39  The Miraculous  Feeding (14:14-21)

And when He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and felt compassion for them, and healed their sick. And when it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, “The place is desolate, and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” And ordering the multitudes to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitudes, and they all ate, and were satisfied. And they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. And there were about five thousand men who ate, aside from women and children. (14:14-21)

The fact that the feeding of the five thousand is the only one of Jesus’ many miracles recorded in all four gospels, testifies to its unique importance. In each gospel account this miracle is placed at the climax of the Lord’s ministry.

When Jesus began His extensive Galilean ministry, it was almost completely public. The Lord sought out the crowds, going from town to town and city to city, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom to all who would listen. The King openly manifested Himself before the people of Israel and offered them the opportunity to receive Him as their Lord.

But from the earliest days, the religious leaders were skeptical; and soon they became unfriendly and ultimately hostile. The clearer Jesus’ message became, the higher the flames of their opposition flared. With the death of John the Baptist and Herod’s fear that Jesus was John returned from the dead, the political antagonism was also becoming manifest. Herod felt threatened by Jesus just as he had been by John the Baptist; and he would not have hesitated doing to Jesus what he had done to John.

The reaction of the people was mixed and fickle. Although the citizens of Nazareth had twice rejected Jesus because of their familiarity with Him as a boy and young man, most of the people were still fascinated by His miracles. With the miracle of creating food for feeding the crowd of five thousand, Jesus’ popularity reached its pinnacle as the people tried to take Him by force to be their king and deliverer (John 6:15).

As the religious and political opposition became more intense and the allegiance of the crowds more vacillating, Jesus began to spend less time in public and more time in private with His disciples. During the last year of His life, He devoted the majority of His attention to the twelve, preparing them for what was soon to happen to Him in the crucifixion and for what would soon after that happen to them as they embarked on their task of laying the foundation for His church.

When the disciples of John the Baptist brought the news of John’s death to Jesus, He withdrew from the area of Capernaum so that He could be alone with His own disciples (Matt. 14:13a; cf. Mark 6:31). Jesus was not afraid for His life, because He knew no one could take it from Him unless He permitted it (John 10:18). He withdrew to avoid premature confrontation with Herod, to be alone with His Father, and to explain the significance of John’s death to His disciples.

Jesus also needed refreshment. Even if all the reaction to Him had been positive, He would have been physically drained after such a rigorous schedule of teaching and healing. The growing opposition of His enemies, the fickleness of the multitudes, and the continued misunderstanding and immaturity of His disciples made the drain immeasurably worse.

But when the multitudes heard that Jesus had gone to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, “they followed Him on foot from the cities” (Matt. 14:13b). Some of the people even arrived before Jesus and the disciples did (Mark 6:33), while the lame and sick obviously took much longer. But almost all of them came out of selfish motives, “because they were seeing the signs which He was performing on those who were sick” (John 6:2). They came to be healed or to watch the healings. Few came for what Jesus could do for them spiritually.

The majority of the multitude were thrill seekers, whose ranks at this time were probably swelled by Jews passing through Galilee on their way to the annual Passover celebration in Jerusalem (John 6:4). Their perspective was self-centered and self-indulgent. In addition to wanting to be healed or entertained, many no doubt hoped this great miracle worker would prove Himself to be the political Messiah who would use His power to overthrow the hated Roman oppressors and their puppet Herod.

But the expectations of the people neither determined nor undermined the importance of the occasion. As He often does, God chose to accomplish His purposes in the very face of ungodly human motives and desires. In Matthew 14:14-21 the Lord’s plan continues to unfold flawlessly according to His perfect divine will.

THE DEEDS OF PIETY

And when He went ashore, He saw a great multitude, and felt compassion for them, and healed their sick. (14:14)

As Jesus went ashore, He saw a great multitude, whose men alone numbered five thousand, “aside from women and children” (v. 21). Because women seemed especially drawn to Jesus, it is likely many of them came together in groups or with their fathers or brothers—in addition to those who came with their husbands and children. Children were considered a great blessing from the Lord, and most families in those days were large. It is therefore not unreasonable to estimate that the total crowd exceeded twenty-five thousand.

The normal inclination would have been to ignore the people and keep going or to have dismissed the multitude, telling them that no healings or other signs would be performed. It would have been easy to go so far into the hills that most of the people could not have followed or to go back into the boat and head for a location where they would not be discovered.

