The Miracles of Jesus

Feeding the Five Thousand

John 6:1-14 ^NIV

“...Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples.” - John 6:1-3

            This particular event was to be a teaching to strengthen the disciples faith. As evening approached it was apparent to Jesus that after a long day the throng of people would be very hungry. He asked Philip, who lived the closest to where they were*, where they could buy bread to feed the people? The number five thousand mentioned only accounted for the men, therefore, if you add both women and children to the number you could be looking at feeding at least ten thousand people, if not more. Jesus question was to see what Philip would answer. All Philip could do was give a negative response regarding why feeding the crowd wasn’t possible. Peter’s brother Andrew said there was a boy with a basket of two fish and five loaves of bread. He added that wasn’t nearly enough to feed so many people. What Jesus did then was meant to bolster the faith of the disciples. 

This was an example in line with Jesus words regarding faith and the amount needed to perform a miracle. Matthew 17:20 says: “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” The disciples had missed the point. 

Jesus lifted the bread and the fish up toward heaven and gave thanks to God. The miracle was that the two fish and five barley loaves fed everyone until they had had their fill and still there were leftovers. Jesus instructed his disciples to collect all the scraps so that nothing was wasted, and they came back to Him with twelve baskets of scraps. The people recognized the miracle and were ready to “force Him to be their king”, so Jesus slipped away into the hills to be by Himself. 

How does this miracle apply to us today?  It is a lesson in faith for us as well. The faith question makes one wonder why miracles of this magnitude don’t take place anymore? It depends on who you talk to. Missionaries from all parts of the globe speak of miraculous events taking place, yet they don’t seem to happen as often as it would appear in scripture. Though miracles in scripture at times seem bunched together, there may be days, weeks, months and in the case of the Old Testament miracles, even years that pass before another miracle might manifest itself. Like the existence of God Himself, just because you don’t see miracles doesn’t mean they aren’t happening. So don’t lose faith because things don’t take place the way you want or in the time frame you desire. Trust God. If a miracle is required God knows and will do what is necessary to bring things about. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His name & for His glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Resources: The Life Application Study Bible; Expositor's Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): New Testament.

*Philip was from Bethsaida, which would have been approximately 9 miles away.