Luke 9:17 “So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.”    I have seen many attempts to make something of the number of baskets taken up here. To be sure Jesus could control how much food was distributed. And Luke did not have to…

 Luke 9:16 “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.”    Often due to our incredulity we fail to think about the practical side of the miracles of Christ. We claim to…

 Luke 9:15 “And they did so, and made them all sit down.”    The disciples facilitated the division into the groups of fifty. In every large ministry effort there is involved a certain amount of logistics. Heavenly Father, we will order our souls to serve You as we should. So often the logistics of our…

 Luke 9:14 “For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”    So with five thousand men present there were surely some children and women present as well. But, there may not have been many. The journey to this area was long and…

 Luke 9:13 “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.”    Jesus heard His disciples demand, but He took it up a notch. He challenged their faith. They needed…

 Luke 9:12 “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.”    I’m sure others must wonder the same thing I do when…

 Luke 9:11 “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.”    The ministry of the truth is the primary work. We must never forget that. It is tempting to make it secondary or…

Luke 9:10    Jesus heard his apostles. He knew they had taken a long journey and went to Bethsaida without telling anyone to hopefully give them a rest.    For all who serve Christ we see the right pattern here. We must serve, that is out business. But we must rest along the way. That…

 Luke 9:9 “Herod said, ‘John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?’ So he sought to see Him.”    Wouldn’t it be altogether bad for the kingdom of darkness for king Herod to be so interested in Christ? Doesn’t this preoccupation of Herod bring glory to Jesus? Why does…

Luke 9:8 Why were people making these assumptions? To understand this we really have to grasp ancient Jewish thinking. There were several necessary hallmarks of a true Jewish prophet, and both John and Jesus fit every one of them. Thinking that either John or Jesus was Elijah was based on Malachi chapter 4, which explains…