But Jesus did not follow the usual human inclinations and, although He was exhausted and in great need of rest, He was drawn to them because He felt compassion for them. Splanchnizomai (to have compassion) means literally to be moved in one’s bowels, or viscera, where the ancients considered the emotions and feelings to reside. The Son of God was not remote or coldly calculating and analytical concerning men’s needs but was deeply moved by the suffering, confusion, despair, and spiritual lostness of those around Him. Jesus felt pain, experiencing genuine anguish for the suffering of others, whether they were believer or unbeliever, Jew or Gentile, man or woman, young or old, wealthy or poor. He must have felt much as He did when He approached Lazarus’s grave and wept (John 11:35) and when He looked out over Jerusalem through tears and said, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes” (Luke 19:42). He represented the compassionate heart of God even more fully than had Jeremiah, who declared to rebellious Judah, “But if you will not listen to [God’s warning], my soul will sob in secret for such pride; and my eyes will bitterly weep and flow down with tears” (Jer. 13:17).

In His great mercy, Christ extended His compassion even to the shallow, self-centered thrill seekers. He again revealed the loving heart of God toward those who would not understand or believe and who He knew would ultimately reject Him. The Lord likewise empowered the apostles to cure disease, cast out demons, and heal the crippled and afflicted—with no restrictions or qualifications (Matt. 10:1)—rather than to demonstrate God’s power by moving buildings from one place to another or by doing other such dazzling but impersonal wonders. That kind of miracle would have demonstrated the Lord’s power, but it would have shown nothing of His compassion and mercy.

Jesus also felt compassion because of His perfect perception of hell and the torment those would face who did not receive Him. Even as He lovingly healed their bodies, He had infinitely greater concern to heal their souls. Even after Jesus healed a body, it could become sick or crippled again. But when He heals a sin-diseased soul, it is forever freed from sin’s dominion and penalty.

Arrhstos (sick) means to be weak, without strength. These afflicted ones whom Jesus healed obviously made a special effort to follow Him around the northern end of the Sea of Galilee. Most of them probably had to be carried or helped along by relatives or friends, and they arrived many hours after the rest of the crowd. Above all else they wanted to be healed by this Man who had such compassionate power.

Jesus postponed His rest, His privacy, His time alone with the disciples, and even His time with His Father in order to meet the needs of those helpless people who suffered.

THE DULLNESS OF PERSPECTIVE

And when it was evening, the disciples came to Him, saying, “The place is desolate, and the time is already past; so send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” (14:15-17)

The Jews had two periods of evening, one from three to six and the other from six to nine. This was the first evening, which was just prior to sunset. Because of the lateness in the day, the disciples were concerned about what the crowd would have to eat. The place was desolate, many miles from the nearest town, which, in any case, could not have provided food for such a vast horde of people. Not only was it near the end of the day, but the long trip had doubtlessly made the people hungrier than usual.

From John’s account we learn that Jesus had brought up the matter of feeding the multitude much earlier in the day. Even while the “great multitude was coming to Him,” Jesus had said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?” (John 6:5). Jesus did not ask Philip the question in order to get advice but “to test him; for He Himself knew what He was intending to do” (v. 6). Philip was from that area and would most likely have known what food would have been available; but Jesus was hoping Philip would look to Him rather than to human and earthly resources. Unfortunately, Philip was more awed at the magnitude of the crowd than the magnitude of Jesus’ power, and he responded incredulously, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little” (v. 7). A denarius was the normal day’s wage for a common laborer, but it was obvious that nearly six month’s of such wages would not be enough to feed the thousands of people that were assembled. Philip knew they did not have a fraction of the money needed to buy enough food, even if they bought the cheapest bread available.

Either at this point or later in the day, Andrew discovered a small boy who had “five barley loaves and two fish”; but, like Philip, he was quick to express his despair: “but what are these for so many people?” (John 6:8-9). Apparently the Lord let Philip and Andrew continue to think about His request during the rest of the day, while He was healing the multitudes and also “speaking to them about the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:11). He provided a day-long test of the disciples’ faith.

As we look back on the scene from our two-thousand-year vantage point, it seems impossible that even when Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” the idea of His feeding the people miraculously did not enter the disciples’ minds. Seeing no further than their own resources, they replied, We have here only five loaves and two fish. It would seem to have required so little faith and to have been so natural for the disciples to expect Jesus to feed the crowd. But they were like a person who stands in front of Niagara Falls and asks where he can find a drink. They were face to face with the supreme power in the universe and yet were spiritually blind. They knew it, but they did not know it. Had anyone asked them if Jesus could do such a thing, their answer would have been an unhesitating and unanimous, “Of course He can!” But even when prompted by Jesus’ suggestion, they saw their own lack instead of His sufficiency.

