Jesus sure knew how to draw a crowd! In this next Gospel story, Jesus and his disciples find themselves with a dilemma — there’s a huge crowd of people, it’s getting late, no one’s eaten yet and there’s nowhere to get food. What’s a Messiah to do? Let’s dig in…
Mark 6:30-44 – Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
30 The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. 31 Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat.
32 So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. 33 But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them. 34 Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. 36 Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”
37 But Jesus said, “You feed them.”
“With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”
38 “How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.”
They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.
41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. 42 They all ate as much as they wanted, 43 and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. 44 A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed.
Mark 6:30-44 NLT
Revealing Who Jesus Is
Remember how Mark opened his Gospel? “This is the Good News about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.” With each story, Mark is unveiling who Jesus is. This story of the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 appears in all 4 Gospels. Given that fact, it means that…
- It’s true
- There were many eye witnesses
- You can believe it.
What’s Going On?
- The APOSTLES returned from their missionary journey. Notice this the first time the disciples are called “apostles”. The word “apostle” means “messenger” “sent forth” in Greek. That’s what they were. They were sent out to proclaim the message of the Good News of the Salvation of Jesus Christ.
- Jesus suggested they go somewhere quiet to rest. Rest is good. We all need to re-energize ourselves.
- There were many people coming and going. This sets the time of year as near the Passover and people were preparing to go to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. They were in Galilee and there was a Roman road that led to the Holy City.
- The people recognized them. The Apostles had been traveling and preaching all over and they were with Jesus.
- Jesus had compassion for them. Here we see the Good Shepherd. He saw the people like sheep with no shepherd. They had lots of lousy leaders — kings, priests, governors, etc. — but no one really cared for them or about them. They had no shepherd.
- Rather than be annoyed with the people, Jesus showed compassion. Yet, the disciples didn’t get it.
Jesus tells the disciples to arrange the people in to groups of 50 or 100 in the GREEN grass. Why mention that the grass was green? I’m taken back to Psalm 23…
The Lord is my shepherd;
Psalm 23 NLT
I have all that I need.
2 He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
3 He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
4 Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
5 You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.
Also, when Moses is handing the baton of leadership to Joshua (Yeshua), we have God saying…
17 Give them someone who will guide them wherever they go and will lead them into battle, so the community of the Lord will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
Numbers 27:17 NLT
In Ezekiel 34 God proclaims…
5 So my sheep have been scattered without a shepherd, and they are easy prey for any wild animal.
Ezekiel 34:5 NLT
Jesus is the Good Shepherd!
5 Loaves and 2 Fish
Here we have a miracle of multiplication, which several were documented in the Old Testament. First we have Elijah and the widow in 1 Kings 17. Then we have Elijah’s successor, Elisha, in 2 Kings 4 with similar miracles.
What did Jesus do?
He…
- took the 5 loaves and 2 fish, looked up toward heaven and blessed them. Do you thank God for each and every meal? He did provide it, you know!
- broke the loaves into pieces and kept giving them to the disciples to distribute.
- divided the fish for everyone to share.
All the people ate as much as they wanted! Furthermore, they had 12 baskets of leftovers! 12! One for each disciple!
Besides that, all together 5000 men and their families were fed. So, figure 15,000 – 20,000 people!
The Good Shepherd…
- Sacrifices His Life for His Sheep
- Protects His Sheep
- Feeds and Provides for His Sheep
- Leads His Sheep to Green Pastures and Gentle Streams
- Teaches us How to Live Full and Abundant Lives
Who do YOU Follow?!
Isn’t it about time you invited Him into your life? What are you waiting for?!
Invite Jesus into Your Heart and Receive the Gift of Grace, Joy, Peace, and the Confident Hope of Eternal Life…
Miracles
The House of God Forever
Top by Good News Productions International from FreeBibleImages.org. (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)
