Giving more than we possess seems impossible. But Jesus will make it a reality. 

J.R. Hudberg 

What do we do when Jesus asks us for something beyond our resources? How do we respond?  

He made this kind of request of His first followers—“You give them something to eat.” The biblical story of the feeding of the five thousand is familiar (Matthew 14; Mark 6; Luke 9; John 6), but it’s not just a story about Jesus’ miracles; it’s also a story of the disciples’ faith (see the way John tells the story in chapter 6). 

Despite attempting to be alone with His disciples, a large crowd of people surrounded Jesus. In compassion, He healed them and taught them (Luke 9:11), working into the late hours of the day. Concerned for the people, the disciples asked Jesus to send the crowd away so that they could find something to eat. 

“You give them something to eat,” was Jesus’ simple reply. Generosity that beggared not just imagination, but plausibility. 

That’s just like Jesus; He asks us to accomplish something for which we don’t have the provisions. Not metaphorically or spiritually, but literally. 

Of course, the story’s ending is well-known and nearly predictable. In an act of obedient faith, with perhaps a bit of sheepishness and a downcast eye, the disciples offered Him their meagre provisions. Jesus took what they had and did something amazing with it, creating an abundance of leftovers. It’s a beautiful story of Jesus’ power and compassion for needy, weary people. 

“When Jesus saw the crowds, He had compassion on them.” This is Jesus in His essence—self-giving. He wanted to be alone with His disciples, to mourn the death of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:12–13), but Jesus set His own desires and agenda aside to meet the needs of those who came to Him. 

How to Cultivate Compassion

Jesus’ compassion seems to have been contagious; behaviour modelled is behaviour emulated. To cultivate compassion, the disciples simply needed to watch their master. 

The disciples saw the crowd, anticipated their needs (and possibly their own rumbling stomachs), and decided to do what they could—ask Jesus to intervene and send them away. This is a surprisingly sensible, and not inappropriate, course of action. 

Sensitivity to those around us and desiring to meet their needs is a great gift of God, and one that we need to cultivate. We need to ask the Lord to help us see well and clearly. We, like the disciples, can rightly ask Jesus to do something.  

Knowing that He is the lord of miracles, and that He can do something about the situation we’ve seen, we can ask Him to do what makes the most sense: “Lord, meet their need.” 

When we do this, we not only exercise compassion on those around us, but we are also following Jesus’ own instructions: Jesus himself tells the disciples to ask the Lord to provide (see Matthew 9:35–38).  

Often, however, being able to see a need only leads halfway to a solution. 

Feeling compassion for the people, Jesus replied: “You give them something to eat.” This was not the first, nor would it be the last time that Jesus said or did something that left His disciples confused. 

It’s not as though Jesus was unaware of their food situation; He didn’t need to be omniscient to know that was an impossible request. Neither was He being metaphorical or spiritualising here, as He was in John 4 speaking of food and water in spiritual terms; He meant: “Give them something with calories to satisfy the gnawing stomachs.” 

Travelling with few provisions seems to have been pretty common for this group (see John 4:8). Even if they did carry food with them, provisions for this crowd would have been a ludicrous sight—thirteen people (assuming this was only Jesus and the twelve disciples) carrying enough food to feed what has been estimated to be a crowd of around 15,000.  

But Jesus asks them to provide the evening’s repast for the multitude, a feat both physically and financially beyond the disciples’ means. 

The disciples’ response did more than highlight their lack of food or funds. When they remind Jesus of their meagre resources, the famous five loaves and two small fishes, they are being honest about what they have. “Jesus, how do you expect us to do that? We barely have enough for ourselves and you ask us to give them some?”  

But, when Jesus asks for it, they bring it to Him. 

That’s deep faith, giving everything you can to the task you are assigned—even though it is painfully, even laughably, short of what is being asked, let alone what is required to accomplish the mission. 

A Test of Faith

When Jesus asks us to do something for which we don’t have the resources, it’s okay to tell Him that we don’t have enough. It’s okay to look at our calendar, our bank account, or our skills and say: “Jesus, this is all I have, and it’s obviously not enough.”  

But when we say that, we, like the disciples, need to offer it to Him, as little as it may be. We can say, “Here, Jesus, take what I have.” 

Jesus took the little that was offered and made it possible for the disciples to do exactly what He was asking. He blessed the bread and fish and gave it back to the disciples, and in the end, they did indeed manage to give the crowd something to eat, enough to have leftovers. They gave to Him, and He gave it back, enough to accomplish the task and more. 

Jesus used what the disciples gave Him. He could have created bread out of the rocks, or made manna fall from heaven, but He used what was given to the task. Something small and not enough was given, and Jesus did the unbelievable. 

We should pray for the needs of the world, and we should ask Jesus to provide for those in need. But our empathy and compassion should not be exhausted by our prayers. When God asks us to give the crowds something to eat, our faith prompts us to offer what we have; our limited resources are not a reason for us to decline. 

Jesus knows what we have; He knows what it will take to accomplish what He is asking, and He knows that those two quantities are not always the same. But we give it to Jesus anyway, and He uses what we give in ways that only He can. 

J.R. Hudberg is the Senior Director of Bible Engagement at Our Daily Bread Ministries Grand Rapids and is a regular contributor to the Insights for Our Daily Bread.

This article was first published in Discovery Series © Our Daily Bread Ministries. Adapted with permission.