Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “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.” But Jesus said, “You feed them.” [Luke 9:12-13a (NLT)]
Other than His resurrection, the feeding of the 5,000 is the only one of Jesus’ miracles recorded in all four gospels. Wanting some quiet time, Jesus and the disciples went by boat to a remote area near Bethsaida. Because the crowd followed them, Jesus spent the rest of day healing and teaching. When the disciples asked Jesus to send the people home so they could eat, Jesus said to feed them. All four accounts agree that only five loaves and two fish were available, that 5,000 men (along with women and children) ate as much as they wanted, and that the left-overs filled a dozen wicker hand-baskets.
We understand why the gospel writers included the resurrection in their record; without it, Jesus was just a good man who died. But why is this miracle the only other one each one thought essential to the narrative? The easy answer is that no one but God could have performed a miracle of such magnitude. Rather than the size of the miracle, however, perhaps it was the enormous size of the crowd! With the addition of women and children to the 5,000 men present, there probably were 10,000 or more people who not only witnessed but partook of this miracle. That’s the sort of thing people don’t keep to themselves—they probably told their neighbors, friends, children, and grands. If someone who lived near the north shore of the Sea of Galilee wasn’t there that day, they knew someone who was! While we can’t know for sure, Mark’s gospel was written in the late 50s to 60s, Luke and Matthew’s prior to 70, and John’s around 80-85 AD. Can you imagine the number of witnesses still alive who could refute or verify this miracle as proof of the gospels’ validity? The inclusion of this miracle gives credence to the rest of the gospels’ accounts!
There is more to this story than God’s amazing provision but, because we’re so familiar with it, we tend to miss some of its subtler messages. The reason Jesus took a boat across the lake was to find a remote area away from the crowd so he and the disciples could be alone. John the Baptist had recently died, the disciples had just returned from their mission trip, and the men were hungry and tired. Jesus wanted peace and quiet but the people wanted Him! Seeing them as sheep without a shepherd, He put the needs of others before His desires. What a beautiful example of the compassion of Christ. Are we so willing to do the same thing?
While a Gentile might miss it, a Jew would see that this miracle evokes two earlier miracles found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Both the manna for Moses and bread for Elisha foreshadow Jesus’ miracle of provision. The story of manna in Exodus probably doesn’t need repeating but you may not be familiar with Elisha’s story in 2 Kings. During a famine, a man brought Elisha some grain and bread. When Elisha told his servant to feed the 100 prophets who were with him, he protested there wasn’t enough bread for those many men. The prophet assured the servant that everyone would eat and there even would be leftovers; indeed, they did and there were. For people who considered Jesus a mere prophet along the lines of Moses and Elisha, His feeding of the 5,000 was irrefutable proof that He was far greater!
Having been told to take nothing with them during their ministry tour, the disciples learned about receiving since they depended on the hospitality and provision of others. Could this have been a message about giving? It certainly showed that ministry is more than preaching; it is providing. Feeding the sheep means tending to the flock’s practical needs as well as their spiritual ones.
Of course, we can’t forget about the boy. While Philip saw what they didn’t have (money), Andrew went looking for what they did have! Even though he knew it wasn’t enough, Andrew saw possibility in the boy’s basket and his willingness to give up his meager provisions. This insignificant boy played an essential role in one of the most significant days in Jesus’ ministry! May we always keep our eyes open to possibilities and remember that, in God’s hands, our inadequacy becomes more than enough!
The four accounts of this miracle are found in Matthew 14:13-21, Mark 6:30-44, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-15. Today, consider revisiting this old familiar story by reading all four accounts of this amazing miracle with fresh eyes!
Since the judges usually were military leaders, it’s not surprising that only one of the twelve, was female: Deborah. Normally, the culture of the day wouldn’t support a woman in this role. Judges were called to save Israel from their enemies and to restore peace and prosperity. They did it by driving out or annihilating Israel’s oppressors—not considered women’s work in 1150 BC. Nevertheless, God designated the prophet Deborah as Israel’s judge. At the risk of sounding sexist, it could be that God appointed a woman as the judge because there were no qualified men at the time!
An old Chinese parable tells of a poor farmer whose only horse runs away. His friends commiserate over his bad luck and ask how he’ll plow his field. The farmer answers, “Who knows? We shall see.” Two days later, the horse returns along with several wild horses. When the farmer’s friends congratulate him on the good fortune of now having a stable full of horses, the farmer replies, “Who knows? We shall see.” The following week, while trying to tame the horses, the farmer’s son breaks his leg in three places. The farmer’s friends offer condolences and wonder how he’ll get his work done with his son unable to walk and help. The farmer answers, “Who knows? We shall see.” When a war breaks out, the emperor’s men arrive and conscript all the young men in the village. With his leg in a cast and needing crutches, the farmer’s son is considered unfit for battle and remains in the village. As his neighbors watch their sons leave home, they congratulate the farmer on his stroke of luck. He replies, “Who knows? We shall see.” Although the son’s leg eventually heals, he has a bad limp. The farmer’s neighbors express their sympathy for such trouble. “Who knows? We shall see,” he again replies. By the time the war is over, all of the village’s boys have died in battle but, with his several horses and a son now able to help, the farmer can plow several fields and has grown wealthy. When the villagers congratulate him on his good fortune, the farmer replies, “Who knows? We shall see.”
In one of those viral, supposedly true but probably not, inspirational stories, a wealthy man is said to bend over and pick up any and every coin he spots on the ground. When asked why he bothered to collect mere pennies, the man explained he didn’t pick up coins for their monetary value; he picked them up for the value of the message on them: “In God We Trust.” He believed the penny’s words to be God’s way of reminding him to trust the Lord rather than his wealth and considered every coin he found an opportunity to acknowledge his faith in prayer.
Devotions of the Heart 