Wednesday, 7 April 2021
Title: Five small loaves and two small fish
By Dorothy Teoh

Mark 6: 30-44; John 6:1-13
Imagine the scene. The day is getting late and the shadows are lengthening on the ground. The crowd of thousands who had followed Jesus and his disciples to this lonely place to hear the Teacher teach had a long way to go on foot before they could reach home and have their dinner.

There are no shops here, no stalls selling food, and certainly no food delivery services unlike today. The disciples come to Jesus and tell him to send the people away so that they could go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat (Mark 6: 36).

Our Lord’s response was, “You give them something to eat.” The disciples may not have said as much but they must have thought, “Jesus, you’ve got to be kidding! There are about 5,000 people here. Where can we get money to buy enough food to feed this multitude?” “That would take eight months of a man’s wages,” they reply (Mark 6: 37). In the gospel of John, John records Philip’s answer which is even more graphic. “Eight months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (John 6:9)

Enter the boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish (John 6:9). Not much is known about this boy. How old was he? Were his parents with him or had he followed the crowds on his own? Perhaps his mother had hurriedly wrapped up the five barley loaves and two fish and thrust them into her son’s hands before he ran out of the house, so that her boy would not go hungry later.

Now, imagine that you are the boy. You have been sitting on the grass for hours listening to the Teacher. You may not have understood everything you heard; still, you found it fascinating. But now, your stomach is rumbling from hunger and you are looking forward to going off to a quiet spot away from the crowd to eat the barley loaves and fish before embarking on the long trek home. But wait, the Twelve disciples are going around among the large crowd asking if anyone had bread, as instructed by Jesus (Mark 6:38). The disciple named Andrew comes up to where you are, and your heart skips a beat, maybe two. You wonder if you should keep quiet, or offer your five loaves and two fish. Hunger is not the only pang you feel as you surrender the loaves and fish, because the Teacher wants them.

And when you do, something follows that you could never have imagined. Your meagre meal that would have fed only you now feeds five thousand men (excluding women and children, as noted in Matthew 14:21), with 12 basketfuls left over.

Five small loaves and two small fish were all the boy had, but he surrendered them to Jesus. If I were the boy, I might have thought, “What can Jesus do with five small loaves and two small fish? What about the others who also brought food?”

Even Andrew who, like the rest of the Twelve, had witnessed the various miracles that Jesus performed after He had appointed them as Apostles, expressed his doubts. After identifying the boy and his meagre rations, he says: “… but how far will they go among so many?”

(John 6:9). In fact, the Twelve had just returned from the mission that Jesus sent them out on during which they preached the message of repentance, drove out many demons and anointed and healed many sick people (Mark 6:12). Yet, they doubted.

How many loaves and fish do we have? Few or many, are we willing to offer them all to Jesus and see what He will make of them, despite our doubts? Not just material possessions, but time and talents. Even if all we have is little, it is not too little for Jesus to use. Neither are we too insignificant for Him to use if we surrender our lives to Him. The boy is nameless, just one in a crowd of thousands. Yet, by selflessly giving what he had, he became part of a huge miracle that’s been told and retold through the ages.

That miracle also points us towards Jesus, the Son of God – the Bread of Life who is able to meet not just our physical needs as He did in feeding the five thousand, but all our spiritual needs.

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help us to be willing to offer all we have, little or much, to You so that You can multiply it and use it to bless many and glorify God. May we be willing to offer not just our material possessions but also our lives because You offered Yourself first on the Cross, in our place. We thank and praise You. Amen.