We are tempted to think that, had we been there, our first thought would have been to ask Jesus to feed the multitudes, as He had proved Himself capable of doing hundreds of times. What could have been a more obvious solution than to have the Son of God create food to feed this crowd, just as He had created wine for the wedding guests at Cana? That would hardly have been an impossible challenge to the One who healed every sort of disease, raised the dead, cast out demons, walked on water, and instantaneously calmed a fierce storm. Yet, how many times has every believer faced a crisis that seemed overwhelming and insurmountable and failed to consider the Lord’s power?

Despite two years of walking with the Lord, hearing Him teach God’s truth and seeing Him demonstrate miraculous power, the twelve were too spiritually dull to see the obvious. They were looking only with their human eyes and only at human resources.

THE DISPLAY OF POWER

And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” And ordering the multitudes to recline on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave to the multitudes, and they all ate, and were satisfied. And they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. And there were about five thousand men who ate, aside from women and children. (14:18-21)

Here is the primary focus of the story, in which the disciples’ dullness of perspective is overruled by Jesus’ display of power.

No doubt with sadness in His eyes, Jesus said, “Bring them here to Me,” referring to the loaves and fish. He had to tell the disciples to do what, by this time, should have been second nature to them. He was saying, in effect, “I knew that you did not have sufficient food or money to feed the people, and I knew that you had no way of getting it. I never expected you to feed them from your own resources or by your own power. In asking you to feed them I was asking you to trust Me. Without having to tell you, I was giving you the opportunity to bring to Me what little you had and trust Me for the rest.”

The northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee is often beautiful and green with grass in the spring of the year. But instead of sitting, the people had been standing up in order to see and hear and Jesus better. He therefore ordered the multitudes to recline on the grass, to make themselves more comfortable and to make distribution of the food easier. He sat them prasiai prasiai (which literally means “garden bed by garden bed”), in groups of hundreds and fifties (Mark 6:40), allowing paths between the groups for the disciples to walk while serving. In their brightly-colored garments the crowd must have resembled an enormous mosaic of flower beds or a gigantic quilt spread across the hillside.

The people probably had little if any idea why they were so carefully seated in groups. The disciples may have guessed why, but they still did not know how When the people were seated, Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish; but before He performed the miracle He had planned all along, looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, giving thanks to His heavenly Father (John 6:6, 11; cf. 1 Tim. 4:3-5).

Then the Lord broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, who, in turn, gave to the multitudes, and they all ate. We are not told exactly at what moment the miracle took place. Apparently it was a continuous multiplication that occurred as the disciples walked among the groups distributing the food. The men could not possibly have carried containers large enough to hold all the food, even with it divided into twelve parts. There was no fanfare and no dramatic change from little to much. The miracle was all but invisible, its magnitude being evident only as the thousands of people all ate.

Chortaz (to be satisfied) was used of animals who stayed at the feed trough until they wanted nothing more to eat. Jesus uses the same term in the Beatitudes when He promises that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness “shall be satisfied” (Matt. 5:6). Because the multiplied barley loaves and fish were divinely created, the satisfaction the people experienced must have been like no other in their lives. This food was perfect, not tainted by the Fall and its consequent corruption of all the earth through sin.

There was more than enough food to satisfy the multitudes, and a considerable amount was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full baskets. After the food had been distributed among the groups, each disciple had a basket of food left for himself, out of which he could share with Jesus! In the great economy of God, there was neither too little nor too much.

As already noted, the fact that there were about five thousand men who ate, aside from women and children, indicates the total crowd could have been as large as twenty-five thousand.

Although Matthew does not mention it, at this point the people were so awed at Jesus’ power that they tried “to come and take Him by force, to make Him king” (John 6:15). Here was a Man who not only could heal all their diseases but could deliver them from the constant work and preparation needed to put food in all their stomachs—all with but a word, and sometimes even without a word. They were convinced beyond doubt that Jesus was their kind of Messiah, and they were determined to crown Him king. They were right that He was the Messiah; but they were wrong about the kind of Messiah He was. He was not the political deliver or food supplier they were expecting, and His coronation was not in their power to perform. During the present age, as Jesus later declared, His “kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

The great multitude that day was composed of three groups: the twelve disciples, the believing remnant among the multitudes, and the vast majority of unbelievers. In regard to each group we can discern many spiritual lessons.

The twelve were established. The twelve disciples were the constant object of Jesus’ concern, instruction, and training. It was upon their shoulders that the establishing of His church would soon fall, and He knew the time of their training for this task was short. From this one incident alone, He taught them a number of important principles and truths.

First, He gave them the example of withdrawing from needless danger. Martyrdom or any other type of suffering that is sought as a form of self-glory is not endured for the sake of the Lord. The disciples also learned the importance of rest and solitude, even when in the midst of serving the Lord. Sometimes, as here, rest cannot be attained in the way or at the time we prefer; but even the Lord in His humanity did not escape the need for rest, solace, and refreshment. The twelve learned the importance of spending time away from work with those with whom one labors. Coworkers need special time together to support one another and to share needs and feelings.

