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The miracle of “five loaves and two fishes” (Mk 6:30-44)
This miracle is also recorded in Matt 14:13-21; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14.
(the needs of the disciples)
This passage is the continuation of Mark 6:7-13, where Jesus sent the twelve disciples out to preach, to heal the sick and to drive out demons. Now they returned to Jesus and shared with him “both what they had done, and what they had taught” (v1). By this time, they had been busy serving the crowd for a length of time. They could not even squeeze out time to rest and eat. So Jesus wanted to bring along the disciples and leave the crowd secretly to the desert so as to allow them time to rest and eat: “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” (v31) Luke 9:10 tells us, “And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida,”. They went by ship, not on foot--to keep the crowd from following them.(v32) John 6:1 tells us that they “went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.”
However, the people seemed to know where they were going as they saw them leaving. “And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.” (v32) In John 6:2-3, we are told that “a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.” As they knew the place where their ship was heading for, they tried to catch them up by walking to the other side of the sea. As they met Jesus and the disciples on the other side, they followed them up the mountain. Some even “outwent them” and waited for them to arrive on the other side.
As everyone lied on the mountain, the disciples were exhausted and hungry for sure. The crowd simply did not permit them any rest. If you were one of the disciples, how would you feel the moment you faced the crowd? While you are trying to escape the crowd and retreat to a quiet place for a rest, you are surprised to see the crowd awaiting you there! You must be kind of unhappy and upset. At this time you have no way of escaping the crowd. Wherever you go, they just follow you all the way and wait for you to serve them. It’s like a doctor who keeps on seeing patients while other patients keep entering the clinic for treatment. If you were the doctor, would you just put up a sign to stop the patients from entering, or to serve them till the last one. In face of the multitude waiting for service again, what is Jesus’ response in this situation?
(the needs of the people)
Mark 6:34 is a remarkable verse, since it reflects Jesus’ beautiful character of being compassionate: “And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep, not having a shepherd.” Why was he moved with compassion when seeing the crowd again? The answer is that he sees things differently. He saw their needs greater than his own needs. He saw their spiritual need far more important than the physical need of his disciples. He was touched because the crowd showed their willingness and persistence to hear from him by spending great effort to run ahead of him by another path. They really “hungered” for his teaching. Hence, putting aside his disciples’ physical need, “he began to teach them many things” (v34). Besides, some of them brought the sick with them. Some were sick and strived to walk the long way for Jesus’ healing. Matthew 14:14 said that Jesus “saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.” In Luke 9:11, both Jesus’ teaching and healing were mentioned: “he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.” He saw the crowd as sheep without a shepherd to guide them back to the sheep pen. The sheep somehow got lost, not knowing where their sheep pen was. He had the burden of being their shepherd and bringing them back to the sheep pen. As the Great Shepherd of the souls, Jesus perceived the spiritual hunger of the multitiude. So he immediately “spake unto them of the kingdom of God” and filled their spiritual hunger with spiritual food.
When “the day was now far spent” (v35) (Matt 14:15, “when it was evening”), the crowd still tarried in the desert place and had no intention of quitting. The real issue of their physical life cropped up: What about their physical hunger? The disciples suggested to their Master, “This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.” (v35-36) What did Jesus have in mind? He answered the disciples, “Give ye them to eat.” (v37) This reply of Jesus really shocked the disciples, not to mention of throwing back to them such a tough issue. The disciples’ proposal was not a bad one. Since their hungry problem could be solved by themselves, just let them buy food for themselves. So why didn’t Jesus accept their proposal? Although all four Gospels recorded this incident of “feeding the five thousand” and none of the accounts mentioned that Jesus had compassion over their hunger, his refusal to accept the disciples’ idea followed by feeding the crowd with a great miracle showed evidence of his compassion for their physical need. To be sure, Jesus faced a similar situation later on in Mark 8, where Jesus was also in a wild area with a multitude of four thousand hungry people.(Mark 8:9) His heart was filled with compassion again: “Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat. And if I send them away fasting to their own houses (我若打發他們餓著回家), they will faint by the way, for divers of them came from far (因為其中有從遠處來的).” (Mark 8:1-3) That explained the reason why Jesus refused to send the people away to buy food for themselves.
(not enough money)
When Jesus said, “Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, ‘Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread (二十兩銀子的餅), and give them to eat?’ ” (v37) According to John 6:5-7, “When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, ‘Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?’ And this he said to prove him (要試驗腓力), for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, ‘Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.’ ” How much is 200 pennies? If we consider one penny for one day's wage of a labourer (Matt 20:2, "when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard."), 200 pennies means 200 days (about 6 months) of a labourer's wage. The disciples estimated that even if they had 200 pennies handy to buy the bread, that was still not enough for everyone to have a little bite. The question is: how could they get this much money to feed their stomach right now? Besides, Mark 6:44 tells us that there were actually about five thousand men, not counting the women and the kids. (Matt 14:21, “about five thousand men, beside women and children”) By rough estimation, the total number of people should be no less than six to seven thousand.
