Luke 9:12-17 FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISH FEED FIVE THOUSAND PLUS

FIVE LOAVES AND TWO FISH

FEED FIVE THOUSAND PLUS

Luke 9:12-17

The feeding of the 5,000 men plus women and children is the only miracle of Jesus, other than the resurrection, recorded in all four of the gospels. (Matt. 14:15–21; Mark 6:35–44; John 6:4–13)

Luke 9:12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.

Susan: The Twelve felt intimate and comfortable enough with Jesus to offer Him advice. They saw that evening was getting close and pointed out to Him that they were in a desolate, isolated area; and they urged Jesus to send the people away so they could find food and a place to stay for the night.

Luke 9:13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.

Susan: To their advice, Jesus answered, “No, I want you to provide food for them.” They replied that all they had to share with the enormous multitude is fives loaves of bread and two measly fish.

Susie: Where did they get the bread and fish? John explains further:

John 6:7-9 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

Susan: One little boy’s lunch was not going to cut it, and the idea of buying food for over 5,000 people was preposterous.

Luke 9:14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.

Susie: Jesus never really answered the question of whether to go out and try to make a deal for food or how to meet the need. Instead He commanded the disciples to organize the people into groups of about fifty each and have them sit down.

Luke 9:15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.

Susan: The disciples may have remembered Mary’s instructions to the servants at the wedding in Cana just before Jesus turned the water into wine, “Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it” (John 2:5). They immediately obeyed instructions and organized the crowd.

Luke 9:16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.

Susan: Jesus looked toward Heaven, the Source of His power, and blessed the Father for His provision for the people.

Susie: Then Jesus broke the bread and fish into smaller pieces and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. The Bible does not tell us if they kept coming back to Jesus for refills or if the food just continuously multiplied in their baskets so that they never ran out. 

Luke 9:17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.

Susan: Jesus did not just set out food for the crowd on a first come, first served basis. Every individual there ate until they were satisfied.

Susie: And after everyone had filled their bellies, the disciples gathered up the leftovers. John’s Gospel clarifies that Jesus commanded them to pick up the food that was left.

John 6:12 (CJB) After they had eaten their fill, he told his talmidim, “Gather the leftover pieces, so that nothing gets wasted.”

Susie: This may not have been just to show that He provided more than enough. It was not proper to throw out leftovers:

Complete Jewish Study Bible note on John 6:12

According to halakhah, traditional Jewish law, the destruction of food was prohibited. In feeding the multitudes, Messiah honors the edicts of Judaism by stating, “Gather the leftover pieces so that nothing gets wasted.”

Susie: We are not told what they did with the twelve baskets of food. Perhaps they used them for their own journey the next day or distributed them to the local needy people, but they had seen that Jesus was able to provide abundantly for their needs.

Susan: The disciples were learning that Jesus was guaranteed to have their backs in every situation as they walked in obedience to His will.

Ponder this and Apply it: The men closest to Jesus, the Twelve, looked around and tried to find a logical solution to feeding the crowd. There was no good answer. This was an opportunity for Jesus to demonstrate His ability to supply all their needs. When the situation looks impossible, when there seems to be no earthly solution to your problems, stop looking around you and look up to the Father. Many times, His provision comes in unusual ways. Live in obedience to His will and ways, and the answers will come in HIS time and HIS way.