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Mark 6:30-44
Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”
32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. 33 But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. 34 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
35 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. 36 Send the people away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
37 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?”
38 “How many loaves do you have?” he asked. “Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five—and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. 41 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 distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. 42 They all ate and were satisfied, 43 and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. 44 The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
It seems clear that from the earliest days of the church, people were aware that during his earthly ministry, Jesus had performed miraculous feedings. All four gospels have accounts of Jesus feeding thousands of people with a little bit of food, and the gospel of Mark has two such accounts.
I suppose it’s true that even today, just about everyone in the western world knows that these miraculous feedings took place. In fact, these stories have entered into our common lexicon. If someone demonstrates that they are particularly resourceful — that they can do a lot with very little, someone around them is likely to quip, “how are you with loaves and fishes?” And for that matter, the production company that produces The Chosen TV series adopted the name ‘Loaves and Fishes’ in its earliest days.
So the stories of the miraculous feedings are well known to us, but there are some details in the stories that we tend to overlook. That means they’re probably well suited to our daily Reflections, since our whole purpose is to take a hard look at Bible stories and ask ourselves what they mean for our lives today. And since Mark is understood to be the original gospel and an eyewitness account, this story from that gospel is probably an ideal one to focus on with that kind of “hard look.”
One thing that’s kind of interesting about this particular account of a miraculous feeding is that it’s portrayed as kind of happening ‘by accident.’ Now, I know there are some folks who will say, “Oh, no – nothing happens by accident or coincidence! God controls it all.” (I don’t happen to buy that belief, but this is not the place to argue about it.) In any case, it seems pretty clear from Mark’s account that Jesus had something very different in mind than a mass rally and a public feeding. The disciples had just come back from a mission Jesus had sent them on, and then he had called them off by themselves to rest and refresh — on a kind of retreat, we might say. But the crowds spotted them and followed, so the planned retreat wound up being cancelled or postponed.
Which is kind of interesting — it suggests to me that Jesus had such a heart for the needs of people that he couldn’t bring himself to pass on an opportunity to share the good news – and a meal – with a big crowd of people.
In any case, at the end of the day, the disciples realized they had thousands of hungry people on their hands. So they suggested to Jesus that the crowd be sent off to find food. Not a very practical suggestion – the countryside in ancient Galilee didn’t have supermarkets where thousands of people could buy food. Even today, turning 4,000 people loose in a small town and telling them to buy dinner wouldn’t work particularly well.
Of course, I suppose you could make the case that what Jesus told the disciples was even more impractical: “You give them something to eat.” That’s where the “loaves and fishes” part comes in. When the disciples took inventory of what they had on hand, all the food they had among them was five loaves of bread and two small fish. And by the way, the loaves were probably like pita, not loaves of bread like we’re used to.
I’m not sure how skeptical the disciples would have been, given that they had already watched Jesus perform miraculous healings and walk on water. Jesus commanded them to tell the people to take a seat, and they divided themselves up into groups in a grassy field nearby. Then he takes the little bit of food, says a prayer over it, and starts handing it out. The result, as we know, is that everyone in the crowd eats their fill and the disciples gather up twelve baskets full of leftovers.
As I read these stories of miraculous feedings, they seem to have two main lessons for us:
First of all, the disciples didn’t think they had the resources to do what Jesus had commanded them to do. The loaves and fishes were an absurdly small amount of food to feed so many people. But Jesus has strange and surprising ways of providing the resources his followers need to do the work he directs us to do.
So the lesson seems to be this: When Jesus tells you to do something, he also provides the resources you need.
The second often-overlooked lesson in this story is that of all the people who were provided for, it was the disciples who were most richly blessed. Thousands of people got a meal, but the disciples each wound up with a whole basket full of food. With our contemporary point of view, we might think, “Yeah, but it’s just leftover bits of bread.” But in a world where people prayed for their daily bread, a whole basket of leftover food would represent truly abundant blessings.
I think we’re meant to see that as a sign of something that Jesus said elsewhere – that those who sacrifice in obedience to him will be provided with much more than they give up.
We understand that the miracles of Jesus are each meant to represent a preview of the kingdom of God when it comes to its fulfillment. A kingdom where all the hungry are fed and the faithful are richly blessed – that’s the kingdom all of us who follow Jesus are challenged to help bring about.
Let’s pray. Lord, we pray that you will help us to hear your call to minister to those in need in your name, and to trust that you will provide the resources we need to do the work you give us to do. Make us willing to sacrifice to serve in your name, trusting that you bless those who serve you faithfully. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
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