Leftovers

2 Kings 4:43
But his servant said, “What? Shall I set this before one hundred men?”
He said again, “Give it to the people, that they may eat; for thus says the LORD: ‘They shall eat and have some left over.’”

Could you feed one hundred men with 20 loaves of bread? My guess is yes. On average there are about 18 slices of bread in a loaf. I like numbers with zeros in them, so let’s call it 20. Twenty slices of bread times twenty loaves of bread equals 400 slices of bread. (Its simple math, 20 X 20 = 400.) That’s 400 slices of bread. That’s a lot, right? Well, maybe, but maybe not.

I’m basing my calculations on 100 men and 20 loaves of Wonder Bread. The fact is these 20 loaves of bread were probably not that big, and there were probably women and children present too. Elisha says “feed the people” but his servant refers only to the men. I’m not sure how many people were there, but I’m pretty sure that they physically didn’t have enough bread to feed everyone.

When I read this story, I thought about another time in the Bible where some bread (and fish) were used to feed a whole lot of people. One time Jesus used seven loaves and some fish to feed about 4000 people (Mark 8, Matthew 15), not including women and children. On another occasion He fed 5000 people (Matthew 14, Mark 6, Luke 9, John 6) with five loaves and two fish. In both of these accounts there were hungry people and Jesus told His disciples to feed them, and in both of these accounts there were leftovers.

There seems to be a recurring theme in the Bible that has to do with bread, feeding, and leftovers. This bread is a physical representation of Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life. In all of the stories it is the disciples who are told to feed the people. In all of the stories the people are fully satisfied and there are leftovers at the end.

My friends, we are disciples called to feed the people. We haven’t been called to teach people how to live a good life, be a better person, or follow a bunch of rules. We don’t need a degree in theology, a doctorate in Calvinism, or a diploma in Biblical interpretation; we simply need Jesus, the Bread, and some hungry people. The more we share Jesus Christ, His grace, salvation, restoration, and blessings with the hungry, lonely, and hurting, the more Jesus Christ will abound. There will be satisfaction in the spiritual stomachs of all who eat, and there will be more Jesus left over at the end.