Bible Study Notes for the Lord’s Day,
January 30, 2011
Luke 9:10-17
“The Miracle of Daily Bread” 

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Introduction
We have been studying the interaction between God and mankind. We are created in His image, but He is deity and we are human, He is infinite and we are finite, He is supernatural and we are natural. There are real cases where supernatural power comes into the natural world to cause a different outcome than would have been expected. Sometimes supernatural power is needed, in the physical, emotional and spiritual aspects of our lives - storm on the sea, storm in the man, sickness and death, sometimes even for our daily bread.

When He was on Earth, Jesus was a miracle worker. We saw last time that even today, He enables ordinary people in ordinary life situations, to sometimes do extraordinary things, miracles. “Jesus gave them power and authority.”

The key to receiving and performing miracles is faith, knowing and trusting Jesus.

LUKE 9
10 And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.
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.
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.”
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.”
14 For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.”
15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.
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.
17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

Jesus graciously provided daily bread for these people who had dropped the ball and had failed to bring food with them. Let’s notice some things about how God provides for us:

God made our bodies, and planet earth, our home in this age.

God made our bodies to require certain things - air, temperature, water, food, sunlight

Feeding our bodies the calories and nutrients they need has become an art form. Amazing dishes and desserts, even presentation, atmosphere. There are special words like aujus, entree, alamode and ambience. Many times eating is a special social event, “Let’s do lunch.” Holiday feasts. Superbowl is about eating, drinking and commercials.

But the point is that God doesn’t just care about our spirits, He told us to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.”


God demonstrates His love by providing for us. Psalm 145

10 All Your works shall praise You, O LORD, And Your saints shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom, And talk of Your power,
12 To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, And the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The LORD upholds all who fall, And raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look expectantly to You, And You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand And satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The LORD is righteous in all His ways, Gracious in all His works.
18 The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. 19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them.

God delights in providing for us, in two ways - naturally and supernaturally.

Notice how God provides naturally- systems of the earth - soil, rain, sunshine, seasons. Seed, germination, growth, maturity, harvest, more seeds. What the Earth produces is compatible with our bodies to give us energy, strength and good health.

How God provides supernaturally - faith, when daily bread needs a miracle

Natural ways to receive daily bread - prayer, planning, preparation, work, diligence

Proverbs 24
33 A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; 34 So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man.

But there are also situations in which we might need supernatural provision, when the normal natural systems break down - disease, insects, bad weather. Also bad planning, or errors in judgment (running out of gas, wedding wine, this story), bad economy, being ripped off, deceived, taken advantage of.

In these cases we might need supernatural provision, when the natural methods have some kind of a glitch.

The key to receiving supernatural assistance in provision is faith:

Isaiah 58
58:1 “Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.
2 Yet they seek Me daily, And delight to know My ways, As a nation that did righteousness, And did not forsake the ordinance of their God. They ask of Me the ordinances of justice; They take delight in approaching God.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say, ‘and You have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls, and You take no notice?’ “In fact, in the day of your fast you find pleasure, And exploit all your laborers.
4 Indeed you fast for strife and debate, And to strike with the fist of wickedness. You will not fast as you do this day, To make your voice heard on high.
5 Is it a fast that I have chosen, A day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head like a bulrush, And to spread out sackcloth and ashes? Would you call this a fast, And an acceptable day to the LORD?
6 “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: To loose the bonds of wickedness, To undo the heavy burdens, To let the oppressed go free, And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out; When you see the naked, that you cover him, And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’ “If you take away the yoke from your midst, The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
11 The LORD will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.
13 “If you turn away your foot from the Sabbath, From doing your pleasure on My holy day, And call the Sabbath a delight, The holy day of the LORD honorable, And shall honor Him, not doing your own ways, Nor finding your own pleasure, Nor speaking your own words,
14 Then you shall delight yourself in the LORD; And I will cause you to ride on the high hills of the earth, And feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. The mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

Malachi 3
7 Yet from the days of your fathers You have gone away from My ordinances And have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you,” Says the LORD of hosts. “But you said, ‘In what way shall we return?’
8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings.
9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation.
10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts;
12 “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the LORD of hosts.

Matt 6
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?
26 “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27 “Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;
29 “and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 “Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32 “For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
34 “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

In spite of the financial problems of this world, God promises to provide for us when we trust Him and do things His way. Trust Him enough to:

Treat people right
Give to help the poor
Give to support God’s kingdom on Earth
Refuse to worry
Use good stewardship of God’s provision - eat right, not too much
Faith to rotate crops, diversify
Be continually grateful - Jesus always gave thanks
No wastefulness
17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them. John “So that nothing is lost.”

But who among the 25,000 people in our story did any of these things to receive their miracle? Who demonstrated faith in any of these ways? Where did they get the 5 loaves and 2 fish from? A little boy. He alone had planned ahead (or his mom had). He alone had faith to give his lunch to Jesus to see what would happen. The faith of one young man, plus the grace and power of the Lord Jesus, provided daily bread for a multitude.

Conclusion Jesus delighted in providing for these people. The natural means would have worked, if they had all thought ahead and brought food with them. But since they got carried away seeking first His Kingdom, He brought in the supernatural power to give them their daily bread.

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.
17 So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.


Application to My Life

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