The Response

The Response

Luke 9:14-15, NLT

For there were about 5,000 men there. Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” 15So the people all sat down.

Setting the Scene

Jesus had just told the disciples to find out how much food they had in the large crowd. They returned with a boy and his five loaves of bread and two fish. Certainly they must have wondered how that meager amount could feed the five thousand–plus gathered on the hillside. Then Jesus told them to organize the people into smaller groups.

The disciples didn’t understand what Jesus wanted them to do, so he gave them a job and prepared to show them what he could do. The disciples followed Jesus’ instructions to have everyone “sit down in groups of about fifty each.” We don’t know why Jesus organized the people this way—perhaps to make food distribution more efficient. The men were probably separated from the women and children for the meal according to Jewish custom. So the disciples went through the crowd, organizing them and having them all take a seat. “The people,” perhaps realizing that this would be worth staying for, “all sat down.”

At this point the disciples didn’t express their opinions about what Jesus had just asked them to do. Certainly they must have had their doubts. To their credit, they did what Jesus told them to do.

Getting Personal

When have you taken a step of faith, doing something you knew God wanted you to do, even though it didn’t make much sense at the time?

What are you certain God wants you to do in the next day or two?

What’s holding you back?

God speaks to us today through his Word and through the nudging of the Holy Spirit in us. When we read a passage about feeding the hungry and then see or learn of a hungry person, we know what we must do. When we read the story of the Good Samaritan and then encounter a hurting “neighbor,” we know what Jesus wants us to do. Each time the Holy Spirit prompts us to act, we need to obey, to take those steps in doing God’s will.

Talking to God

Ask God to give you strength of conviction and purpose as you seek to do whatever he requires of you. Thank him for the power of his Holy Spirit, which leads you in the paths God wants you to take—and then enables you each step of the way.