This is one of those miracles that I have heard since a young child. In my part of the world- Northern Ireland, children who attend Sunday School are told this story over and over again and I guess the main focus is the miracle of the event-multiplying the food to feed thousands. When i was around 12 and attending a teen bible study, our leader at the time (a chaplin in a local school) proposed that the miracle might not have been as miraculous as we think. He suggested that the miracle might have been Jesus sharing food and so enticing others in the crowd to also share the food. I have to admit that was a disappointing prospect to me. Not sure about you, but i like my miracles to be supernatural, not something explained away by common sense. Also, to me, it seems something is lost in the miracle and the meaning if we try to suggest that it wasn’t truly miraculous.
I took a little break from bible studying and blogging of late, and am just returning, hungry for the new tidbits I will learn. I have decided to focus in on those stories that I heard lots as a kid, to see if there are extra depths I can reach as an adult!
The Feeding of the five Thousand story occurs four times in Scripture- in Matthew 14 v 15-21, Mark 6 v 34-44, Luke 9 v 10-17 and John 6 v 1-15. I am also going to include some conclusions based on the reading of another account of feeding a large group of people, the feeding of 7000 which occurs in Matthew 15 v 29-39 and Mark 8 v 1-9.
I began by reading the four accounts on the feeding of 5,000 and found the accounts are very similar. Some key observations they all include are:
*Jesus had just received the news that John the Baptist had been killed and seeks to retire away somewhere quiet, but the crowds follow him
*Feeling compassion for the people Jesus chooses to spend the day healing them
*It was coming up to evening, in spring time near passover and the disciples point out to Jesus that the people need fed and they suggest that he send them away to get food
*Jesus challenges the disciples to feed the people themselves
*There is no direct description of the food multiplying only that the disciples give the food to Jesus and he prays over it, asking the people to sit down
*In all accounts there are 5000 men ( possibly with women and children too not accounted for in this number)
*There are 12 basketfuls of food left over after the food feeds everyone miraculously
By comparison, the other two accounts of feeding 4000 are not drastically different and many scholars have suggested they may be based on the feeding of the 5000 account with the number having changed with the telling over time. However, this doesn’t clear up why Matthew felt the need to include both stories in his book. The number of loaves and fishes changes slightly and the amount of people fed is even more.
In comparing these passages I began to ask myself what Jesus would want us to learn from this miracle and what is significant about the events and what they symbolise.
1.Compassion
One key thing for me that comes across is Jesus’ compassion. This man has had some terrible news about his cousin John, all He wants is to be alone, yet He continues to have compassion on these people and heal them. Also when the disciples present the predicament about having nothing to feed them and suggest sending them away, Jesus turns the problem back to them. I think Jesus is as always modelling what he expects from us. We see time and time again in scripture that when people have a physical need we should try and meet it if we can. Often a physical need opens the door to a spiritual one. I am thinking of the woman at the well as an example or the woman caught in adultery or the man at the healing pools.
Secondly Jesus does not judge the people in anyway. He doesn’t check to see if they are Jew or gentile, how they manage their physical health or financial wealth etc. All are loved on equally!
It made me think of situations when I have known someone is in need and hesitated. Wondering if I help them will they expect more help or use or abuse me. Or whether the person is truly in need or just trying to get something for free. Our hearts should be like Jesus. Compassionate. Quick to give of ourselves.
Of course the disciples did not do the miracle. They brought all they had found to Jesus and he performed it. Do we trust when there is someone in need, that if we give what we can in faith that Jesus will meet us and supernaturally multiply?
2. Proof He’s Messiah
Everything Jesus does in the gospels and during his 3 year ministry fulfills Old Testament Scripture and proves that He is not just a prophet like Elijah or Moses, but the Messiah. I believe this miracle shows the same. Perhaps the most astonishing thing I noticed in my analysis of the passages was that there is significance in the locations and numbers in the passages. In the feeding of the 5000 accounts Jesus is in Jewish territory. He is on the Western side of the River Jordan. The people he heals and preaches to are Jewish people. It is no coincidence that He feeds 5,000 and there are 5 loaves. The number 5 in Old Testament times was used to symbolise divine grace, divine harmony. There are 5 books of the Torah. When the miracle is complete there are 12 basketfuls of left overs. in Jewish times 12 was used in the Torah to represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Jesus is showing that He is the Messiah in that He is capable of providing for the 12 tribes. In the feeding of the 4000 account Jesus is located on the Eastern side of the Jordan which was known to be occupied by gentiles and in particular by 7 different groups of gentiles. In the Old Testament 7 is a symbolic number representing perfection. There are 7 days in the creation story and 7 i used to signify completion. There are 7 churches written to in Revelation from which all churches spring.
Interesting then that there are 7 loaves and 7 baskets left over. I think the symbolism points to the fact that Jesus performed this miracle twice to highlight that He has come to bring redemption that is complete for all peoples: Jews and gentiles. The first miracle feeding the 5000 demonstrated how the Messiah has come to save the Jews and the second of feeding the 4000 represented how the Messiah came for the gentiles too. In the feeding of the 5000 story we are told there were 2 fish and these too many represent the main pillars of Jewish faith the prophets and the psalms. (With the 5 books of the Torah of course.)
In reading the passages before the description of the feeding of the 5000 I came across where Jesus is preaching to the crowd and is interrupted by a gentile woman who wants him to heal her daughter (Matthew 15 v 21-28) and Jesus refers to her as a dog and she responds that even dogs are entitled to clear up the crumbs at the master’s table. Jesus allows the woman to challenge him publically to show Jews that even Gentiles will have a place in His new kingdom.
3. What about the boy?
In one account of the feeding of the 5000 a boy is mentioned who gives up his lunch to the disciples. What does the child represent? Well in Jesus’ day children were a lot less important than today, so much so that they weren’t even included in the 5000 count. So this is another example of Jesus using someone on the outskirts, someone unseen who is willing, to bring glory to His father.
Jesus goes on in John’s account to speak of the time in the wilderness when God fed the people through manna and then calls himself ‘the bread of life.’ He is no longer just addressing a physical need but using a physical need to illustrate the spirtual need: the need for nourishment of the spirit through Christ. In Old Testament times the Shew bread in the temple (12 loaves) reminded Jews that God was their source and nourishment. Is it any wonder then that Jesus completes the picture by performing 2 miracles- with 5 loaves and 7 loaves which added together =12. He has come to show that God will extend this promise to all people- Jews and Gentiles: nourishment if they will follow Him and believe Him as Messiah!
4. Comparison with the Lord’s Supper
Notice that in both passages Jesus breaks bread and gives thanks. Remind you of anyting? For me it is a reminder of the Lord’s supper, which the disciples will later experience. Jesus’ miracle also represents how He will be broken to meet the peoples’ needs. I find it so reassuring that He will meet the needs of both Jew and Gentile. As we read later in the New Testament, ‘Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread‘
– 1 Corinthians 10:17
So, in conclusion I think this miracle was supernatural. It wasn’t just some occurence of everyone sharing. Otherwise we lose the meaning of God performing a miracle through Jesus to show He is messiah and to model for us how to come to rely on God through Jesus for our provision as Christians and for the provision we need to reach out to others and in meeting a physical need perhaps allow God to open a spiritual door of need in that person. We cannot throw out part of the story without losing all te rich symolism and meaning we uncover within. It helps us glorify God- he is meticulous throughout Scripture in always fulfilling what He has said and helping us today. Jeus sis the true bread we share, His body broken for us and sustaining us to share His glory and truth with others.
Grace Powered 