08 How Many Loaves Do You Have? (Mark 6:30-46)

SPEAKER_01: We are in Mark versus 30 to 46. And we are going through the Gospel of Mark, stopping at the places where Jesus asks a question. And today we're going to look at the feeding of the 5,000. And this is another one of my favorites because it's one of these stories that you think you know everything there is to know until you study it. It's the only story outside of the last week of Jesus' life that is in all four Gospels. So the his visit to Jerusalem, his death, and resurrection are in all four Gospels. Other than that, this story is the only one in all four. And other passages of the Bible mention it. So we're going to concentrate on Mark's story, which is in chapter six, but I'm going to bring in some of the details from the other gospels. So you remember last week we ended up in chapter 5 at Darius' house, and Jesus had raised his daughter from the dead. And that was then we have verses 1 through 29 of chapter 6, which we're skipping. So we ended up in chapter 5 in Darius's house, and then sections 1 through 29, or verses 1 through 29, intervene, and they talk about the growing opposition that Jesus is starting to encounter to his message. And it's coming both from his hometown and the Roman rulers. And then look at 6.7, because that's going to set the stage for where our passage starts. He sends out the twelve. So in 6 7, calling the twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits. These were his instructions. Take nothing for the journey except a staff, no bread, no bag, no money in your belt. Wear sandals, but not an extra tunic. Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town, and if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave as a testimony against them. They went out and preached that the people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. So he's sending them out to preach the gospel, to cast out demons. And then when our passage starts in 6 30, it says the apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught, so they've come back. So that's the um the section we're looking at. In between that time we get the tragic death of John the Baptist, and then now they have returned. Okay, so let's read uh Mark 6, verse 30. That's where I'm going to start. The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran out on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. This is a remote place, they said, and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered, You give them something to eat. They said to him, That would take eight months of wages, eight months of a man's wages. Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat? How many loaves do you have? he asked. Go and see. When they found out, they said, Five and two fish. Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of men who had eaten was five thousand. Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to Beseda, while he dismissed the crowd, and after leaving them he went up on a mountainside to pray. Okay, this is one of the more obscure questions that we've looked at. And the question is, you know, basically how many loaves or and but there are a number of clues in the text as to what's going on, and then we're gonna look at what the other gospels bring in. So, because that's where it really gets interesting. Notice that Mark follows this passage immediately with Jesus walking on the water, and note verse 52. I'm gonna keep reading from 647. When evening came, the boat was in the middle of the lake, and he was alone on the land, and he saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. Now, I just something about that just amuses me. Here they are in the middle of the lake rowing against the wind because they've left Jesus on the shore, you know. I thought, isn't that a picture of my life? I'm going, Lord, watch me, here I go. I'm still in the middle of the lake, rowing against the wind, and he's standing on the store going, I wonder if they're gonna get it, you know. Anyway, I just love that picture. It was just anyway, about the fourth watch of the night he went out to them walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, Take courage, it is I, don't be afraid. Then he climbed into the boat with them and the wind died down. And then listen to this interesting comment. They were completely amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves, and their hearts were hardened. Okay, that helps, right? Something about the lesson of the loaves should have prepared them for Jesus walking on the water. So, okay, got it, right? I hadn't when I first I thought, okay, if I'd been the disciples, I would have said, I don't get it. Mark's gonna bring this story up again in chapter 8. Um, and so we're gonna look at it this next section, he mentions again, but we're gonna look at Mark 8 later, so I'm not gonna go into too much detail, but flip over to Mark 8, 14. Um, then the disciples had forgotten to bring bread except for one loaf they had with them on the boat. Be careful, Jesus warned them. Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod. They discussed this with one another and said, It is because we have no bread. Aware of their discussion, Jesus said, Why are you talking about having having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes that fail to see and ears that fail to hear? And don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up? Twelve, they replied. And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls did I pick up? Seven. And he said to them, Do you still not understand? And I would have said, No, I don't. But he clearly expected them to learn something. There was something significant about the basketfuls of bread and the pieces, and he expected them to learn something spiritual. So they're talking about physical bread and not having enough to eat, and Jesus saying, Don't you get it? Didn't you understand those miracles of the feeding? It's not just