The Chosen's filming of the 5,000 prompted me, as I'm sure it has for many others, to go back and re-read this amazing miracle in the bible.
The thing I had forgotten is what happened before the feeding of the 5,000 and even afterward. Herod's wife, Herodias, was angry when John the Baptist said it was unlawful to marry her. Therefore, she had her husband arrest and imprison John the Baptist.
However, that wasn’t enough for her. The birthday dance Herod's daughter performed for him delighted him so much that he vowed to give her anything she requested. That's when Herodias saw the opportunity to kill John the Baptist. At Herodias' prompting, her daughter requested John the Baptist's head. To avoid appearing like a man who couldn't keep his word, he gave her whatever she asked for.
After Jesus learned of what had happened, he took a small boat to a remote area so he could be alone, but when the crowd heard where he was headed, they followed. He felt such compassion for them that he healed their sick. After a while, the disciples urged Jesus to send the people home so that they could eat, but he insisted they feed them. They informed him that they only had 5 loaves and 2 fish. So, Jesus took them and blessed them. Following this, the disciples distributed the food to everyone until all of them had enough to eat and even had 12 full baskets of food leftover.
After sending the people home and sending the disciples to the other side of the lake, Jesus went up to the mountain to pray. During this time, the disciples were experiencing a storm in their boat, and Jesus appeared to them walking on the water. They were so terrified when they saw him that Peter told Jesus to call him out on the water if it was him. Jesus answered. When Peter steps out of the boat and sees what is happening all around him, he grows afraid and begins to sink. He is then brought back into the boat by Jesus, and the storm ceases.
When Jesus learned that John the Baptist had been beheaded, he was distraught. Because of the crowd that followed him, he didn't even get a chance to be alone and grieve. In fact, he ministered to them and healed their sick even before the miracle of feeding the 5,000.
Rather than grieving over his loss, Jesus put the people before himself. Even when the disciples encouraged him to send the people away because it was late in the day, he still told them to feed the people, performing yet another miracle with 5 loaves and 2 fishes, showing that even in sorrows, God can use people to help others.
When we are heartbroken and afflicted with trials, we may think that God cannot use us at this time, but it is in that pain that God gives us compassion for others. As a matter of fact, when we do, he uses that to minister to us.
Being assured that while going through a fire, you are never alone, and knowing that God will use us to help others greatly in the midst of that pain because he gives us compassion and mercy for others that we did not have before.
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