Matthew 14:13-21 – Jesus Feeds 5000: Miracle of Loaves…

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Matthew 14:13-21

(13) When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. (14) And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. (15) When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” (16) But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” (17) And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.” (18) He said, “Bring them here to Me.” (19) Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. (20) So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. (21) Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

Mark 6:30-44

(30) Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. (31) And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. (32) So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. (33) But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. (34) And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. (35) When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. (36) Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat.” (37) But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” (38) But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” And when they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” (39) Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. (40) So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. (41) And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. (42) So they all ate and were filled. (43) And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. (44) Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men.

Luke 9:10-17

(10) And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done. Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. (11) But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing. (12) When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, “Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here.” (13) But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.” (14) For there were about five thousand men. Then He said to His disciples, “Make them sit down in groups of fifty.” (15) And they did so, and made them all sit down. (16) Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them,and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude. (17) So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

John 6:1-14

(1) After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. (2) Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased. (3) And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples. (4) Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near. (5) Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” (6) But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. (7) Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” (8) One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, (9) “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” (10) Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. (11) And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. (12) So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” (13) Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. (14) Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
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Just prior to this miracle (Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-14), the people anticipated where Jesus was headed. By walking along the north shore of the Sea of Galilee, the crowds joined Him, and He, feeling compassion, healed their sick. When evening came, the disciples sought to send the crowds away because supplies in that remote place were inadequate to feed so many. Despite having only five loaves of bread and two fish at hand, Jesus desired to give them something to eat, and with just these, He performed an astounding miracle. The bread and fish continually multiplied so that everyone was satisfied—so much that twelve basketfuls of broken pieces were left over.

This took place at Bethsaida just before the Passover (John 6:4). Jesus primarily intended this miracle to teach the disciples, although a witness of the Son of God’s power had also been impressed upon the multitude. In it, Jesus illustrated the kind of ministry His disciples would conduct after His departure: feeding people with spiritual food, and their source would be Christ Himself. They would have to replenish their supply of spiritual food continually by maintaining a close relationship with Him, but they would be responsible for feeding their congregations.

— Martin G. Collins

To learn more, see:
The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Feeding the Five Thousand (Part Two)