about your in your hungry stomachs. So that's another piece of the puzzle we have to make sense of. Okay, keep your finger in mark. Turn to Luke chapter 9. Because Luke tells the story of the feeding of the 5,000, and he immediately follows it with this account. Luke 9, 17. And they all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. Once when Jesus was praying in private, and his disciples were with him, he asked them, Who do the crowds say that I am? They replied, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life. But what about you? He asked, Who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, The Christ of God. Okay, now that's an interesting juxtaposition juxtaposition. Why would he follow the feeding of the five thousand with Peter's confession that Jesus is the Messiah? It may be random, but given how he's he's pointed out this is not necessarily chronological, and he has chosen to put it there, I think that's more than a coincidence. So there's another piece of the puzzle. Okay? You can drop Luke, keep your finger marked, turn to John. John chapter six. Because John gives another little bit of interesting detail about this. This is in John 6, 5. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? And then he says, He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Okay, so this is a test. Philip answered him, eight months' wages would not be enough bread for each one to have a bite. Another of the disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up. Here's a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? And Jesus said, Have the people sit down. So then he tells the story, um, and the crowds come looking for him. Skip down to verse 24. Six, uh we're still in John 6.24. Because there's another interesting reference that he puts right after this. Once when the crowds realized that neither Jesus nor the disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here? Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, you were looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and have your fill. Do not work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. Then they asked him, What must we do to do the work God requires? Jesus answered, The work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent. So they asked him, What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see and believe? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world to the world. Sir, they said, From now on, give us this bread. Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still do not believe. So Jesus expects the crowd to have learned something, something eternal from the feeding of the five thousand. They come looking for physical bread and more miracles, and he says, Wait, you missed the point. I have something better to offer you. I have the bread of eternal life. So all those pieces should help us, or hopefully will help us try to put all this together. Um, and I think they all point to the same thing: that the feeding of the 5,000 was not just a simple miracle of multiplying bread and fish. Like most miracles, he was making a larger spiritual point. So um, and think about what we've seen so far. With the paralytic, he was proving he had the authority to forgive sins. With the man with the withered hand, he was talking about how it was more important to obey God than religious rituals. In calming the storm, he was proving he was Lord of creation and healing the demoniac, he was proving he had dominion over evil. With the woman who was bleeding, he was offering more than physical healing, he was showing, look, I have something better to give you, uh salvation. And then last week, raising the little girl, he has victory over death itself. And after all of those miracles, now he does this feeding of the 5,000. And when the story comes up again, it comes up in the context of didn't you learn anything? Didn't you see what was really happening? So that's what we're going to try to figure out. What is really happening? So let's go back to Mark 6 and we'll start looking at the story itself. Um back to Mark 6.30. The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going, they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest. So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. So the disciples have the twelve have just returned from their trips, and um, he's aware that they are worn out and they need a break, so he says, Let's go to this quiet place where we can escape all the crowds, and they get off, get in their boat and head to it. But their plans are cut short. So verse 33, but many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them, so that when Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he began teaching them many things. So at this point, it's hard for him to go anywhere unnoticed. And the crowds recognize that, oh, that's Jesus and his disciples. They figure out where they're going and they get there ahead of them. So archaeologists have tell me, or at least the Bible atlases, say that from Capernaum to Beth Seda, which is where the spot of the feast is, it's shorter to go by land, it's longer to go by boat. So by boat, they're less conspicuous, they're on their own, but by land it would they would get there quicker. So that's what's happening. They're taking the longer route, which is more lonely and deserted, and the crowds figure out, oh, they've got to be going that way, and they get there ahead of them because they're taking the public land route. So when he gets there, he finds this large crowding waiting for them. Now, the crowd was probably large because the Passover is near, and at this point people would have been traveling to Jerusalem for the Passover. So there were probably some people in this crowd who were making their way down to Jerusalem and saw Jesus and wanted to go see what was happening and what was he teaching. Also, with the recent death of John the Baptist, I suspect many of the people