13When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” 16But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” 18He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 men is the only miracle that occurs in all four Gospels. The purpose of this miracle was to demonstrate to the disciples the kind of ministry they could expect for themselves. Jesus delivered His bread of life message after this event (Jn 6).
14:13
When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.
When Jesus heard the report of Herod’s thinking about His miracles, He withdrew to an out-of-the-way area. This “place” was near Bethsaida.
But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.
The crowds followed Jesus on foot, watching His boat as they went.
14:14
And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.
Jesus did not resent the crowds following Him but bestowed compassion instead.
14:15
When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late.
Evening is after 3:00 p.m. in the afternoon. Since people walked everywhere, it would take time to go to the cities for a meal.
Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”
The disciples thought simply in terms of the mechanics of finding a restaurant.
14:16
But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You [emphatic] give them something to eat.”
Jesus knew very well that they did not have adequate restaurant facilities for feeding 5,000 men. When Jesus said to “give them something to eat,” you can hear the disciples say, “With what?!”
14:17
And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
The resources of the disciples were limited. Bread and fish were staples of diet at this time. “Loaves” were more like buns than loaves as we have them today.
14:18
He said, “Bring them here to Me.”
The role of the disciples was to bring their limited resources to Jesus.
14:19
Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.
Jesus understood that the resources came from the Father, so He pointed His thanks to the Father.
14:20
So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained.
There was plenty of food, so much so that there was a lot left over. “Baskets” here are small baskets, little baskets people took on journeys.
14:21
Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Jesus fed 5,000 men, but women and children were there as well. There were probably more than 10,000 people fed. All four Gospels record this miracle. The fact of the miracle is incidental. The main purpose is to establish Jesus’ credibility as the Messiah.
PRINCIPLE:
We have resources beyond ourselves.
APPLICATION:
All God expects of us is to do what we can with what we have. We have resources beyond ourselves. God’s commands are equivalent to His enablement.
