Luke 9:1–17
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.
7 Now Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was going on. And he was perplexed because some were saying that John had been raised from the dead, 8 others that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9 But Herod said, “I beheaded John. Who, then, is this I hear such things about?” And he tried to see him.
10 When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, 11 but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.
12 Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.”
13 He replied, “You give them something to eat.” They answered, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish—unless we go and buy food for all this crowd.” 14 (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.”15 The disciples did so, and everyone sat down. 16 Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.
The Miracle of Five Loaves and Two Fish
The story of the five loaves and two fish is a familiar story. Many of us learned it very early in Sunday School. Since it is recorded in all four Gospels, it must be an important event. Matthew and Luke provide the shortest version with only 8 verses, while Mark and John give a longer account using 13 and 14 verses, respectively. John gives additional information that the five loaves and the two fish came from a boy, and that Jesus knew from the beginning about what was going to happen. It was meant to be a test for the disciples. Only Luke tells us that the event happened in a remote place near Bethsaida. The setting of this small fishing village on the Northeastern shore of the Lake of Galilee provides a scenario in which both food and accommodation were lacking to serve the 5000 people.
Apparently, there was great need of Jesus as he was busy with teaching the crowd and healing the sick. This was what he usually did wherever he went. Jesus had compassion on the people. Compassion must have been a strong, driving force for Jesus to do this kind of work day in and day out. The need never ends, but if there is no compassion the work cannot be sustained, and will soon become mundane and boring. We have the same situation in the local church. The need is always there as long as there is church. Leaders without compassion cannot continue to serve. The compassion that drove Jesus has to be our driving force too. Otherwise, there will be burn out, complaints, frustrations, and unhappiness.
A few times we can see in the Gospels that Jesus temporarily had to give up time alone with the Father because the need of the people was so large. This time, there was a physical and practical limitation. It was about to get dark, and they were in a remote place. The disciples wanted to send the people away so that they could find food and accommodation. But Jesus wanted to continue because there was unfinished work to do. He gave his disciples an impossible task to find food for the multitude which counted 5000 without even including women and children.
This is mission impossible. They needed a lot of food. I used to share with our church leaders that if a problem can be solved by money, then it’s not a problem. If you have the money, this is true. But if you don’t, the problem remains a problem. The disciples had no money. This was a legitimate problem.
This kind of problem is common in church. Whether we want to do an outreach project for the neighbourhood’s poor, to begin a building project, to hire a new worker, or to send a missions team overseas: It takes money. But where is the money? Jesus said to them: Give them something to eat. We, too, have to solve our problem.
The disciples did not ask Jesus. Did they know him as the source of all riches? Did they know that: “For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him” (Col 1:16)? Instead they chose to solve the problem by themselves, leading to despair and frustrations. Do we see this all the time in the church? Now, with the bold vision of doubling our reach by 2034, it’s also a mission impossible. Are we trying to solve this problem all by ourselves or are we going to turn to God?
Jesus had to help. By performing a miracle, he would not just to feed the 5000, but also teach his disciples a lesson of faith. His first instruction is surprising. It’s not related to food, but people who were instructed to sit in an organized way: in groups of about 50 each. I estimate that there must have been around 200 or so groups sitting down in the wilderness. This detail is mentioned in all four Gospels. Why is this an important detail? Just imagine that probably about 10,000 people were scattered chaotically all over the wilderness. Each one was wondering where to get food but at the same time wanted to hear from Jesus with expectations. The sick were anxious to get healed. They might be surrounding Jesus waiting for their turn. I cannot imagine this being a peaceful scene. There must be noises from people talking, running around, even arguing, and from children crying, or whatever. Jesus wanted to first organize the crowd before doing anything as he knew he was going to perform a miracle. It tells us that God prefers to work in an organized, peaceful and systematic manner. It also tells us that the disciples were very cooperative. They listened to Jesus and did as they were told.