who had been following John were now following Jesus because they would have been confused and scared by John's beheading and and his treatment, and so now John spoke about this other one who's come, so I suspect some of them are in the crowd as well. And then you add the normal people that were tended to follow Jesus at this point anyway, and that's why the crowd is so large. And then as Libby pointed out, he reacts to the crowd with compassion. Um we're not told how the disciples reacted, I imagine they were pretty tired, but Jesus reacts with compassion, and the word used here is is a very strong word. It's the kind of uh gut-wrenching sympathy. So you know how when you hear some news and you feel like you've been hit in the stomach and you think, oh, and you react with compassion, that's what this word is trying to get to get at. It's the kind of thing when you hear, oh my gosh, somebody just had some bit of bad news and your heart just breaks for them, and you want to to help them. It's that kind of word. It's a it's a gut-wrenching kind of sympathy that moves you to action. And what's interesting to me is the action that Jesus takes in response to his compassion is teaching. I like that. And he teaches them about the kingdom of God. So here they are like sheep without a shepherd to protect them, and um he's not he doesn't immediately care for their physical needs, not at all. He points them to their spiritual food, to the kingdom of God. So think about what sheep are like without a shepherd. Some of this Libby brought out, which was in Psalm 23 today. They drift around for reasons they don't understand, they get pushed back and forth by the crowd or the latest fad. Um, you know, they're kind of lost, and we're told that you know, without direction they would just run off a cliff or into a thicket. And um think about people in that situation. He's looking at this crowd saying, they're going from one fad to the other, maybe they've lost John the Baptist and now they don't know where to turn, or they're on their way for the Passover, or they're you know, we I bet you run into people like that that go from one guru to the next or the latest fad to the next one, and um that's the kind of image he's he's um describing them with. Plus, you know, they kind of bleat and complain and and uh get in the way. So this crowd must have looked like milling sheep because you would have had the Passover pilgrims, the followers of John. There were probably sick people there who were seeking healing, probably some zealots who were looking for a political overthrow of Rome, and then just the curious and they stream around so he teaches them. And apparently his teaching goes on for so long that it's getting late and no one has eaten. And notice up to this point the need for food has largely been ignored. I mean, he mentions that the disciples came back and they didn't have a chance to eat, and they go to this quiet place to relax, but they're still prevented from eating, and now it's late in the day, and that need hasn't been met. So, what has he asked them to do? The impossible. Verse 35, 635. By this time it was late in the day, so the disciples came to him. This is a remote place, they said, and it is already very late. Send the people away so that we can go to the surrounding countrysides and villages and buy themselves something to eat. But he answered, you give them something to eat. He said, That would take eight months' wages. Are we to go and spend that much bread and give it to them? So Jesus is basically saying, Do the impossible. I mean, what does what does he really expect the disciples to do? The fact that there's no way they could even leave and come back in time with enough bread is um is points out the fact that he doesn't really expect them to take that action. Um and remember, they've just come back from a journey where they took nothing with them. So they didn't have any extra money, they didn't have extra food with them or anything because they just came back from this journey where he told them don't take anything extra. So John tells us that he takes what he has and he makes this incredible feast. And John tells us they're barley loaves, and um he uses a word for fish that are these little tiny fish. So barley bread was considered the absolute poorest meal you could have. It was the cheapest flour, it was what the poorest of the poor would use to make their bread. So this is this is like um the poorest you can get is to have a barley bread for your sandwich. And the word for fish refers to these small, kind of like sardines. They would have been dried or maybe pickled. Um and again, they're considered the simplest and poorest of meals. The word for basket that's used is a type of willow baskets that was very common in the region, and again, it was a workhorse kind of basket. It was the one you would use day in and day out to handle your chores. And we didn't read the passage, but notice right before this is the feast of Herod. Herod is celebrating his birthday, and he has this great banquet, which we can only assume had the best of food, the choicest of meats, the best wine, entertainment, and yet how does that banquet end with John the Baptist losing his head? So you have this incredible feast right before it for Herod's birthday that ends in this kind of drunken tragedy. And now you see this contrast with Jesus starting with the poorest, simplest meal you could have in a remote place with 5,000 people, and yet they're fed and satisfied. So, why does he ask the disciples to feed them? Because that's the interesting question. It was impossible. They couldn't do it, they didn't have that kind of food prepared, they didn't have the resources to buy it. Probably none of them had eight months' wages to buy that kind of food. I mean, we have people today that don't even have eight months' worth of wages saved up. They just returned from this journey where they were told to take no money and