每日灵粮
星期三, 2021年4月7日
标题：五小饼和二小鱼
作者：赵秋霞姐妹
翻译：陈健萍姐妹

马可福音6:30-44；约翰福音6:1-13

想象一下这一幕:天色渐晚，地面上的影子越拉越长。
数以千计的人跟随耶稣和祂的门徒来到这个偏僻的地方，来聆听老师的教诲；他们需要走很长的一段路才能到家吃他们的晚餐。
那里没有商店，没有卖食物的摊位，当然也没有现在的送餐服务。门徒进前来请耶稣叫众人散开，好叫他们往四面的乡村里去，给自己买点吃的(马可6:36)。
我们的主回答说：“你们给他们点吃的吧。” 门徒可能没有多说什么，但他们一定在想：“耶稣，您是在开玩笑吧！这里大约有5000人，我们哪有钱买足够的食物喂饱这么多人呢？” 他们回答说：“这需要一个人八个月的工资。”(马可福音6:37)。在约翰福音中，约翰记录了腓力更加生动的回答：“八个月的工资也不能买足够的麦饼让每个人都吃一口呢！”（约翰福音6:9)

带着五个麦饼和两条鱼的孩童登场了(约翰福音6:9)。关于这个孩童，我们所知的不多。他多大了？他的父母与他在一起吗？还是他自己跟着人群？或许他的母亲匆忙地把五个麦饼和两条鱼包好了，在她儿子跑出房子之前，把五饼二鱼塞到他的手里，那么她的儿子稍后就不会挨饿了。

现在，想象您就是那个孩童。您已经在草地上坐了几个小时聆听老师教导了。您可能听不懂所有的话，但您还是觉得所听到的很吸引人。但现在，您的肚子因为饥饿而隆隆作响，您期待着在踏上回家的漫长路程之前，找一个远离人群的安静的地方享用麦饼和鱼。
但请稍等，那十二门徒依从耶稣的指示正在众多的人群中走动，打听是否有人带了饼来(马可福音6:38)。一个叫安得烈的门徒走到了您的位置，您的心跳停了一拍，也许两拍。您在想您是应该保持沉默，还是献上您的五个饼和两条鱼。当您交出的时候，饥饿并不是您唯一感受到的痛苦，因为老师想要它们。
当您这么做的时候，一些您根本无法想象的事情随之发生了。您那本来只能喂饱您的一餐现在喂饱了5000人
(不包括妇女和孩子，如马太福音14:21所记载)，还剩余12个篮子。

孩童就只有五个小饼和两条小鱼，但他把它们交给了耶稣。如果我是那个孩童，我可能会想：“耶稣能用五个小饼和两条小鱼做什么？其他也带来食物的人呢？”
即使安得烈，与十二个门徒中其余的一样，在耶稣拣选了他们作使徒后，曾见证了耶稣所行的各种神迹，也表达了他的疑虑。在确认这个孩童和他菲薄的口粮后，他说：“……分给这许多人，还算什么呢？”（约翰福音6:9)。
事实上，那十二门徒刚从耶稣差遣他们去传道的地方回来；在这期间，他们宣扬悔改的信息、赶出了许多的鬼、用油抹了许多病人，治好了他们(马可福音6:12)。然而，他们对此表示了怀疑。

我们有多少饼和鱼？无论是少还是多，尽管我们心存怀疑，我们是否愿意把它们全都献给耶稣，看祂会如何使用它们？不仅是物质财富，而且也包括时间和才干。即使我们所拥有的不多，绝不太少让耶稣使用。如果我们把自己生命交给祂，祂也不会嫌弃我们微不足道，不能使用。那孩童是无名的，只是数千人中的一个。然而，通过无私地献上他所拥有的，他成为了一个千古流传的伟大神迹的一部分。

这个神迹也将我们引向耶稣，上帝的儿子 – 生命的粮，祂不只能够满足我们的身体需求，就如祂喂饱五千人一般，而且能满足我们所有的属灵需要。

祷告
主耶稣，帮助我们愿意把我们所有的，无论是少是多，都献上给祢，让祢使它倍增，并使用它来祝福许多人，荣耀上帝。愿我们不但乐意献出我们的物质财富，也愿意献上我们的生命，因为祢先在十字架上为我们献上了自己。我们感谢赞美祢。阿们。