More than Food
| By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to Him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." But He answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?" "How many loaves do you have?" He asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five--and two fish." Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, He gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then He gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand. (Mark6:35-44) |
- Matthew frames the account in the context of Jesus just having been told of John the Baptist's death.
- Luke highlights that Jesus welcomed the crowd and ministered to them.
- John tells us about Andrew bringing the boy with the loaves and fish -- and goes on to record Jesus' Bread of Life discourse.
Here are a few observations from Mark's account:
- The disciples' concern for the crowd.
Some suggest they were worried the crowd might become hangry (hungry + angry).
But I think they were simply doing the best they could - they hadn't yet grasped the full magnitude of Jesus' power. - Jesus' response is challenging: "You give them something to eat."
There are at least three ways to understand this:
- Jesus may have felt they were passing the buck - and passed it right back.
- He might have wanted to increase their sense of ownership.
- His question - and their answer - quantifies the size of the problem and the miracle to come. - Sitting down in groups of hundreds and fifties helps explain how they could estimate the size of the crowd.
- Jesus gave thanks for the meal.
Because of this, I always make a point of giving thanks for food. - Twelve baskets were collected.
Perhaps one for each disciple, or a symbolic reference to the twelve tribes of Israel.
Some say the baskets were lunchbox-sized and could be carried around.
One of my mentors, Calvin Cook, suggests that the women wove the baskets from grass while they waited.
Whatever the explanation - the symbolism is powerful: God's provision is abundant.
And in the background, we should remember Psalm 23.
Jesus saw the crowd as sheep without a Shepherd - and He shepherded them in both word and action.
