Something from nothing, or a lot from a little?

 "And Jesus answered and said unto them, 'you give them something to eat'." Mk 6:37

They were worn out. Hungry. Ready for a little R and R. Jesus has invited His disciples to an out of the way place. Just them. But when they get there, the crowd has followed. So much for the promised break in the action. Jesus has compassion on the crowd, though He, too, must have been exhausted. They were like sheep without a shepherd, hungry and lost. 

Andrew, perhaps in charge of logistics, has obtained a lunch of five loaves and 2 fish, which hardly seems enough even for Jesus' small crew of disciples. Jesus asks him for an inventory of what they had in stock. Well . . . this kid here has offered us his dinner, but it would hardly fill our own bellies, let alone 5000 hungry men. What are we to do? Go buy happy meals for everyone? NO. You give them something to eat! Really, Jesus? So Jesus blesses the food, has them sit in groups of 50, and bids His disciples to distribute to the people. Not only is there enough, 12 basketfuls of leftovers are available for the next road trip! (Or in the case of the disciples, a "row" trip!). 

I suppose we all learned this lesson in Sunday school. But what is Jesus teaching His disciples, and us, in this story? Was it really about satisfied stomachs? As Satan himself knew, Jesus could simply have taken the rocks and made bread for that multitude. Being God, he had the power to create "Ex Nihilo", something from nothing. But His objective here was not so much feeding that crowd as it was teaching the disciples that what little they had is more than enough when offered in faith. A lot from a little is better than something from nothing.