Believe and Live

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

6 After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. 2 And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. 3 Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. 4 Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. 5 Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” 6 He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” 10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” 15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

Jesus is approachable.

Here we see Jesus making a planned effort to sit with his disciples.

And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. Jesus goes up with His disciples into the heights to the east of the Sea of Galilee now known as the Golan Heights. Mark 6:31 indicates that He wishes to provide a time of rest and spiritual renewal for Himself and the Twelve. They have just returned from their preaching mission while Jesus, Himself, has been involved in His great Galilean ministry (Mk. 2–5) and has only recently been informed of the execution of John the Baptist. These circumstances make such a time of retirement desirable. That Jesus “sits” with the disciples indicates that He is teaching and instructing them. Perhaps He is explaining to them the significance of John’s death and its implications for His own ministry and theirs.

Jesus proclaims his approachability in such words as these, “Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Way. Truth. Life.

Jesus knows the situation.

We can approach him in faith knowing he already knows.

Philip, a native of Bethsaida (1:44), the nearest village (Lk. 9:10), is a logical choice for such a question; however, John lets his readers in on a secret. He points out parenthetically that Jesus already knows what He is going to do and that He only asks this question to test Philip. Does Philip really understand who Jesus is? Will He be able to approach the question from the perspective of Christ’s supernatural power?

"God never hurries. There are no deadlines against which he must work. Only to know this is to quiet our spirits and relax our nerves."

- A. W. Tozer.

Jesus is sustainer.

We can approach him in faith knowing he can sustain.

The actual miracle apparently occurred as Jesus blessed the loaves and fishes before He distributed them to the disciples.

‘No man can destroy anything. Since the world began, not a single particle of matter has ever been annihilated. You may cast matter into the depths of the sea, but there it is; it still exists. Cast it into the fire, and the fire consumes it: but either in the ash or in the smoke, every atom survives. Fire does not destroy a single particle. There is as much matter in the world now as when God first spoke it out of nothing. It is as great an exercise of divinity to destroy as it is to create.” Spurgeon

“Know that the Lord is God alone—

He can create and he destroy.”

In the regeneration of every soul there is a destruction as well as a creation. The old man has to be destroyed—the stony heart has to be taken away out of our flesh;