In the years following 1933, Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party began their systematic and relentless evil conquest, mercilessly crushing anyone who opposed them. Resistance was futile. Millions of ordinary people were killed. Millions more were effectively enslaved by the evil power of Nazism.
And then, in the first few days of June 1945, Eisenhower and his fellow generals met to decide whether to give the go ahead to the Allied invasion of Normandy. They were desperate to overpower Hitler & his evil regime.To re-establish justice & freedom.
And these men had massive authority & power to do this – under their command, was an invasion force of 326,000 troops, 54,000 vehicles and 104,000 tons of supplies, 11,500 aircraft & 7,000 ships & boats. It was probably the most powerful force ever assembled by man.
But for all the power & authority of the allied generals, there was a problem – one over which they had no control – the weather. The forecast for 5 June was dreadful – high winds, rough seas, low cloud. Eisenhower called in his chief meteorologist, Group Captain J.M. Stagg. Stagg forecast a brief improvement on 6 June, and the generals had an agonising decision – delay yet another month, or go on 6 June.
Their decision, of course, was 'Go'.
And so it proved that this force and this plan was sufficient to overpower Hitler and his armies.
2000 years earlier, one man came to overpower an far, far greater evil – the evil of Satan himself – the powerhouse that stood behind Hitler, motivating and driving him on to destroy millions of lives. This fearsome spiritual power of evil entraps the whole world in lives of frustration where we cannot be the people we long to be. Lives of meaninglessness and emptiness, of selfish ambition driven by lust and greed. Lives lived in the fear of death, and finally ending in death and eternal destruction.
So this one man, Jesus, came to overpower Satan and his kingdom. To defeat death, and to establish God's rightful rule – his rule of justice, peace, freedom, fulfilment. To restore man to his created glory – the image of God himself.
And one day, during his mission, he'd been asleep in a boat when a storm suddenly threatened the boat and its crew. But he didn't call for a meteorologist, he just stood up, and rebuked the wind & the waves. Immediately they became calm. This man had power & authority even over the weather – O what Eisenhower would have given for that power!
Then, when he was confronted by a man who was under the power of evil spirits. The people lived in fear of him and were powerless to help.But the demons trembled when they saw Jesus, and obeyed him instantly when he told them to go. And the man was freed. And he sat quietly, dressed and in his right mind and the feet of Jesus.
Whatever the manifestation of the power of evil – even death – Jesus dealt with it. Calmly. Efficiently. Completely.With a word or a touch, people were freed, healed - even raised from death.
This man Jesus has power that no-one else in history has ever possessed. And he has the authority to use it. No wonder people are constantly afraid of him – the disciples, the crowds, the synagogue ruler...
But now Jesus calls the 12 disciples together: And in v1 of our reading, he gave them power & authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the K of G, and to heal the sick.
Jesus delegates power to the 12 and gives them authority to use that power to drive out evil and to tell people that they don't have to live under the power of evil any more – that is to preach the K of G.
So the king of this Kingdom sends out 12 representatives with delegated power & authority to illustrate the goodness of their king and his kingdom. As they go, there's no need for months of preparation & planning. No kit bags, no rations. They're to go in the clothes they stand up in. And they're to stay with whoever welcomes them and their message. They will trust their king – that he has prepared sympathetic representatives to welcome them, and that he will sustain them.
As for those who don't welcome them, well, the 12 are to treat them like citizens of a foreign country – shake the dust of their country off their feet and move on.
So, v6, the 12 set out and go from village to village preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere. News of this spreads fast. And Herod, the Roman-appointed governor, hears about it, and, v7, he was perplexed because some were saying that J t B had been raised from the dead, others that Elijah the prophet had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life.
But Herod said, 'I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?' And he tried to see Jesus.
The Romans had delegated power & authority to Herod. And he knew how to use it – he'd beheaded John. But the reports about Jesus put him in a different league, and Herod wants to know, 'Who is this?'
This question has been running throughout Luke's gospel:
- 'Isn't this Joseph's son?' the people asked in ch 4.
- 'Who is this who even forgives sins?' they ask in chs 5 & 7.
- And then in ch 8, the disciples, in sheer terror ask, 'Who is this? He commands even the winds and the waves and they obey him.'
- Now it's Herod asking the same Q – 'who is this?'
And the question climaxes in the next section when Jesus turns to Peter and says, 'What about you? Who do you say I am?' Finally there's an answer, 'You are the Christ of God' – and so, you see, here in ch 9 we're at a turning point in Luke's account.
