Luke 9:1-17
The Lord sends out His apostles. The power and authority He gives them are all they need for their journey (v. 3). When they returned, the twelve are eager to tell what they had done (v. 10; cf. Acts 14:27 where Paul and Barnabas tell of "all that God had done with them"; see also Acts 21:19; 1 Corinthians 15:10). Then the Lord Jesus takes them aside to be with Him; but the crowds are not slow to find Him and without the slightest hint of impatience, He continues His ministry. He receives them, speaks to them and heals them. But the disciples wanted to send the crowds away, less concerned perhaps about the crowds than they state (v. 12), and rather more concerned about getting some rest themselves. But their Master as well as looking after the crowds, has a lesson to teach His own. The Lord Jesus shows the insufficiency of their resources to feed this multitude and then provides for them by His own power. He could have done this without the five loaves and two fishes. But in His grace, He takes the little that we put at His disposal and knows how to make it great. His power is always made perfect in the weakness of His servants (2 Corinthians 12:9).