(not enough food)
Since money at hand could not solve the food problem, Jesus asked the disciples, “ ‘How many loaves have ye? Go and see.’ And when they knew, they say, ‘Five, and two fishes.’ ” (v38) Now John 6:8-9 tells us who owned that five loaves and two fishes: “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?’ ” Now we know that the five loaves and two small fishes were offered by a kid. He brought the food by himself, probably just enough to feed a couple families. Yes, for the need of five thousand men, plus the women and the children, two hundred pennyworth of bread could barely give each person a bite. How little amount was the five loaves and two fishes! If you were the lad, would you be so willing to offer your own food when the disciples shouted to the crowd, “Who brought any food with you? Please give us.”? I believe that there could be some who brought the food but kept for themselves and their own families. The disciples had no right to demand food from them. It’s all up to their willingness to offer their food. It happened that when the disciples searched for food from within the crowd, Andrew was handed the five loaves and two fishes by the kid.
(more than enough)
As mentioned above, when Jesus asked his disciples, “Give ye them to eat” (v37), John 6:6 gives us extra information, “And this he said to prove him (要試驗腓力): for he himself knew what he would do.” Be it the disciples or Philip, Jesus was to give a test for the disciples. What sort of test is it? We know that Jesus was about to perform a great miracle before thousands of people, “And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. And they did all eat, and were filled.” (v41-42) The lesson behind this miracle is obvious: to believe that simply by praying to the Heavenly Father, He can supply sufficient amount of food to feed the huge crowd. As a result, over 5,000 people were fed. Everyone’s stomach was full with some leftover! How much? “And they (the disciples) took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.” (v43) God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us” (Ephe 3:20). (神能照著運行在我們心裏的大力，充充足足地成就一切超過我們所求所想的。) It all depends on the amount of faith we have toward our Heavenly Father. When we are helpless, will we consider trusting our Lord to help us solve our problems? This is the test that Jesus gave the disciples.
When Jesus rejected the disciples’ idea, he not only tested their faith of trusting him but at the same time tested the crowd as well. Nevertheless, he was not testing the faith of the crowd. He was testing their willingness to offer the food they had for God’s use to meet others’ needs. Jesus did not care how little they could offer, he just wanted to see if they had the heart to do so. Sadly, only a kid was willing to offer all the food he had with him. In this miracle, Jesus wanted everyone to know that the five loaves and two small fishes was only a small tool in his hands. Yet he cherished each loaf of bread and each small fish, since even one loaf of bread or one small fish can turn into a rich blessing in his hands. Who is pleased by God most in this incident? Not Philip, nor Andrew, nor other disciples, nor the crowd, but the kid.
(Implications)
In summary, there are a few things that are worth our learning:
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The multitude came all the way to Jesus for his teaching. We should examine our own selves to see if we have that kind of hunger for God’s word. Matt 5:6 says, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” If we do hunger for God’s word, Jesus will certainly do all his best to satisfy our spiritual need.
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We are to learn from Jesus to have compassion over the physical needs of the needy and, more significantly, the spiritual needs of those who hunger for God’s word. To address the immediate need of the needy, we may have to set aside our own immediate need. With regard to their spiritual needs, this may also imply that we have to better equip ourselves spiritually so as to address their spiritual needs whenever such need arises.
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When it is beyond our capability to solve the problem, we should learn not to rely on our own strength but on the power of our Lord. When Jesus asked the disciples to solve the food problem for the people, they could in no way solve the problem with the few resources from them or from the people. Jesus meant that they should look upon the Lord’s power to help them solve the problem. Mark 10:27 says, “With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.”
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We are to learn to exercise faith that a minor thing in God’s hand can turn into rich blessing for many through prayer.
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We are to learn to dedicate with heart--dedicate our possession in God’s hand to serve the needy.
To execute the Lord’s Great Commission, we should first of all have compassion for the objects of our service. Compassion generates the basic element of service—love. Then we transfer our compassionate heart into love action. We should commit ourselves to dedicate our time, money, properties, energy, skills, knowledge, and even experience…things that can meet the needs of the objects of our service.
Each one of us can have something to devote to God for meeting the need of someone else. Are we among the majority who have nothing to give out, or among some who choose to keep for themselves, or like the kid who sacrifices his own need and purely offers up what he has? We may have all the excuses not to offer anything to our Lord—not ready, not enough, not possible, not willing because it is “ours”, wait for others to offer first, or simply not my business!
No one knows beforehand that Jesus is to perform a great miracle by God’s power. Only one person out of thousands passes the acid test of offering by faith—a kid. The kid does not have great faith to foresee such a miracle to happen. All he has is a simple heart of giving, which is what our Lord requires of us. In Acts 20:35, Paul exhorts us to “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”