There was much wild, grassy land on the sides of the mountains near the shores of the Sea of Galilee, where the Lord Jesus taught the people, who came in great numbers from the villages around to hear His words or to be healed. They may have gone to their homes at night, but they returned the next day, for Jesus said, “They have now been with Me three days.”
Jesus knew they had no food with them that evening, and He felt sorry for them and said, “If I send them away fasting [without eating] to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for [many] of them came from far.”
The disciples had a few loaves of bread and a few small fish, but there was no place nearby to get more. Not long before this, Jesus had made the few loaves and the fish one boy had to become enough to feed more than five thousand people. This probably was not the same place or the same people, but Jesus supplied their need in the same wonderful way.
Well Rewarded
He said for the people to sit down on the ground. He took the seven loaves and the fish, thanked God, broke them in pieces, and gave to the disciples to pass to the people. By His power, that bread and fish were not only enough for all in the big company, but more than enough, showing His power could not all be used, however much was needed.
The people who ate that meal must have sat in great surprise. Later, as they walked to their homes, they must have talked together and wondered. How well they were repaid for their long walk over the rough terrain. They had listened to One from heaven and been fed by Him! Many believed He was a very great Teacher and Prophet. About this time the disciples said they believed He was the Christ, who was the One promised to come to earth.
Later those who believed the Scriptures and the words of Jesus learned more about the One who took so humble a place on earth. He was the One who, in the beginning, had created all things and was also the Giver and Sustainer of life. One disciple afterward wrote, “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life” (John 1:3434And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. (John 1:34); see also Col. 1:16-1716For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: 17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:16‑17)).
Lasting Satisfaction
A few days after the two miracles of the loaves, Jesus told some of the people that He was “the bread of life.”
The bread He supplied for the two meals satisfied them only for a short time; the next day they must have more. But all who believed Him should be satisfied with life forever (John 6:3535And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)).
It is nice for us to notice in these miracles that Jesus used the food which someone had to make more. That showed His kindness and that it is His way to bless even a little that is given to Him, making a very great blessing for others.
Although Jesus had done as no one of earth could, He soon after had to remind the disciples of the two miracles, for them to remember who He was (vss. 19-20).
Further Meditation
1. What other examples can you give of people who got far more than they expected when they came to Jesus?
2. Who else in Scripture found that God used the little they had to do a great work?