From the desk of Pastor Ben

Jesus Feeds the 5,000

“Ordering the people to sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food, and breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, and they all ate and were satisfied.”         (Matthew 14:19-20a)

The people who had been standing on the beautiful, grassy northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee to better see and hear Jesus, likely had little idea why He was now telling them to sit down in such carefully arranged groups. The apostles might have finally guessed that Jesus was going to feed the crowd, but they still did not know exactly how.
But, the Lord’s divinely backed method, immediately became apparent to the twelve. After He blessed the food and gave thanks for it, Jesus broke the loaves, gave them to the apostles, and had them distribute the bread to the people seated. The text does not tell us precisely when the miracle occurred. A continuous multiplication of the food evidently took place as the disciples distributed it among the people. The miracle was probably not even noticed at first, with no fanfare or dramatic change from little food to much. But the stunning magnitude of the miracle quickly became clear as the thousands of people all had food to eat.
Because God, through His Son, created the multiplied bread and fish, the crowd’s satisfaction must have been the best the people had ever experienced. Here, Matthew uses the same word for satisfaction as Jesus used in the Beatitudes when He promised those who hunger and thirst for righteousness “shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5:5). All those who in faith partake of God’s provision will never ultimately be dissatisfied.

Ask Yourself:
Strange, isn’t it, that even though we’re all seeking the satisfaction of being filled and content, we so often seek it in ways that are not capable of providing it. Why do we expect fulfillment from anything other than on-going fellowship with Christ? Why do we doubt that we’ll find it in Him?