And Luke is bringing two things together – as the disciples begin to realise who Jesus is, so they're given power & authority as ministers in the K of G. Others, like Herod, are still asking the question. But the 12 are about to answer it.
And now the 12 return from their mission – their first experience of exercising the authority of Christ the king. Not surprisingly, Jesus takes them off for a quiet debrief – the experience could very easily go to their heads!
But very soon, the people are once again crowding around Jesus. And, v11, He welcomed them, and spoke to them about the K o G and healed those who needed it.
Jesus is still on-message: His mission is to demolish the rule of evil and establish the freedom of the K of G, so again he demonstrates that he's the one with the power & authority to rule God's kingdom. And he preaches about the K of G.
Then in, v12, when the day was drawing to a close, the disciples came and had a quiet word with Jesus. There's a problem, and they want Jesus to deal with it. It's not sickness or disease this time, but hunger. On their mission, they had to trust Jesus that their needs would be met. But now they immediately think of a human solution to the problem:
“Send the crowds away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we're in a remote place here.”
It's hard to imagine what they thought when Jesus replied, 'You give them something to eat' Perhaps they laughed sarcastically as they looked at the huge crowds and answered, We have only 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish – unless we go and buy food for all this crowd!
Whatever they thought, they never imagined that they had the power to solve the problem themselves.
But Jesus will not leave the crowd hungry, so v14 he instructs the 12, “
Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
So what are we to make of this miracle? Clearly it is a miracle – 5000 men plus women & children fed until they were satisfied from a few rolls & a couple of fish. And then 12 basketfuls left over.
Why did Jesus do this? He could have done what the disciples suggested & sent the people to the town.
Think about the themes Luke has been developing:
First, Jesus has been demonstrating that he is the Christ of God – the king of God's Kingdom with the power & authority of God himself with which to rule. And the disciples are beginning to realise this.
Then, secondly, Jesus has just delegated power & authority to the disciples to heal, overpower evil and preach the K of G.
So here is the king of the kingdom of God, sitting with his people all around him. And he has healed them. And he has taught them about the K of G. And now he has fed them until they are all satisfied.
This is how Jesus – the king of God's good kingdom – exercises his rule. And what a contrast to the rule of Satan: Satan exercises his power to leave people in fear, disease, death, self-destruction. But Jesus exercises his authority to cast out demons. Heal sickness. Raise the dead. Calm fear.
And then he delegated that same authority to the 12. They are his envoys – his ambassadors – his ministers – to the world. The 12 have begun to learn what the coming of the K of G means. But they're only beginning to learn. When it comes to feeding the people, they're stuck.
When the 12 point out to Jesus that it's late & the people are hungry, Jesus could have just taken control, 'Leave it to me, I'll sort it.' But he doesn't. He says, 'You give them something to eat.' But they can't – well, no more than a crumb of bread a fish scale each!
And that's the point.
Any ministry the disciples have – any power or authority they have – originates with Jesus. Without him they're powerless. They cannot satisfy anyone.
And yet Jesus does involve them in his mission – he's got to – he's not going to be on earth forever. When he's gone, the disciples will have to carry on his mission, and he gives them power & authority to demonstrate that his mission hasn't ceased, but continues through the 12.
And so we're in a position to understand why there are 12 basketfuls of left overs; People have often said that it's to show that Jesus provides sufficient for each of the 12 tribes of Israel – the whole people of God. That could be true, but it's interesting to see how Luke emphasises that there are 12 disciples – he begins this section, 'When Jesus had called the 12 together...' And in v12, we read, 'late in the afternoon the 12 came to him...' Then at the end, there are 12 basketfuls of pieces – one for each disciple.
Here, it was Jesus feeding, nourishing, satisfying his people. When he's gone, the disciples will have to do this – they will lead, feed, sustain and nourish God's people.
But the feeding of the 5000 is merely a foretaste of the heavenly banquet described in our first reading (Isaiah 55.God promised that one day, his people would join him at the most lavish banquet ever given by anyone. On day God's people sitting and eating with God's king Jesus.
In the meantime, Jesus has provided the means for his people to be fed and nourished and satisfied until that great & glorious day. Here, it was the 12. Then in chapter 10, he appoints 72, acknowledging that the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. And by the time we get into Luke's second book – Acts – we discover that the HS fills each and every true Xn with power – power to witness to Jesus - the king of God's kingdom.
How do you know if you have the power of the Spirit? Well, deep down, you know that you'd love to talk to others about Jesus. You feel that you lack courage or wisdom, but you have the desire. And if you pray for the opportunities and the courage, you will discover the wisdom and the power of the gospel and the Spirit.
