Jump Start # 1471

Matthew 16:9 Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets full you picked up?

  Matthew 16 is an important chapter, they all are! It is here that Peter makes the great confession about Christ. It is here that Jesus introduces the concept of the church. It is here that the line of authority going to the apostles is expressed. It is also here that Jesus tells the disciples that He will killed and raised up on the third day. It is here where Peter rebukes Jesus for saying that and the Lord telling Peter, “Get behind Me Satan.” It’s a packed chapter. Great stuff. Powerful lessons.

One lesson that is overlooked with all the other great things going on in this chapter is the forgetfulness of the disciples. They launch out to cross the sea. Jesus and the twelve are in the boat. Jesus begins to warn them about the Pharisees and the influence of the Pharisees. The twelve realize that they forgot to bring any food. Mark tells us that they had one loaf of bread among them. Jesus is teaching some very important principles. The disciples are not listening. They are talking among themselves about food. How typical. How close this sounds to us. More worried about our bellies than anything else, they stopped listening to Jesus. It is here that our verse is found. This story is repeated in both Mark’s and Luke’s Gospel. We don’t have anything to eat. What are we going to do?

Our verse has Jesus reminding them of what had happened so recently. A large crowd had gathered, more than 5,000 people. Jesus told the disciples to feed them. All they could find was a kid’s snack—a few dried fish and some bread. But with that, the Lord fed the 5,000 until they were satisfied and the left overs filled twelve baskets. If that is not impressive enough, shortly after that he nearly repeated the same miracle by feeding 4,000. And here in the boat they have twelve disciples and one loaf. More than that, they have Jesus. That’s the point. He will take care of them. He has proven what He can do. He has shown His power. He can change substance, such as making water into wine. He can multiply food. Why worry, they have Jesus.

Most concerning, it seems to Jesus is that they forgot. His words, “Do you not yet understand or remember…” Jesus would not allow them to drown in a storm. He would not allow Peter to down in the sea. He would not allow them to go hungry. He would take care of them. This was a trust issue. Remembering builds trust. Forgetting opens the door to doubt, fear and unsettling thoughts.

Yet, are these twelve not you and I? Bellies first, souls second. Thinking about food when we ought to be listening. Forgetting the things that Jesus has done for us. Forgetting.

Part of our worship on Sundays is to take the Lord’s Supper. The words on most tables state the Lord’s principle, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” Remember Me. I wonder, if we did not have the Lord’s Supper each week, if we would tend to forget? I wonder if our thoughts would gravitate to our bellies, our needs, our jobs, our homes, our happiness and we would forget that the Lord has taken care of us. The Lord has been there for us. The Lord has answered prayers for us. The Lord has forgiven us. Remember? Have we forgotten?

The look back helps with the look forward. It is when we forget what the Lord has done in the past that we get unsure and we feel alone and helpless. The Lord is with us. Do you remember any of your prayers from last year? Praying for the kids? Praying for health of babies and friends? Praying for jobs? Praying for parents? Did the Lord answer any of those prayers in a way that you wanted? Do you remember? Do you remember encouragement from Scriptures? Maybe you were down. Maybe things were not going well. Some one shared a passage that seemed to be written just for you. My it helped back them. It got you back on your feet again. It reminded you that God is merciful. It reminded you that God loves. It reminded you that God wasn’t finished with you.

We forget. We get in that boat with the twelve and we start complaining about food. We forget that the Lord is with us. We forget that the Lord will help us. If we could only remember. If those twelve disciples only remembered. Imagine the story if Peter, it would be Peter first, in a panic mode, cried out that we have nothing to eat. Imagine Andrew pulling out the one loaf. Andrew was the one who found the kid with the fish and bread. Andrew has bread. The rest say, “that’s not enough.” The boat rocks with misery and complaints. John looks to Jesus and says, “But we have Jesus.” Immediately, everyone remembers. That didn’t happen in the Gospel but it could happen to you.

Remember. Remember what you learned yesterday in worship. Remember the songs you sang in praise. Remember the prayers offered. Remember the hope. Remember the many faces that gathered to praise. Your Monday goes smoother when you put a little bit of Sunday into it. Don’t forget. Don’t toss out yesterday. Our journeys can seem a lot longer and a lot more difficult when we forget that Jesus is with us.

Simple thoughts—I hope they help you today.

Roger