, they came. Then, more came. It looked like we only had about 20% of the pot left and the kids were asking what to do? I talked to the staff and their answer was simple, “Let’s pray.” So we prayed for God to treat our pot of soup like the loaves and fishes. I bet you already know how it ends – we kept serving full bowls of soup for about 45 more minutes. When it was over, there was still about 20% of the pot left. On the ride home, we had a lively discussion about the power of God to do miracles.
What miracle do we need in the world today?
What miracle do we need in our denomination today?
What miracle do we need in our local church today?
What miracle do we need in our community today?
What miracle do you need in your home today?
Sometimes we have to come to the end of our solutions and the end of our resources to discover the power of God to do a miracle. Guess what? The miracle was there all along. Today, we may have to say, “God I can’t but You can!”
I still believe in a God that can work miracles – breaking every law of nature – moving heaven and earth for His People way back then and now and in the future. I hope you see God do a miracle in your world! Amen!
