Jesus’ disciples had left everything behind in order to follow Him. We know little about their financial background, but when Jesus saw the big crowd that had come to Him because people had seen the signs that He performed, He said to his disciples, ‘You give them something to eat’ (Matthew 14:16b).
Philip saw the large crowd and rapidly worked out that even a large amount of money would not be enough to buy each one a mouthful. Philip did not reject Jesus’ command as impossible, he just carefully considered how to carry it out.
What a wonderful lesson for us. When God tells us something in His Word, we often do not even go through the trouble of considering how to carry out His command. Instead, we smile a little bit, discard what He asks us to do, and think ourselves very pious in saying that we will never be able to actually put into practice what Jesus asks us to do…
And just think about the little boy! Perhaps he was a cheeky little brat who stood close when Jesus gave His disciples this enormous task. Of course he did not have the fortune required! All he had was barely enough for himself and maybe somebody else: a drop in the ocean. But he gave the little he had, even though it was negligible compared to what was needed.
We would say: ‘Keep your few loaves!’ But Jesus said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ (Matthew 14:18). He took ‘all’ the boy had, blessed it and distributed it, thereby giving evidence that in God’s hands sharing always means multiplying.