Click here to read Matthew 16:5-12
Mark 16:9 “…do you not remember? …” Jesus broke 5 loaves of bread and with it fed 5000 men - the disciples collected 12 baskets full of broken pieces thereafter. Another time he broke 7 loaves of bread and with it fed 4000 men and the disciples collected 7 baskets. Logically or arithmetically speaking if 5 loaves fed 5000, 7 loaves should be enough bread for 7000 (or to feed 4000, 4 loaves should do). Similarly, if 5 loaves produced 12 extra baskets of broken bread, 7 loaves should be enough bread to gather 16.8 extra baskets. However the principles of God are different from the principles of arithmetic. So how do we understand this logic then?
Now the disciples were witnesses to both these miracles but they were really slow in picking up an important lesson Jesus wanted them to learn through this. One day when Jesus and his disciples had just crossed over to one side of the Sea of Galilee, the disciples realized that they had brought no bread with them. This story is illustrated twice in the gospels – in Matthew 16:5-12 and in Mark 8:14-21. After the disciples realized that they had not brought any bread with them, Jesus said to them “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” (Mathew 16:6). When the disciples heard this, they thought Jesus was saying this because they did not bring any bread along with them. “They said to one another, “It is because we have brought no bread.””(Matthew 16:7)
Jesus became aware of this and says to them “You of little faith, why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered? Or the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many baskets you gathered? How could you fail to perceive that I was not speaking about bread? Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!” (Matthew 16:8-11) Mark accounts it this way: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes, and fail to see? Do you have ears and fail to hear? And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” They said to him, “Twelve.” “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you collect?” And they said to him, “Seven” Then He said to them, “Do you not yet understand?” (Mark 8:17-21)
Now if we recall the two miracles, i.e. the feeding of the five thousand, and the feeding of the four thousand, there are many things that may come to one’s mind. However of all things that happened, Jesus asks them if they remember the following statistics:
| People | Loaves | Baskets |
| 5000 | 5 | 12 |
| 4000 | 7 | 7 |
Now, if I were to add one more figure under the “People” column, say 3000, will you be able to formulate a mathematical equation to come up with the right digits to fill in under “Loaves” and “Baskets”? Why was it that Jesus considered it very important that the disciples remember the number of baskets and number of loaves and the number of people? And what does any of that have to do with faith? “You of little faith…” Doesn’t that have to do with your memory? Jesus should have rebuked them saying, “You of little memory…” And what do loaves and baskets have to do with the yeast of Pharisees and Sadducees?
Let me answer those questions for you. What God can do for you and through you and in you do not depend on how much you have or how little you have. It does not depend on how big you are or how small you are. Rather, it depends on your faith in God. Jesus fed 5000 with 5 loaves, with 12 baskets remaining, to prove that God’s power does not depend on how little you have. However on another occasion, when he had to feed 4000, he used 7 loaves and had only 7 baskets remaining. He did this to prove that God’s power does not depend on how much you have. Just because they had more loaves and less people to eat it, it did not mean they could gather more baskets. What God can do for you depends on whether you give him what you have and not on the size of what you have. In both the miracles, Jesus asks them this question: What do you have? On one occasion they had 5 loaves, on another they had 7 loaves. Whatever they had, they gave it to Jesus and he worked a miracle. Are you feeling inferior because you only have 5 loaves and the people around you have 7? Give your 5 to Jesus. He fed a larger crowd with 5 than with 7. They gathered more baskets with 5 than with 7. Do you have a feeling of self-righteousness and pride because you have 7 loaves and others have 5? Do not be fooled – He fed a larger crowd with 5 and they gathered more baskets with 5.
