Podcast Introduction In our reading today is  Luke 9-10.  I’m calling today’s episode “You Gotta Be Kidding.” Comments on Luke 9 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. Luke 9:12-17 NIV The NKJV has a very good translation of verse 10: “And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.” Jesus had sent the apostles on a ministry outing, and when they got back they gave him a report. And Jesus wanted to take them someplace where they could get some alone time. He was known to go off alone from time to time after ministering to the people, so I think He wanted to show them the benefits of getting away.  But the crowd found out where they were, so they followed them. And of course, Jesus ministered to them. He taught them, and He healed them. How could he do anything else? And when it began to get late, the apostles suggested to Jesus that He should send them away to find food and shelter, since there was nothing for such a large crowd in this deserted place.  I can just imagine Jesus’ reaction when they came to Him with this suggestion. I’ll bet he got just a hint of a mischievous smile on his face as he said to Himself, “Time for another lesson.” And He said to them, “You give them something to eat.”  And I’ll bet Peter thought… No. I’ll bet Peter *said* something like, “Are you out of your mind?!? Look at all those people! There are thousands of them!” The apostles told Jesus they had five loaves and two fish. And I think Jesus, with that same mischievous smile said, “So what’s the problem? That’s plenty!” And He had the apostles seat the crowd in groups of fifty. I’ll leave it up to you to think about what reactions the apostles had to this. And you know the rest of the story. Jesus took the loaves and fishes, said a prayer, blessed them, and distributed the food to His disciples to give to the crowd. And the leftovers filled twelve baskets. I want to go back to Jesus’ statement, “You give them something to eat.”  Jesus is in the process of teaching the apostles that He will work through them. Remember that just before this time outside of Bethsaida, Jesus had sent them on a ministry trip where they had preached and healed people. Without Him being there.  And now this.  They brought the five loaves and two fish to him. We aren’t told here in Luke, but I think after Jesus