“but what are they among so many?”

I am so grateful that Andrew asked this. He saw the logistics of the whole situation. There were at least five thousand men. What could five barley loaves and two fish do? If we are honest, we ask the same thing Andrew did. God, who am I to make a difference? What can you possibly want with this broken life? The answer is not in what Jesus said but in what He did.

He never rebuked Andrew for his question. Jesus loves questions and doubts as long as they push us toward searching for the truth. Take Thomas for an example. We take him at his lowest spiritual moment and call him Doubting Thomas when Jesus never gave him that title. It isn’t our questions, but the faith that is tested and propelled from them. Jesus answered with a simple command, “Make the men sit down.” He told Andrew to act and watch it happen.

Often, we want to see the results before we ever step out in faith. Jesus reminded Andrew that faith is not based on logistics but on God. And God is the God of impossibles.

five barley loaves

You know me, I love the numbers and word usage in the Bible. Here’s something to get your mind going. Five is the number of grace; barley is associated with poverty. Jesus takes a poverty-stricken heart, applies grace, and takes it beyond imagination. We are His children. Adopted and bought for by the precious blood of the Lamb of God, we are humble children in the eyes of our Father, our Abba. This boy comes to hear the Messiah and his meager life is used in abundance.

Philip gives us the background and details by putting the problem into perspective – a crowd of people that would take more than two hundred days’ wages to feed with a snack (John 6:5-7). What I love, though, is Jesus asked Philip. He wanted to test the faith of the disciples. They started thinking logistically, just as we often do. Andrew came up and told Jesus about the boy’s lunch, but then what good would that do? Jesus said watch Me.

He took the humble barley loaves and, with grace, multiplied them in faith. Just as we, with our meager lives, are able to come with our poverty-stricken spiritual offerings and they are accepted with grace. The results are greater than we could have ever imagined. There were even leftovers to fill up twelve baskets. The Psalmist was right when he said my cup runneth over (Psalm 23:5). When we offer ourselves, no matter how poor we are – spiritually speaking – He always uses an obedient heart offered up in faith. It is not about the size of what you bring to Him. It is not about the giver or the gift. It is about the One to whom the gift is given. He alone can miraculously do more than we can ever think was possible.

The same picture is painted in Ruth. She gleaned barley. Though we are poor in spirit, we are sons and daughters of the Heavenly Kingdom (Matthew 5:3).

Though we are poor and fatherless, He is a Father to us and will use our heart when it is offered in faith. No matter how seemingly impossible it is. He is ABLE.