That is why Jesus rebukes them for their little faith. When the disciples realized they had no bread, Jesus said, “Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” They thought Jesus said that because they had no bread. Jesus replies, “You of little faith…do you not remember…” In effect, Jesus was saying that His power does not depend on what you do have or what you don’t have. It depends on whether you have faith or not. The disciples then realized that he wasn’t talking about bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. What was common to both these groups of people? They believed the way to please God was to obey laws and traditions. They considered themselves higher than others because they adhered to strict laws of Judaism and to the laws of Moses. Jesus says beware… Beware of thinking believing that what God can do for you depends on your works. The power of God depends on faith and not on works. “Immeasurable power for those who believe…” (Ephesians 1:19) So how do we understand the mathematics of loaves and baskets? – By faith. Here ends today’s article.
On a separate note, I would like to leave the reader a question to ponder upon.
Paul says,
· Galatians 2:16 – “…We know that a person is justified not by the works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law.
· Romans 3:28 – “For we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law”
· Romans 5: 1 – “Therefore since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ”
· Romans 4:2,3,9b – “For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? “Abraham believed (had faith in) God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” “…Faith was reckoned to Abraham as righteousness.”
James says,
· James 2:14 - “What good is it, my brothers, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you?”
· James 2:24 – “…a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”
· James 2:26 – “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead.”
· James 2:21 – “Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the alter?”
Based on the above verses, are Paul and James teaching two contradicting versions of the gospel? Please leave your thoughts, comments and questions below.
20 comments:
Paul is talking of doing 'good' works (outward actions) to attain righteousness,like the Pharisees - offering sacrifices, praying, tithing, etc. James says that faith without action is dead. So what if Abraham believed that God could give him a son in his old age? He had to have faith that God could raise that very son up from the ashes.
When Jesus fed the 5000 with 5 loaves, it came from a small boy. The source of the 7 loaves is not mentioned in the Bible; could be from an adult. If it was from a child or a widow or a person of similar ‘weaker’ category, the Bible would have mentioned it. We could compare the faith of a child and the faith of an adult, just like Jesus compared the giving by a widow who dropped the 2 coins at the treasury with the others who had abundance. There is more sincere trust and innocence in the faith of a child. The more you are child like (not childish), the more the Lord works in and through your life; the more will be the blessings that overflow to others through you. According to Jesus, 5 from an innocent faith is greater than 7 from a ‘mature’ faith.
Hi Sujith,
Thanks for letting us in on what the Holy Spirit has revealed to you! It was refreshing to read what the Spirit of the Lord made known to you.
Looking fwd to more such articles.
Dear Sujith, Good boy , u took the time despite 'all' to keep up the Tue Blog.
I pray for you and your endeavours.
In my humble opinion, it is clear what both of them say here. I don't feel a wave of contradiction.
what Paul says is that all your pompous acts of showing righteousness is fruitless if it does not spring from faith
what James says is let your works
be fruits of your faith. Saying you have faith and sitting still bears no witness to your faith. He urges you to put your faith into acts.
What Jesus says in Matthew 25:44-46 and in John 14:23-24a shows that actions are important to him.
Most of those whom he saved or healed made an act or effort to display their faith.
How can you be different to the evil spirits that had faithfully confessed that he was the Son of God?
Actions speak louder than words??
Setting a Living example of your faith is the challenge?
P.S. the statement "can faith save you: .. did cause a stir. But I think what he meant is......." Hey mortal man can just saying I Believe save you???" If you say it from your heart let us see you put it at work ;-)
Let us not let the literature of "THE WORD" eclipse the true essence of "THE WORD"
Nice Article read this .....
http://www.kencollins.com/disc-33.htm
Hi Sujith,
I must admit, that I'm quite confused with this message now.
It make me think that we have to have both. Faith and Works ... Am I right?
--------
Your message's just getting greater and greater!!
How can you get so excellent ideas?
Cheers
Marta
Hai Sujith,,
Was really blessed by the Word. Thanks. Last week I was actually was thinking about the teachings of paul and james.
I was reading Romans 8 and few chapters in James. A life led totally by the Spirit and a life by works. I am sure that Bible will never contradict itself.