food, and they're in, you know, a deserted place. There's it's lonely, they can't even go harvest anything. So what are they supposed to to do? John tells us it's a test, but what's it a test of? What do you do when Jesus asks you to do the impossible? So that's what think about the other times he asks people to do the impossible. In Mark 10, he tells the rich young man to sell all he has and give it to the poor. And the man says, I I can't do that. In Matthew 5, he says, if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out. Well, who's gonna do that? And in Matthew 5, 48, be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. Is that possible? That's not possible either. And then John chapter 3, unless one is born again, you can't see the kingdom of God. How are we to be born again? So there those are only a few, but there are many instances where Jesus is asking us to do the impossible, and the point he's usually trying to make is you can't do it. So when you realize you can't do it, who do you turn to? So if something is impossible for you, who is it possible for? Who do you turn to when you meet that need? Do you keep on trying harder or do you turn to Jesus and say, I can't do it, do it for me, help me. I want to believe, I don't believe, help my unbelief. Or I want to follow you, but I don't have the heart to follow you, give me the heart to follow you. I want to serve you, I want the humility, but I I'm still prideful and selfish. Give me that the courage to see and the and to speak the words and the eyes to see. I think that's the test. Who do you turn to when you're faced with the impossible? Have a need, who are you who do you turn to to solve it? And what he wants them to see is they can turn to him because he is the Messiah. This man is the Son of God, and this miracle attests to the fact. So who would you turn to in your hour of deepest need? You turn to him. I think that's why Luke follows it this account with Peter's confession, because that's what they were supposed to learn. This is the Messiah. Who do you say that I am? They should have learned this was the Son of God. Why does John follow the story with of this, follow this passage with the story of Jesus being the bread of life? Because this was not just a physical meal. This was a physical meal that signified that He was the that He is the bread of life, that He has the bread we need to solve, not the hunger in our stomach, but the ultimate problems of our sin and selfishness. And then why do the disciples fear when they see him walking on the water and think he's a ghost? Why does Jesus say they, or Mark says they didn't learn the lesson of the loaves? They were supposed to learn that he was the Messiah, the Son of God. There's some interesting details in that. Listen to this. This is uh in Mark 6, 46. After leaving them, he went up on the mountainside to pray, and when evening came the boat was in the middle of the lake and he was alone on the land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against him, and about the fourth watch, which would have been between three and six in the morning. Uh, the fourth watch of the night, he went out to them walking on the lake. He was about to pass by. Now, why would he be passing them by? If he's going out to join them, why would he pass by? Well, that term that's used is the term that's used for God passing by. In Exodus 33, 21. Then the Lord said, There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back, but my face must not be seen. When God chooses to reveal himself to Moses in the cleft of the rock, he passes by. Again, Elijah on the same mountain. This is first Kings 19, 1911. Then the Lord said, Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the God, for in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by. Then a great and powerful wind tore up the mountains, tore the mountains apart, and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire came a gentle whisper. So the the scriptures tell us when God comes, he passes by, and now Jesus is walking across the water to them, passing by. And notice they should have also known from Scripture that God alone walks on water. In Job 9 8, he alone stretches out the heaven and treads on the waves of the sea. Only God walks on water. Psalms 77 19, your path led through the sea, your way through the mighty waters, though your footprints were not seen. So who walks on the water and passes by but God? And now Jesus is coming out to them, passing them by. He's just fed the five thousand in this remote location as God fed manna to the Israelites in the wilderness. Their scriptures should tell them only God can do this. Only someone who is divine. And this so this man before them is not only Jesus, he is the Messiah, the Son of God. So I think that's why he says, Didn't you learn the lessons of the Lob? Didn't you learn who I am? And notice how he answers them. He says, Take courage, it is I, or you could translate that, take courage, I am, the same word for God, Yahweh, like that Moses, um, that God tells Moses is his name. So you have this cong this these clues of him passing by, claiming the name I am, and walking on the water, and that should have told them this is the Son of God, this is the Messiah. And I think that's what they were supposed to learn. The lesson of the loaves is who is Jesus? He is the Messiah, the true Son of God. So there was a bigger problem for them than their hungry hungry stomachs, a bigger problem, um bigger than their comfort during the storm or their physical healing, it's their need for salvation. And there's only one way to solve it, to put your faith in Jesus. So notice how our stories have been building up to this point. We started with the question, what's easiest to say? And this is addressed to the to the paralytic. Is it easier to say your sins are forgiven or to say be healed? And Jesus says, it's much easier to say your sins are forgiven because you can't prove