Welcome to Day 2889 of Wisdom-Trek. Thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom. Day 2889 – “A Shocking Agenda” based on Luke 9:12-27

Putnam Church Message – 05/24/2026 The Good News According to Luke: “A Shocking Agenda.” Last week’s message was “Welcome to the War,” in which we learned that as we go about our daily lives, we go in the name of Jesus Christ, who has already won the decisive victory. Today, we continue with our twenty-fourth message from Luke’s narrative of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Today’s message is: A Shocking Agenda.” Our core passage today is Luke 9:12-27, which is found on page 1608 of your pew Bibles. Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand ¹²Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” ¹³He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” ¹⁴(About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” ¹⁵The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. ¹⁶Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. ¹⁷They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah ¹⁸Once when Jesus was praying in private and his disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say I am?” ¹⁹They 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.” ²⁰“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Peter answered, “God’s Messiah.” Jesus Predicts His Death ²¹Jesus strictly warned them not to tell this to anyone. ²²And he said, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” ²³Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. ²⁴For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. ²⁵What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? ²⁶Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ²⁷“Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.” Opening Prayer Father, we come before You today with open hearts and honest minds. We thank You for the Good News of Jesus Christ, but we confess that sometimes we want the blessings of Your Kingdom without the surrender of discipleship. We want provision, but not dependence. We want victory, but not the cross. We want comfort, but not transformation. Lord Jesus, teach us today. Show us who You truly are. Help us receive Your provision with humble gratitude, confess You with courage, and follow You with obedient hearts. May we not merely admire You from a distance but walk behind You daily as faithful disciples. In Your holy name, amen. Introduction: When Jesus’ Agenda Shocks Us This passage begins with one of the most familiar miracles in the ministry of Jesus: the feeding of the multitude. In fact, this is the only miracle of Jesus — aside from the resurrection — recorded in all four Gospels. That alone should make us pause. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all say, “You need to see this.”

But they do not merely want us to see bread multiplied.
They want us to see who Jesus is.
They want us to see what kind of King He is.
And they want us to see what it means to follow Him.

In the previous message, “Welcome to the War,” we saw Jesus send the Twelve out with power and authority. / They proclaimed the Kingdom of God. / They healed the sick. / They cast out demons. / They came back excited, exhausted, and full of stories. / They had stepped into the battle. / They had tasted ministry. / They had seen God work through them. But now, before they can fully rest and process what happened, the crowds find Jesus again. Thousands of people come into the wilderness, bringing hunger, sickness, confusion, and need. The disciples had just returned from weeks of powerful ministry, but suddenly they face a need they cannot meet.

They can preach.
They can heal.
They can cast out demons.
But they cannot feed thousands of hungry people with five loaves and two fish.

And Jesus uses this moment to teach them — and us — something vital: The disciple is not the source. /The disciple is the servant. / Jesus is the supply. But then the passage turns sharply. After feeding the crowd, Jesus asks, “Who do the people say I am?” Peter answers correctly: “You are the Messiah sent from God.” But then Jesus shocks them. He says the Messiah must suffer, be rejected, be killed, and be raised. That was not the agenda they expected.

They expected victory. Jesus speaks of suffering.
They expected a throne. Jesus points to a cross.
They expected power over Jesus calls them to deny themselves.

This is why the agenda is shocking. |We will see this agenda in our four truths today. Found in the Bulletin Insert on the side that says “A Shocking Agenda.” Main Point 1: Jesus Uses Our Inadequacy to Reveal His Sufficiency The disciples had gone with Jesus toward Bethsaida for rest. They needed it. Mark tells us that so many people were coming and going that they did not even have time to eat. Can you relate to that feeling? Maybe you have had days when you never quite get to sit down. The phone rings. Someone needs you. A problem appears. A plan changes. One need gets handled, and three more show up. The disciples were tired. They had been ministering. They had been traveling. They were probably physically drained and emotionally full. - Then the crowd arrives. Luke tells us Jesus welcomed them. He taught them about the Kingdom of God and healed those who needed healing. That fits everything we have seen in Luke so far. Jesus welcomed the sinful woman in Simon’s house. He welcomed the desperate touch of the suffering woman. He welcomed the cries of Jairus. He welcomed the man tormented among the tombs. He welcomed the crowds even when they interrupted rest. But as evening approaches, the disciples see a practical problem. / The crowd is hungry. / They say, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.” That seems reasonable, doesn’t it? They are not being heartless. They are being practical. They are looking at the sun going down, the size of the crowd, the remoteness of the place, and the emptiness of their hands. Then Jesus says something shocking: “You feed them.” Now imagine the disciples looking at one another. “Us?” “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” “Do You see how many people are here?” “Even if we had money, where would we buy that much bread?” “Lord, we just came back from ministry. We are tired too.” John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus already knew what He was going to do. He was testing them. / Not tempting them to fail. Testing them to grow. /He wanted them to confront the difference between their resources and His sufficiency. Object Lesson: The Empty Basket Hold up an empty basket. An empty basket does not look impressive. It does not feed anyone. It does not solve an...