COMPASSION

We find the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 in all four gospels.  Jesus has returned to Galilee from Jerusalem and he was seeking solitude.  He and his disciples boarded a boat and sailed toward the east side of the Sea of Galilee but he was unable to escape the crowds who followed.  Jesus landed in a very remote location and went up a mountain with his disciples.  Then he looked and saw the multitudes coming toward him.  Matthew tells us that when he saw them he had compassion on them.  He healed the sick and taught them all day long.  When evening approached he turned to Philip and asked, “Where will we buy bread for this huge crowd?”  The disciples came to Jesus and said, “Send these people away to the surrounding villages so they can find food and lodging!”  Then Jesus said to them, “No, you give them something to eat!”  We know the rest of the story.  Andrew found a boy with some bread and fish and Jesus fed the crowds with them.

Just as Jesus lifted up his eyes and had compassion on the crowds, so we are to lift up our eyes to the multitudes and see their need.  It is too easy for us to shield our eyes from the needs of the many people who surround us.  We are so occupied with our families, our work, and our friends that we don’t have much time for the people who live around us.  If we never lift up our eyes we will never see our mission.  Jesus challenged the disciples to lift up their eyes and see fields that were “ripe for harvest.”  He challenges us to do the same.  The people right around us may not be physically hungry like the people to whom Jesus ministered but they are fainting from spiritual starvation.  They have given no thought to their own spiritual provision and they stand completely without spiritual food.  They do not avail themselves of the opportunities for spiritual nourishment in the Bible-teaching churches in our communities.  Some eat at churches every Sunday that feed them nothing but sweets so they are dying of malnutrition.  Others are starving because what they are fed has no nutritional value.  The rest are left to themselves and they are like infants who are unable to provide for themselves.  So who will feed them?  Will we?  Or will we keep our eyes lowered, thinking about our own needs and hope someone else will do it.