"When they were full, He told His disciples, 'Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.' So they collected them and filled 12 baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten."
John 6:12-13, HCSB
An old friend of mine, when eating a sandwich from a famous chain that we all know, would always remove the ends. He swore up and down that he couldn't stand the ends of that large food item... we'll call it a "sub," for argument sake. Further, my three children refuse to ingest crust from any type of bread. It is always left behind, regardless of the type of sandwich. As for me, I'm not a fan of pizza crust, and that bread is almost always left behind. Why bring this up? Well, frankly, I know that my family of five is not the only one that experiences this, and there are tons of people who have the exact same habits and tendencies... just as they also have the habit of getting that last piece, thinking they can finish it, and then are unable to do so. In case you're wondering, this creates leftovers.
Now, imagine you are standing in a field capable of holding 5,000 men and their families, all seated and resting as they are served by One Man and His disciples, all from a single basket which originally contained 5 loaves and two fish for a child's lunch. All of a sudden, this Man says a prayer and thanks the Father for the food provided, and then feeds everyone present "as much as they wanted (end of vs. 11)." Everyone eats their fill, is completely satisfied from their hunger... but they are not told that they have to eat every piece. Their individual eating habits were not questioned or mentioned, and clearly there were folks in this crowd like my kids and my friend and myself, because leftovers were present. The 12 are then told to go pick up the scraps so that nothing is wasted, and how much did they pick up? I'll get to that in a minute.
First, please notice that this massive crowd was served by Christ, and they were satisfied. They got all they needed, and all they wanted (which are not the same thing) from the Messiah. There is a powerful and interesting parallel there for life, as we get the same things today from Him. Sometimes we have to open the eyes of our hearts to see the blessings and provisions, but they are there.
Second, this powerful moment was a lesson to the 12 as they were "sent" into the crowd to share the blessing, just as they would soon be "sent" into the world to share the Gospel. Wow!!!
Now, back to the clean-up, there were twelve baskets FULL of leftovers that the 12 picked up. Hey... wait a second... 12 men, and twelve baskets of leftovers... do you think maybe that Jesus was trying to prove a point? Perhaps He wanted it to be them that did the initial serving? Maybe He wanted them to do the cleaning, because He did all the serving? Nope. He wanted them to see clearly, and don't miss this, that God's provisions are more than adequate, more than we think possible, and the vast and overflowing abundance which is offered cannot all be taken in by us. For their doubt of the capability of Christ to use even the smallest amount of food to feed a massive crowd, they each picked up a basket of scraps... a full basket of scraps.
Imagine having to be there, cleaning up with the other 11, and then looking over to Philip. The look on his face as he picked up each piece must have grown both more confused and more saddened, as it was he who first pointed out that they didn't have enough worldly provisions to provide for these people. He was the one who was asked directly, and he was asked specifically as a test of his faith in the Father and the Son. Philip's response of not having enough money is a typical one, and not something far from what I probably would have said. But now, picture answering that question, then seeing the small child's lunch, then watching your Teacher feed this gargantuan assembly from that single basket, then having to pick up a full basket of scrap afterwards... and you are carrying only one of twelve baskets FULL of leftover food!
Also, there is no mention of any of the 12 having their own baskets to serve the food, and no mention of any other baskets already being there, waiting for the clean-up process to begin. This brings me to think that perhaps each of the 12 had to take the one basket that fed the people, and each make a pass to clean up. In that scenario, I can see Philip waiting until the last of the group, hopeful the clean-up would end before his turn came. I can also see Andrew (pointed out the fish and loaves, but then got all worldly and said that it wasn't enough) going first, because he would've felt bad for so directly doubting that Christ could use that little amount to bless the crowd. Of course, this is purely speculative, but it does seem plausible...
The major point here, Christian sibling, is that Jesus Christ is capable of more than we can possibly imagine, and sometimes we get the opportunity to be a part of that. This is one instance where the 12 not only got an in-your-face lesson about the abundance of the provision of God, but they also got to see, first hand, Jesus blessing people en masse. This was not a singular healing or a disease being cured on one guy out of many... this was 5,000 men and their families, all fed from a child's lunch, served directly by the Messiah.
That. Is. Awesome.
God bless you all!!!
*Lyric from "Little Is Much," by downhere©, from the album "Wide-Eyed and Mystified"
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