How the Lord Did Multiply!

 N.T. #716 "How the Lord Did Multiply"

Jan. 19, 2026 

John 6-Part 2 

LET IT GLOW

Philip's faith was so little, but so were the 2 small fish and 5 pancakes of barley. Jesus wanted to fee the crowd there with them, so He asked Philip where they could buy bread so they could eat. (verse 5) It was a test for Philip's faith. Jesus knew what He was about to do. Did Philip respond to the Lord making it happen? No. The amount in their treasury was not sufficient to give each person just a little food. That was Philip's response to Jesus. 

What about the lad who had only 5 pancakes and 2 fish for his lunch? Would that be enough to go around? Nope. That would not have even filled up the disciples, much less 15,000-20,000 folks. Andrew offered the little bit of food, which the boy was willing to share.

With Jesus, anything is sufficient to multiply and meet needs. Jesus had the 5,000 men sit down on the grass. Perhaps their families were with the men. Jesus gave thanks for the dab of food and gave to the disciples to distribute. Those people got as much fish as they wanted. (Not a scrawny sardine.) 

LET IT GROW 

Afterwards, Jesus had the disciples gather up the fragments left over-12 baskets full. The people saw a miracle/sign Jesus performed. What did they call Jesus? A Prophet who is come into the world. Jesus perceived that they intended on making Him king by force. So He slipped away to the mountain by Himself. It wasn't time for that.

What can we learn from this event? 

Never gauge the size of a challenge in terms of our capability. What we have to offer is never enough. God never calls us to provide; that's His responsibility. Instead, He calls us to commit whatever we have-even if it's no more than a sack lunch. His call comes with a promise: You take care of the addition, I'll be in charge of the multiplication, and the mission I've invited you to join will be accomplished.  (Swindoll's Insights on John)

Jesus knew His path was to be one of suffering, not kingship as of yet. It wasn't His time for that.

Faithful obedience:

1. Acknowledge your own inadequacy and the Lord's omnipotence. Nothing is too difficult for You.
2. Be certain the challenge before you glorifies the Lord, obeys one of His commands in Scripture, or helps to fulfill a scriptural mandate. He can do supernatural things!
3. Give the challenge back to the Lord as an opportunity for Him to accomplish it on your behalf and to receive glory for the victory.
4. Do what you can, supply what you have, put forward your effort, then allow the Lord to multiply it (or not) at His discretion. (Swindoll)

Is God asking you to become a part of His plan as a means of grace, so when victory comes we can say together, "We triumphed!"

LET IT GO

Lord, we surrender our money, our time, and our abilities to You for kingdom work.