Jesus said "Each tree is recognized by its own fruit" in Luke 6:44 telling us that what we do is what we are.I personally think Christian walk is a balanced walk in faith and works motivated by faith. Salvation is of the Lord and your works will not produce it but all are not saved. You accept and respond(works) motivated by faith and the Spirit of God. I believe that it applies to all.
These 'works' are different. Bible talks about 3 kinds of 'works' in respect to our relationship with God.
i) Works of the law
ii) Works to believe
iii)Works of faith
(i) is all about yeilding to our own strength to become righteous (Gal.3). By the works of the law, no flesh will be justified.
(ii) is about embracing God's grace to become righteous (Gal.3). "This is the work that God asks that you believe in the One whom He has sent", Jesus said.
(iii) is the life lifestyle of God's righteous ones (Jam.2). This is a high way, and only righteous can walk through it.
hey bro...
am havin a request,but it has ntg to do wid tht subject of urs.i just wanted to hear different opinions bout a theme n i need clarity.wud u allow me to ask here n let people comment on it?i'd really understand if u say nahin :)
bye t
Hey Sujith,
God really spoke to me.. Thanks so much.. Looking forward to reading the next article..God Bless!!
Thank you for your deep thoughts. I believe that faith in this case simply means that the disciples should remember what Jesus had done in the past. Jesus was giving them an important warning (concerning the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herodes). But instead of paying attention to Jesus' words they were worried because they had just one loaf of bread, which obviously was too less to feed twelve very hungry disciples. Jesus rebuked them (and by the way it's the longest rebuke addressed to his disciples recorded in the New Testament) because they did not remember what Jesus had done in the past. Jesus who multiplied 5 loaves and 2 fish to feed 5,000 and at another occasion 7 loaves to feed 4,000 could have most easily fed 12 disciples with one loaf. People who have a sense for God's history and God's work in the past can rely on Him in the present. (This was the ONE lecture the Israelites had to learn in the desert and they failed!).
I once preached on this subject. If you want me to i can forward you the sermon. God bless you.
Hi Sujith,
"In effect, Jesus was saying that His power does not depend on what you do have or what you don't have. It depends on whether you have faith or not. The disciples then realized that he wasn't talking about bread, but about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. What was common to both these groups of people? They believed the way to please God was to obey laws and traditions. They considered themselves higher than others because they adhered to strict laws of Judaism and to the laws of Moses. Jesus says beware… Beware of thinking believing that what God can do for you depends on your works."
This message is perhaps the most important one ever about God that I have read(although I have known it for quite sometime now)....and perhaps the most important one that people of the world should understand. The pervalence and sustenance of organised religion, for the most part, owes to a non-understanding of this law. The surprising fact is that most scriptures do speak of this law in one form or another. Despite this the average mentality of religious people who do "things" for God or "in the name of" God remains.(not to mention killing in the name of God; but thats an extreme...we are talking of average ppl here)
Do you have any thoughts on why this is so? Even among Christians, tell me how many people actually understand this message and think about life in those terms?
Infact there is another extreme of misinterpretation that I have noticed among christians, some of them tend to delude themselves into believing that they have "accepted Christ as their saviour" and go to church every sunday and obey without question whatever the church or parents say, read the bible, pray....especially when faced with problems, and since nothing depends on their work anyway, they can go about doing whatever....littering on the streets...not caring for beggar on the road...living selfishly...squandering money... smoking...drinking...women....
(arguements against these may be there elsewhere in the bible, but then there are people like this...I've seen them)
I'm not countering what you said.....the message is absolutely 100% correct.......this is just an observation I made....
There are two things that unite people of all faith.....one: the fundamental ideas conveyed in their scriptures.....and two: the manner in which ordinary people twist their respective scriptures to suit a common (though faulty) lifestyle...this they call tolerance!! if the fundamentalists can't take it, i dont blame them....ofcourse that does'nt mean fundamentalists are correct either!! And in all this mess......the atheists are the ones I feel most sympathetic about....at least they are honest, even if ignorant!
