Accounting for All the Fragments
David W Palmer
(John 6:11–13 NKJV) And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. {12} So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” {13} Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.
In this passage, we see another of the supervised assignments—a simple assessment task—that Jesus set for his trainee leaders: “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” This assignment was only short, but it was full of very important lessons for us all.
This exercise shows us the lavishness of God’s provision—but only if and when he can get us to cooperate with him in his kingdom system like Jesus did. (First, like Jesus, we need to cleanse the heavens through surrendered worship, prayer, and fasting. Then, lots of word, word, word, until we receive specific instructions as revealed by the Holy Spirit—followed by humble, trusting and complete obedience.)
Today’s lesson is about waste; Jesus wanted his apprentices to ensure that “nothing is lost.” We could tend to think—when surrounded by such lavish abundance in what seemed like an endless, overflowing supply of miracle bread and fish—that a few leftovers wouldn’t be at all significant. This is particularly exacerbated by the fact that they were perishables—bread and fish out in the heat. Surely, by tomorrow they would be dry and stale anyway. Didn’t God provide fresh manna every day in the wilderness? Why the need to gather up what could be perceived as scraps? After all, the bread-multiplier and provider would be with them tomorrow as he was today. Couldn’t he simply multiply some more when they needed it?
I believe Jesus’s assignment to gather up the fragments shows his attitude to miracles and God’s provision. He sees them as very precious and sacred—something for which we should offer God humble thanks and praise. In truth, we need to thank and praise him continually, because God does the miracle of food multiplication around the world every day. Farmers constantly plant seeds, harvest crops, breed and feed animals; God multiplies and increases all of our food provision by this method. Jesus shows us that we should deeply appreciate God’s amazing daily miracle of food multiplication; so give God thanks, and do not be wasteful—even amid his amazing and generous supply.
Perhaps Jesus was training his apprentices, including us, to be circumspect with God’s provision when we have it, ensuring that we take none of it for granted. He wants us to enjoy his plenteous provision, but not to be wasteful in any way.
Scripture doesn’t tell us where the twelve baskets full of food went; but collected together, they could continue to be a blessing to someone in need. For example, Jesus may have given some to his disciples as provision for their next lake crossing. That would have been a blessing for them, and it would have been good fruit for their obedience in collecting it. But no plan Jesus had in mind for the fragments would have been possible, if they had simply allowed it to go to waste on the hillside.
Another point we see is that all of this abundant multiplication took place at a pinnacle moment: Jesus was in manifestation, teaching for a lengthy period with a settled, attentive, believing audience—the perfect scenario for miracles. It was literally a mountain top conference—an interlude of undivided God-focus, a divine visitation with supernatural signs. But sadly, we cannot live there 24-7; we all have to come back to the world and everyday life to complete the individual assignments God has for us.
So, the perfect scenario ended when everyone went home. Most probably, accelerated food multiplication would not be on God’s menu for tomorrow. This is one of the reasons we need to remember and celebrate God’s “moments” and signs as something precious. Please indulge my imagination, but with this in mind, perhaps Jesus sent a little of the fragments home with each person as an everyday memento of what they had experienced on the mountain. It could serve as a reminder of who Jesus is, how he operated in God’s kingdom system, how he readily took up the responsibility to supply, and the importance he places on every last fragment of everything God does.
Yet another important lesson came out of the fragments:
(Matthew 16:6–12 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” {7} And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “It is because we have taken no bread.” {8} But Jesus, being aware of it, said to them, “O you of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves because you have brought no bread? {9} Do you not yet understand, or remember the five loaves of the five thousand and how many baskets you took up? {10} Nor the seven loaves of the four thousand and how many large baskets you took up? {11} How is it you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?—but to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” {12} Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
By using as an illustration the multiplication of the bread and fish, and the abundant leftover fragments, Jesus is showing his apprentices how malignant and proliferative the false doctrine of “religious self effort” is. It can multiply to reach a multitude very quickly—with lots of overflow to infect others—all in a very short space of time.
In a very prophetic moment, Jesus told his disciples to “beware of the leaven (growing yeast) of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” He told them to “take heed”—to discern it clearly, and to be very wary of it. The influence of this demonically empowered false doctrine is lethal, with rapid duplication; it is an inferior and counterfeit version of Jesus’s miracle of instant food multiplication, but it can still grow rapidly unless it is all removed and eradicated from among the people. We must constantly be on watch for this religious spirit trying to take us back to the Old Testament, or even worse, to our own efforts for obtaining self-righteousness, and to our own sweaty toil for provision and success.
Today, I believe Jesus is freshly reminding us to be:
Take a moment to thank him now.