Jesus also confirmed the disciples’ need to show compassion for those in need, even when the needy are fickle and undeserving. The Son of God selflessly met the needs of the multitude that day, although He knew that most of them would soon lose interest in Him and fall away. He taught them that, as important as rest and leisure are, these must sometimes be sacrificed to meet the even more important needs of others. The believer has no inalienable rights to personal freedom and benefits. Everything we have, including our own needs and rights, should be expendable in serving others in Christ’s name (see 1 Cor. 9).

Jesus taught the disciples that, in meeting the physical needs of others, they were also to minister the truth of the kingdom. A “social gospel” that does not witness to men’s need for spiritual salvation through Christ is no gospel at all (see Gal. 1:6-9).

Jesus taught the disciples to do things in an orderly and careful manner, just as God does (1 Cor. 14:33,40). Along with the lesson of orderliness was the even more important lesson of obeying the Lord even when the reason cannot be seen. The twelve were told to divide the multitude into groups of fifties and hundreds (Mark 6:40) before they knew the purpose for doing it. And after Jesus blessed the loaves and fish and handed them to the disciples, the food probably did not begin to multiply until it was distributed. The miracle became effective only as the disciples obeyed Jesus’ command.

Jesus also demonstrated God’s great generosity in providing enough food for every person to be fully satisfied, yet with an economy of stewardship that allowed no waste. Ours is a God of abundant providence, who does not give stingily. The ministry of God’s servants should also be characterized by giving without reserve or measure, considering the needs of others before our own. Before the disciples knew that food would be left for them, they obediently gave all they had to the multitudes. Just as the food did not begin to multiply until after the disciples started to distribute it, their own needs were not met until they had met the needs of others. The little bit of food Jesus handed to the disciples was far short of enough to feed even twelve men. It was one little boy’s lunch. But in obedience to Jesus, they gave away even what little they had.

The supreme lesson for the disciples was to learn to trust God to supply what seems impossible. Even after pondering all day over Jesus’ instruction for them to feed the crowd themselves, the thought of turning to Him did not enter their heads. Like most of us, they were still inclined to look everywhere but to Him, even after having experienced so many previous miracles. And within that lesson was the lesson that, although God is perfectly able to do His work without us and without what we have, He chooses to use us and our meager resources to magnify His goodness and His power.

God’s plan of redemption involves the witness, the work, and the means of those who belong to Him. In His infinite wisdom, the Lord most fully manifests His power through our weakness and His abundance through our poverty (1 Cor. 1:26-29). God often uses the small things to greater effectiveness than the things that are thought to be the greatest and most promising.

As the song goes, “Little becomes much in the Master’s hand.” God used a baby’s cry to move the heart of Pharaoh’s daughter and a shepherd’s crook to work mighty miracles in Egypt. He used a boy and his slingshot to slay Goliath and rout the Philistine army. He used a poverty-stricken widow to sustain Elijah and a young girl to lead the leprous Naaman to Elisha. He used Balaam’s donkey to teach His truth and the jawbone of another donkey to slay a thousand men. He used a little child to teach His disciples humility, and He used one boy’s lunch to feed twenty-five thousand people.

The faithful remnant was confirmed. Among the huge multitude were a few who had already trusted in Christ for salvation and who followed Him to the other side of the lake not to be healed or entertained but to be spiritually blessed. There were also those who sought and received salvation. The next day some of them asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” and begged, “Lord, evermore give us this bread” (John 6:28,34). That elect remnant saw God’s divine power at work in Jesus and glorified Him. With their spiritual eyes they not only saw the crowds being fed but the Lord’s compassion being manifested. They saw Jesus’ great integrity and stewardship. He did not resort to spectacular demonstrations that mesmerized His audience, like so many charlatans and false healers have done and continue to do. They also saw a manifestation of the kingdom of God, because they saw the King Himself at work. They saw the King graciously minister to His subjects and even to those who would not have Him as their sovereign.

The unbelieving rejecters were revealed. By far the greatest amount of soil on which the gospel of the kingdom fell that day was hard and thorny. Most of the people saw nothing more than what seemed an amazing feat of magic. They saw the human Jesus plainly, but they could not see the divine Son of God at all. They had their stomachs filled to a satisfaction they had never before experienced; but they did not have so much as a taste of the Bread of Life. They left physically filled but spiritually empty. Because they had received great light from God but preferred darkness, they went home further from Him and in greater sin than when they came. They came there for what Jesus could give them; but their self-indulgent, unbelieving hearts prevented them from receiving His greatest gift of all.