At the other end of the spectrum, I salute those that have cleared through this mess and have understood the truth...and God...
k bros n sis...
ambiguous state of mind,cause there r many opinions bout a subject:what bout love n marry some1 who is not saved by jesus?
i asked many people n am on my way to build an opinion bout it n askin god...i'll tell u my thoughts after listenin to urs...
thx to sujith for lettin me use his blog:)
james lays emphasis on work and faith while the other lays more importance to faith alone.. here there are two different senarios that te author is speaking in. the latter speaks about faith and talks about the situations when ur works/will/wishes/desires/ambitions/determination/commitment can never lead u to to ur desired aim... its jus the will/grace of God that works out.
the former in a similar context speaks about deeds that are pleasing to God, for which jus having faith and faith alone will never work out - this is the condition when God wants to use you as an instrument to let His glory to be known to others... for which u have to work and sweat. In other words it is the will of God that happens, and in turn you are also working for your own desires. The best example that i could quote for you - is the work you are doing for Him through "Today's Article"....
@ Jose
That is an interesting point and very true as well! Abraham believed God could give him a son in his old age, but the he required a lot more faith to believe that God could raise that very son up from the ashes!
@ Papa
The more you are child-like(not childish), the more the Lord works in and through your life. May God give us this child-like faith!
@ Saju
Let us not let the literature of "THE WORD" eclipse the true essence of "THE WORD" Well said! The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
@ Saju
http://www.kencollins.com/disc-33.htm Nice article indeed. Worth a read!
@ Marta
Faith is what counts. If it is true faith, works are a natural outcome. "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will.." It says "you will." It doesn't say, "you can" or "you may" or "you should" or "you could". It says, "you will." True faith is always supported by works.
@ Jason
Yes, the Word of God is the absolute truth and it never contradicts itself. Each tree is recognized by the fruit. A tree called "faith" has to produce fruits called "works"
@ Agile
Excellent explanation. That sums up almost everything!
@ Henoch
Point well made. We often forget about the ways God has led us in the past. I didn't know that this was the longest rebuke to the disciples found in the Bible. Please do forward that sermon to me!
@ Arun
I think the key to understand this issue is to identify whether people "profess" the faith or "possess" it. If I "profess" that I'm a chimpanzee, I could try my best to walk like one, talk like one, eat like one and be like one. However hard I try, I would still fall short of the standard of a chimpanzee. On the other hand, if I "possess" the genes of a chimp, being a chimp is the easiest thing!
@ Tubi
Marrying an unbeliever is something God would advice you not to do. However, I do not believe God will force His decision on you, or any other decision for that matter.
@ Glen
Your thoughts remind me of something Oswald Chambers said: "God is the source of your will, therefore you are able to work out His will" (Taken from http://www.myutmost.org/06/0606.html)
Hii Sujith,
It was an excellent message. Thanks for it. I truly believe there are no contradictions in the bible. There is a relation between the teaching of Paul and James. Well Paul did emphasize on faith and James on Work. Well when we go through the scriptures, we see that both are important. Law is defined in the dictionary as “A rule of conduct or procedure established by custom, agreement, or authority. “ Now the bible has plenty of rules and regulations. The 10 commandments and many of Jesus teachings talk of what we should do and what not to do. Why did God have to give us such laws. The answer to that is in Romans 3: 20 “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. So Law is a standard God has put for us to follow. We need to compare our life with the laws (standards) set by the Lord. And when we don’t match them, we need to look into our life and be conscious of our sin. The bible says that if we follow all the laws and still break one, it is as good as breaking everything. So for sure we have all broken at least one of the laws in 10 commandments. One of the commandments is “ do not commit adultery” . Then Jesus came on the way and said “ even if you look at a girl lustfully you have committed adultery”. Jesus narrowed it down even more which makes it even more difficult for us people living in a time when sex and everything related to it is in the air. So we are all sinners if we have broken at least one of them. The bible says that the wages of sin is death. And for all sinners, the end is the lake of fire. So that means we all deserve lake of fire. Now the beauty as we all know is, Jesus died for us and when we realize our sins and give it to HIM, we are cleansed by HIS blood.
