3rd Sunday of Abib – Feeding the Multitude

"And the
apostles, when they were returned, told Him all that they had done. And
He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place." (Luke 9:10).

The service has its numerous blessings in the life of the Apostles. In it, there is the power
of the word and its authority. Within it, they were assured of Satan’s
weakness and the chattering of his imperial power. Through it, they
lived a life of surrender, relying on the arms of the Lord, without
moneybag or knapsack. Also, they felt the precious value of the soul
and its salvation… In general the blessings of the service are more
than words in the Apostles’ lives. After the Apostles returned to the
Lord from their service trip, they needed to be in seclusion with the
Lord. And our blessed Jesus knows their needs, so He went into
seclusion with them. During their seclusion with the Lord, they
informed Him with all their deeds. The seclusion session with Jesus,
after the service, meant the following:

1- To
be filled with the power and to renew the first flame, with which he
who serves, has partially lost, after he has been occupied by being in
the middle of the crowd.

2- To
correct the mistakes that were encountered during the service. This
might be due to the human weakness, and less experience with
confronting the enemy.

"And the apostles, when they were returned, told Him all that they had done. And He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place." (Luke 9:10)

My Lord Jesus keep me in the inheritance of Your saints and your pure
Apostles. Make me enjoy Your company and the unity with You. Allow me
to return to You after I complete Your assignment. I will inform You
with all my deeds. My Lord Jesus, everyday You send me saying, "Son, go work to day in my vineyard." (Matt.
21:28). Your continuous appointments to Your disciples doesn’t end. It
is at the same level with the Father setting forth His Son Jesus
Christ, "As My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you." (John
20:21). Therefore, my Lord I am sent by You to every place You send me…
To any place and to any soul. I am Your repetitive message for all the
people. I am Your aroma for everyone.

They told Him everything they had done

My Lord Jesus give me this blessing to sit at Your feet, at the end of every day to inform You about everything I have done.

I will give an account of my daily responsibility. I will present to
you the failures before the successes, my sins, my difficulties and my
weaknesses as well as my fall… For numerously I sinned, even during
service. Lord I confess to You from all my heart. I apologize for
everything I have done unconsciously and my carelessly.

Lord, I thank You for Your gracefulness and blessing for me, as the
disciples did… I will tell You about Your strong hand, which was with
me all day. Your power, the sight which defeats Satan, and spoils all
his tricks. It extinguished all his evil arrows from Your children and
me.

As a whole, I will place before me all my daily duties, and will inform
You with everything I did. I will rejoice and I confess at Your hands
everything. I apologize for all my falls and weakness. O Lord,
seclusion with You at the end of everyday, and the end of every service, is my true rest, for You said, "Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matt. 11:28).

"And He took them, and went aside privately into a desert place." (Luke 9:10).

There alone, away from the people, You give me a secret from Your love.
There alone, You give me Your wisdom, You guide and teach me… O my soul
the Lord Jesus is calling you along with the disciples saying, ‘Come to
a private desert place’. Now let go of everything and say, "The king has brought me into His chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in Him."
(Song 1:4). There must be seclusion for those who are called
Christians… The seclusion for the beginners is repentance, for the
servants it is renewal of power and for those who are pious, it is the
fullness of blessing.

My Lord Jesus, You have trained Your servants, through all ages, in the
school of seclusion. Moses stayed forty days in the wilderness… Elias
spent most of his life in seclusion with You… Paul the Apostle stayed
three years in the wildernessEven You our Lord for our salvation, You
have numerously spent forty days alone in the wilderness. Numerously
You spent all night alone in prayer… And here, You are taking Your
disciples aside privately into a desert place. Therefore, seclusion is
quite different, even from the spiritual work and the church’s service.
For if it is required for Your holy saints, then how about me, who is
poor and lost in this world.

"And
the people, when they knew it, followed Him, and He received them, and
spoke to them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of
healing." (Luke 9:11). P Jesus’ blessing is numerous and generous. His curing divine offer never ends. The blessing
awaits our needs and our acceptance feeling… For Jesus doesn’t fill the
full and doesn’t enrich the rich… His riches are for the poor and his
cures are for those in need to be cured. Let us reveal our needs for
everyday, when we receive a blessing and direct assistance.

"The day began to wear away." (Luke 9:12)

The miracle, for the Lord Jesus, has its special time and arrangement.
It might be at the last hours. The disciples have already depleted
their patience, and they reached the limits of their wait… The mid
night or the dawn might come by… This time the Lord works when the
human wishes, the human power, the human wealth or the bodily health
subside… When the materialistic day subsides, then the Lord opens His
hands and fills all the souls from His wealth. His disciples approached
Him saying, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the
towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals, for we are
here in a desert place." (Luke 9:12). But He told them, "You give them to eat." (Luke 9:13).

Previously the Lord sent the disciples to find out the needs of the souls, to share their worship and to lift their faith and the life with God… Here, the time has come for the disciples to stand before the hungry multitude… The Lord Jesus wanted to lift the disciples to be at the miracle’s level… He wished that the disciples would have worked in faith, and filled the multitude. But the disciples revealed their weakness and incapability. They were not yet at the work and miracle level. They were not yet full of the Compassionate Spirit, about which the Lord said, "The works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do." (John 14:12).

But now, when they introduced to Him, a simple offering "No more but five loaves and two fishes." (Luke 9:13), an offering submitted by a small child. He blessed, broke and with it filled the hungry multitude.