Article of Faith: The good shepherd (2), By Femi Aribisala

The boy had five loaves and two fish.

Five plus two equals seven.

Seven is the number of perfection.

In God’s hand, small becomes big.

God promises that:

“A little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time.”

Hannah says:

“Talk no more so very proudly; let no arrogance come from your mouth, for the Lord is the God of knowledge; and by Him actions are weighed.” The bows of the mighty men are broken, and those who stumbled are girded with strength. Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, and the hungry have ceased to hunger. Even the barren has borne seven, and she who has many children has become feeble. “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and brings up. The Lord makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the beggar from the ash heap, to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory.”

“Everybody is getting married, what about me?”

“Everybody has a car, what about me?”

“Everybody is travelling abroad, what about me?

Avoid “comparisonitis.”

It is a terrible disease.

“In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Therefore, our Good Shepherd lifted the five loaves and two fish before the Lord.

He did not complain, as we often do, that it was insufficient to meet the requirement.

Instead, He thanked God for what was inadequate.

He thanked God for what was not enough.

He then first fulfilled David’s scripture about the Good Shepherd.

“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures.”

So, Jesus, the Good Shepherd, made the people sit down in green pastures.

“Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them.”

Then, He gave a rehearsal of the Last Supper and of His great sacrifice of Himself at Calvary.

He blessed the bread, broke it, and gave it to his disciples.

Similarly, at the Last Supper:

(He) took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said,  “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”

And, miracle of miracles, the inadequate bread and fish kept multiplying until all the multitude were fed.

Hallelujah!

The Good Shepherd fed His flock.

Note that they all sat in an orderly fashion.

There was no chaos.

There was no strife.

There was no record of people hiding bread and fish in the grass.

There was no fight over the leftovers.

Nobody was overlooked.

Everyone ate to their satisfaction.

When the Good Shepherd took us for lunch at Continental Hotel, some of us became covetous.

Some were hiding food in their bags and Ghana-must-go.

This kerfuffle also happens during our Feast of Tabernacles.

This kind of nonsense should no longer be known among us in Healing Wings.

Not only was there enough food for everybody, but there were leftovers.

Jesus said:

“Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.”  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

12 baskets of leftovers after feeding over 5,000 men, not counting women and children.

From inadequate to more than enough.

12 baskets, one for each disciple to carry.

They had wondered how the crowd could be fed.

But now they were not only fed, but they had leftovers.

12 is the number of God’s people.

Jesus is the bread that will feed all God’s people.

He said:

“Gather up the fragments so that nothing is lost.”

“This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Gather up the fragments of your life.

Don’t allow anything to be lost.

Everything that has happened to you is for a reason.

The good, the bad, and the ugly are all towards the purpose that God has purposed for you.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Nothing about your life is a waste.

God even redeems time.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd who leaves 99 sheep in search of one lost sheep.

He is the Good Shepherd who gives His life for the sheep.

With this miracle, the people decided en masse to resign from their churches.

What is the point of staying in your church when we have found a pastor who multiplies bread and fish?

“Clarus, we have found the Good Pastor.”

“Leave that church, leave that church, we are going to the church of Jesus.”

“In fact, we don’t just want Him to be our pastor; we want Him to be our King.”

Jesus had to make a quick escape:

“When Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

But these people were determined.

They started looking for Him.

Where can He be?

He cannot be on the other side of the sea because He did not get into the boat with His disciples,

They did not know that He joined His disciples by walking on the sea.”

“When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”

They completely missed the message.

They found Him and asked for more bread and fish.

You and I must not miss it.

Jesus is not a multiplier of bread and fish.

The miracle He did was a sign.

We must not miss the sign.

Jesus was pointing to a different kind of bread.

But these fellows were only interested in wonder loaves.

Jesus said to them:

“Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”

But it is the loaves of bread that these people want.

“Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.””

“I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” The Jews therefore quarrelled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?” Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven — not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

“Clarus, I think we made a mistake.”

“This man is preaching cannibalism.”

“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

“It is not as if we understand what you are saying.”

“But if we had a place to go, we would go.”

“But we believe that only You have the words of eternal life.”

It is not as if we understand what you are saying.

But if we had a place to go, we would go.

But we believe that only You have the words of eternal life.

Let us summarise the spiritual message here.

Bring to Jesus your meagre five loaves and two fishes.

Bring to Him your inadequacy.

Bring to Him what is not enough.

Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly.

You are not a leftover.

If you feel overlooked, broken, and dejected, come to Jesus.

He is our Good Shepherd.

He says:

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

At Calvary, Jesus’ body became the food that God used to nourish and feed a broken world.

This fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

“Behold, the Lord God shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young.”

“He shall stand and feed His flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord His God.”

Jesus is the true manna.

His body is the bread of life.

His body is what God has prepared to feed the entire world.

The more the physical bread was broken in the miracle He performed, the more the bread multiplied.

In the same way, His body was broken on the cross to feed the world.

Feed on His body continually.

Stop labouring for what will not satisfy.

Stop labouring for the temporal food that perishes.

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.

Eat the word of God.

It is our staple diet.

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'”

The Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.