08/04/2026
Did you already misplace your bulletin from Sunday? Worry not! Here is our devotional for the week:
Miracle Worker
Matthew 14:13–21
Our scripture opens in grief. Jesus has just learned that John the Baptist was beheaded, and he withdraws to a deserted place to be alone. The crowd follows him anyway, thousands of them, right to the one spot he went to find peace. And when he sees them, Matthew says he had compassion.
Evening comes, and the disciples do the math. No food, no village nearby, too many people. Send them away, they say. Jesus answers with words that change everything: you give them something to eat. They protest that they have nothing but five loaves and two fish. They are holding something, and they call it nothing.
Then Jesus takes what they have, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it back. Those four verbs return at the Last Supper and again at Emmaus, where the risen Christ is recognized in the breaking of the bread. That pattern is not only what he does with loaves. It is what he does with us. He takes what we have, sets it apart for his service, breaks us open so we finally understand our worth, and gives back more than we could have imagined. What happens when He does? All ate, and were filled.
Reflection Questions
What have you been calling "nothing but" that Jesus might be asking for?
Where has being broken made you more useful to God than being whole did?
Who around you is hungry for something you already have?