The rest of the miracle was simple as Jesus did not do anything unusual. Giving thanks and distributing the food was what he usually did. This reminds me of how we take the Holy Communion. He gave thanks. He took the loaves and the fish and broke them. He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. He kept on breaking the food and kept on giving it to the disciples, and the disciples kept on distributing it to the people. It’s done in an organized manner. As the miracle continued, the food just kept coming and there was no lack of it.
None of the Gospels focus on how the food was multiplied. This may be something many readers want to know. No Gospel author wrote that there was a mountain of food suddenly appearing in the wilderness. If it had happened this way, I’m sure at least one of the four authors would have seen it and definitely captured it in his report. None of the authors apparently saw such a thing, so nothing of this sort was reported. The food just kept coming. This is a similar to what happened to the widow at Zarephath who fed on the oil and flour that kept coming as a result of her obedience to God (1 Kings 17).
Some people have tried to explain this miracle by suggesting that the multitude had indeed brought food with them and when the time came, they just took out their own food to eat. In this interpretation, it’s not the five loaves and two fish that fed the crowd, but food of their own food. It’s not surprising that people try to explain away a miracle to make it more believable. Skeptics always want to find a worldly way to explain a Godly act. But does a miracle always need an explanation? Can God not do something extraordinary? Can we not just believe what Luke told us? He reported that there was no food other than the five loaves and two fish. Is that not enough for us?
One thing for sure: God was present in their midst. This same God is also present among us when we take the Holy Communion in which there are also prayer, breaking of bread, and distribution of the elements.
I can cite numerous examples of miracles: Someone donated a sum of money which was desperately needed and was just sufficient to fund the neighbourhood outreach project; the authorities waived certain requirements so that we did not need to find extra money to complete the building project; some unknown trade person from another church built us a large wooden cross for free. This is how things happen when God is present among us.
Isn’t it amazing that the five loaves and two fish not only satisfied 5000 people but resulted in 12 baskets of left-over food? This was definitely a masterpiece of God. He wanted his disciples to learn the lesson of faith.
Perhaps Jesus thought, “You guys have no faith in trusting God to find the food for the crowd? Here you go! You now have so much food that each of you can take a basket of it home.” Indeed, every time they saw a basket of food, they would remember. God indeed provides more than what we need. He is the God of abundance. He is the God of Heaven and earth. What we need is faith in him! It just amazes me that year after year, our church reports a short fall in every quarter of the year as we compare revenue against the planned budget. Yet, at the end of the year, there’s always a surplus of revenue over expenditure. It never fails.
The message is to trust God. I am reminded of those less affluent people in church. I’m impressed not only by how much they give in spite of how little they possess, but by their simple faith and love in God. You would never expect that they could give so much, but they love God and give sacrificially, and in turn God allows them to experience his power of multiplication first-hand. Their demonstration of love humbles many of us—people who are relatively more able and well off.
This event happened shortly after Jesus had commissioned his 12 disciples to go to do ministry. They needed to learn the lesson of trusting God from the very beginning. They had to learn to rely on God as they would face all kinds of difficulties in their work in the future. They carried no supplies and their provisions were stripped down to the bare minimum. But all they needed was God and God alone. So do we. Sometimes we put too much trust in our own abilities, our resources, our experience, and our skills, and too little in God.
May God show us his power of multiplication and his abundance. May we also have a simple faith in God and trust him in all things.
• Have you ever had to solve a problem running around desperately looking for a solution, yet forgotten to turn to God?
• Have you ever experienced how God miraculously solved an impossible problem for you and impressed on you a lesson to learn?
• Have you ever been so embarrassed and humbled by those who sacrificially gave beyond their means and abilities?
Author Bio
Gerald Chan had served as
Ottawa Chinese Alliance Church’s senior pastor,
Canadian Chinese Alliance Churches Association’s Deputy Executive Director, Eastern Canadian District Executive Committee’s Vice-chair, and Tyndale University’s Research Ethics Board member. Prior to that, he was a federal government executive and had taught in a university. He is currently advisor for a couple of parachurch organizations.
Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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by Biblica, Inc. Used with permission.