During His ministry, Jesus performed more than 40 miracles, including healing the sick, changing the natural elements of nature and even raising people from the dead. A miracle is considered an event that occurs outside the bounds of natural law. Each month we will take a closer look at one of His miracles to understand the depth of His love for us. Understanding the miracles of Jesus can change your life, and it all begins with believing through faith.
In Matthew 4:12-16, we learn of a miracle Jesus performed on behalf of a Roman soldier, also known as a centurion. This was very unusual because, during this time, Jewish leaders were usually not fond of Roman soldiers.
Aside from the resurrection, the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels is the story about Jesus feeding more than 5,000 people. That day, a large crowd had gathered to hear the teaching of Jesus, and as the evening was approaching, the disciples suggested that Jesus end for the night. People needed to travel back to their villages to eat and feed their family.
Jesus thought that feeding the crowd was a better idea and sent the disciples to find food. As usual, the disciples felt overwhelmed by the task of feeding such a large, hungry crowd.
They certainly doubted Jesus’ instructions. When they returned to Jesus a short time later, they reported the only food available was from a young boy who had five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus took the bread and fish and asked God’s blessing on the food. Breaking the loaves into pieces, He kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples to disperse to the hungry crowd. Not only did everyone eat abundantly, but the disciples picked up 12 baskets of leftover bread and fish. Every single person was fed from five loaves of bread and two fish.
This miracle provides so many lessons for Christians. First, God was demonstrating that He can exceed our expectations and sufficiently provide for our needs. This miracle is a reminder that nothing we face here on earth is too big for God.
Also, notice how Jesus chose to use the food from the young boy to feed 5,000 people. The boy willingly shared the little food he had. This demonstrates that our possessions and abilities are never too small to serve God. No matter what we face, we serve a big God. We must trust that God will provide for our needs.