it. And but if I say be healed and the paralytic isn't healed, then there's physical evidence. So he says, in order that you know that I have the authority to forgive sins, I will heal this man. So the point of that lesson was if he has the authority to forgive sins, then he's the Son of God. Then we had what's lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill a life. And again, the point he was making is I'm the Lord of the Sabbath. And the Sabbath was given as a rest that is granted from God because He is the one who's going to solve our problems, not us. We don't earn our way to God, we don't have to muster up all the kinds of uh religious exercises and trying harder to prove to God that we're worthy. Instead, he does it for us, and the rest of the Sabbath is a picture of that grace. And he can grant you that Sabbath rest because he is the Son of God. Then the question, why are you so afraid? This was uh directed to the disciples in the storm. And he's saying, There is one who can save your soul right in the midst of you. So why are you afraid of the physical storm? If he um and if he can calm the storm, of course, he can save your soul. The next question we looked at was, what is your name? And that was addressed to the demon, the man who was possessed by the legion of demons. So he's asking, who's your what's your identity? Will you follow God or not follow God? Are you known by your what father are you known by is the idea of your name. So are you known by evil or by good? And this was a legion, a military battle, a an uncountable enemy, and yet it was no problem for Jesus. So it's a building again that he has dominion over all those other powers of all spiritual powers, good and evil. Who touched me? Addressed to the woman who was who touched his robe. She's coming looking for physical healing, but he says, I have more than that for you. I can heal your soul, your bitterness, your salvation. And so he turns to seek her out so that she is not like a hit and run disciple who touches him and runs away, but he wants to establish a relationship with her. And again, it proves his authority over all of our the physical side of life and points to the fact that he can solve our deepest problems, not just our physical ones. Then last week, Why Do You Weep? Again addressed to the mourners after the death of Jarius' daughter. And aga the point there, death is the ultimate, we think, from our perspective, death is the ultimate victor, but there is one who is capable of defeating it, and he is Jesus the Son of God. It is not an obstacle for him any more than sleep is an obstacle for him. So now he asks, how do you how many loves do you have? And after all of this evidence, I think what he's pointing them to is where will you turn when you're faced with the impossible? So when you get to that point where you look in your heart and you realize I'm sinful or I'm selfish or I can't solve the problem of my tongue, or I can't solve this problem with anger or frustration or or just thinking too much of myself or whatever it is that drives you to the end, where do you turn when you get to that point? And the answer I think he wants them to realize is you can turn to him because he is the Messiah, the Son of God. He's the one who can heal the paralytic, he can restore a withered arm, he can calm the storm and banish the demons and heal your physical ills and raise you from the dead. And why? Because he is the messiah. And I think that's what he's asking us to do, to take our meager resources, our you know, our poorest barley bread and our tiniest little fish, the the tiny, poorest, cheapest things we have, and just lay them at his feet and let him multiply them and turn them into a glorious feast. It's it's just a wonderful picture. So the question is when Jesus asks you to do the impossible, do you turn to him or do you turn to yourself? Do you keep trying harder or do you keep trying to do it on your own? Do you seek the bread of life that will feed the hunger in your soul, or do you look for the physical bread that will only satisfy your hunger pains today? And all the miracles of Jesus attest to the to his identity that this is the Son of God. They prove that he is the Messiah. Or as he says, I'm the bread of life, he come who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. Because he's here to solve our ultimate problem, that of sin and selfishness. It's interesting. I was thinking as I was thinking about this, the there's a difference between Christianity and all other religions. I think I may have mentioned this before. Every other religion boils down to try harder. I mean, they have different paths. You know, it's a path to nirvana, maybe it's meditation, maybe it's um penitence, or maybe it's ethical behavior, or whatever it is. They all have a different solution. But if you boil it down, the solution is try harder. And Christianity is unique in that it says trying harder doesn't work. You can try as hard as you want, it won't get you to God. Um, but the good news is you will get it as a gift. And that's the I think the biggest distinction between Christianity and all other religions. So if you're not there yet, try harder. I invite you to go ahead and try. Because you'll get to the point where you'll see it's just too hard, it doesn't work. But there is one then who can solve your problem. You'll face that need where you realize it's impossible. All right, let's pray and uh give you time to ask questions. Father, thank you that you are uh the Lord and the Messiah, and that you sent your Son into the world to teach us all these things about the kingdom of God, about your love and your grace and your compassion. And I just pray that you would open our eyes to see how much we need you and um how much you're offering, not just the um the day-to-day blessings of food and shelter, but the the eternal blessings of the bread of life. And I pray for anyone here who hasn't got a lot of people.