So from this it is clear that we need laws (works) to make ourselves conscious of our sin. But then Paul says in Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Why did he mean by that? Jesus in this incident was taking of the yeast of Pharisees and Sadducees. Why was that? One of the problems and weaknesses of man is when he thinks that he has followed every law, pride and a feeling of over confidence arises. He thinks he is better than the others. That is the danger of law. For example let us consider that one guy tithes regularly. There could be a time when he starts to compare himself with the other guy who has never tithed. Now he will try to rate his life with the life of others and probably conclude that he is better and more righteous in the sight of the Lord. That is the danger of Law. That is why Jesus highlighted the Pharisees and Sadducees in particular because they were in the similar situation.
So law is defiantly required to be followed, but our life should not dwell on it. When we have not accepted the Lord into our life, we are like “OUT –LAW”. We cannot admit our sins because we don’t recognize them. But when we are in the Lord, that is when we start to be conscious of our sin. So it is like being called“ IN –LAW”. But as matured Christians, God wants us to move to the next stage which is “ FAITH”. Romans 5:21-22 says “But now righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”
So I believe there are no contradictions in the bible. Both work and faith are required and should go hand in hand. But we need to move from the “IN –LAW” stage to the “FAITH” stage.
@ Jerri
Thank you for those thoughts. I think it throws a lot of clarity to the purpose of the law. The law indeed was meant to make us aware of our sin and it is that awareness that leads us into repentance. Yes, often pride does creep into us, when we strike comparisons with people that do not adhere to the law as much as we do.
Hi Sujith!
It does not have contradiction in these words! It has a danger in analyzing biblicos versicles separately and not in its original context.
In the texts of Galatas and Romanos Paul it says on the workmanships of the law and not of the favour. Demaneira none we are justified by the workmanships of the law.
James says á respect of the workmanship by means of the confidence in Jesus.Abraão offered its confident Isaque son in God. We saw that the faith in Christ generates an attitude and not inertia.
When we have a genuine faith, this in takes them to act, to obey, in santificarmos them. We obey because we trust, in we santificamos them because we believe that God is saint! e is the favour, the favor not deserved of God who in justifies them that in he gives to access to the Saint Dos Santos to them!
Let us have faith in Christ in such way that, let us not obtain to be motionless, but yes to take its love through our speech, of our movements… does not have limit so that the love of God is shared!
Truily the plans of God are greaters that ours, we do not obtain to see in its totality but we believe that God makes infinitamnte more!
(Romans 7:4) “Wherefore, my brethren, ye also ploughs become dead you the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married you another, even you him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit God grease”
This is our God! An attitude god!
Sujith
God bless you!
it is a privilege for me, to be able to share with you how much God is good and wonderful!
How God fulls its heart to each day with words that proceed directly from Its heart!
abraços.
Aline
@ Aline
Yes, I thank God for allowing you to share His word! Thank you for the explanation. You are right!
Hi Sujith,
Thinking of what is happening in my life at the moment and thinking of what is going to happen...only day before yesterday, I got worried. I asked God, "God, don't you think the responsibilities you want to give me are a bit big for me? I am not sure if I will be able to do them. It's too much work Lord."
Today morning I am reading your blog:The Mathematics of Loaves and Baskets...and I read this here.
What God can do for you and through you and in you do not depend on how much you have or how little you have. It does not depend on how big you are or how small you are. Rather, it depends on your faith in God.
Hmmmm I think God has replied me...
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