The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ – G072 The Lord Jesus Feeds the Multitude for the First Time

Commentary on the Four Gospel Books
The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
G072 The Lord Jesus Feeds the Multitude for the First Time
Matthew 14:13-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:1-15

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All the Bible verses quoted in this article are from the King James Version, unless otherwise noted

Matthew 14:13-21

13 When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

18 He said, Bring them hither to me.

19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Mark 6:30-44

30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.

31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.

34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all.

42 And they did all eat, and were filled.

43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.

44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

Luke 9:10-17

10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.

11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.

12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place.

13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.

14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.

15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.

16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.

17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.

John 6:1-15

1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.

2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,

9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

10 And Jesus said, Make the men 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 to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

In this lesson, we will study the miracle where the Lord Jesus multiplied bread and fish to feed more than five thousand people. This is the first time He performed this miracle, multiplying bread to feed a large crowd. This event is recorded in all four Gospels.

We will see some different details between the books, but this is not a contradiction. It is the recording of the truth according to the perspectives, perceptions, and memories of the witnesses. All the details complement each other to give us a fairly complete view of the event. We need to remember that Matthew and John were apostles of the Lord Jesus. They were direct witnesses, but each recorded the event in their own style. Mark and Luke recorded the event based on the accounts of witnesses. Therefore, Mark and Luke recorded the event according to the perceptions and memories of those who narrated it. Often, they also included their opinions. They also had their own writing styles. Luke wrote in the most polished Greek because he was highly educated. The Holy Spirit inspired each person to faithfully record what He wanted them to write. But the Holy Spirit also allowed them to use their words and writing styles according to their abilities. That is how God gave humanity the Word of God. That is also how the Holy Spirit inspires God’s people to share and teach His Word.

Next, let us explore the meaning of each verse of the Scriptures regarding the first time the Lord Jesus multiplied bread, including the multiplication of fish.

Matthew 14:13

13 When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

Mark 6:30-33

30 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught.

31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately.

33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him.

Luke 9:10-11a

10 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.

11a And the people, when they knew it, followed him:

John 6:1-4

1 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.

2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

The Apostle Matthew placed the event of the Lord Jesus performing the miracle of multiplying bread for the first time right after He heard the disciples of John the Baptist report that John had been beheaded by King Herod.

Mark and Luke added the detail that the miracle occurred after the apostles of the Lord had returned to meet Him and reported to Him what they had done and taught during their journey through the villages and towns to preach the Gospel.

The Apostle John informed us that the miracle happened before the Passover. It was the second Passover mentioned by John in the Gospel of John out of the three Passovers he referred to.

Based on the details in the Bible cross-referenced with historical records, we know that the first Passover mentioned by John occurred after the Lord Jesus was baptized. That was in the year 25, when the Lord Jesus began His ministry, and He was about thirty years old. The second Passover mentioned in the Gospel of John was in the year 26 and happened after the Lord Jesus performed the miracle of multiplying bread for the first time. The third Passover mentioned in the Gospel of John was in the year 27 and was the day the Lord Jesus was crucified. The ministry of preaching the Gospel by the Lord Jesus lasted a little over two years, not three years as traditionally taught in many churches bearing the name of the Lord [1].

Matthew wrote that after the Lord Jesus heard the disciples of John the Baptist report his death, He departed by boat to a solitary place. However, the crowd from the towns heard about it and ran along the shore to the place where the Lord Jesus was heading. The place from which the Lord Jesus departed was likely the shore of the Sea of Galilee, near the city of Capernaum. The place He was going to, according to Luke, was a desolate area near the city of Bethsaida. By land, Bethsaida is only about 10 kilometers from Capernaum. Therefore, the crowd arrived there before the Lord Jesus.

Mark recorded the Lord’s words to His apostles and disciples, advising them to go with Him to a solitary place to rest a little because there were so many people coming and going that they did not even have time to eat. Luke noted that He took them with Him and withdrew to a solitary place near Bethsaida. John wrote that when they arrived, the Lord Jesus went up a mountain with His disciples and sat down with them on the mountain.

We can understand that after the disciples of John the Baptist reported his death to the Lord, the twelve apostles also arrived and reported their ministry to Him. During that time, many people from the crowd continued to seek the Lord, so He and His disciples needed some time to rest and eat, especially since the apostles had just returned from a long journey. Therefore, the Lord Jesus instructed His disciples to get into the boat and go to the other side, near the city of Bethsaida, to find some peace and quiet.

Perhaps, upon arriving, the Lord and His disciples went up the mountain, and He spent some time alone before joining and sitting with His disciples. After that, He interacted with the crowd that was waiting for Him at the foot of the mountain.

Matthew 14:14-15

14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.

Mark 6:34-36

34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things.

35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed:

36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat.

Luke 9:11b-12

11b and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing.

John 6:5-7

5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

When the Lord Jesus saw the crowd like sheep without a shepherd, He had compassion for them. He received them, taught them, and healed those who were sick.

We see that Matthew, Mark, and Luke describe the evening using different expressions:

Matthew: When it was evening. The time is far passed.
Mark: The day was now far spent.
Luke: When the day began to wear away.

Matthew and Mark use the term “disciples” to refer to both the apostles and other disciples, but Luke uses a specific term to refer to the initial apostles of the Lord, calling them “The Twelve.”

In comparison with John’s account, we can understand that when it was evening, the twelve apostles came to the Lord and asked Him to send the crowd away so they could go into the surrounding villages and buy food. But the Lord asked the Apostle Philip, “Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” John also noted that the Lord Jesus already knew what He was going to do to provide food for the crowd.

Philip answered the Lord, “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.”

Perhaps the amount of two hundred denarii was the money currently available in the disciples’ money bag. That amount was equivalent to the wages for two hundred days of labor at that time.

The reason the Lord Jesus asked Philip and not the other apostles might be because he was familiar with the area since Bethsaida was his hometown and because he was very practical. When he introduced the Lord to his friend Nathanael, he simply said, “Come and see” (John 1:46). When the Lord Jesus spoke about God, he responded to the Lord, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us” (John 14:8). For Philip, hearing was not as convincing as seeing. Therefore, Philip quickly calculated that even two hundred denarii would not be enough to buy bread for the crowd. Assuming a day’s wage for one person could buy food for ten people, then two hundred denarii would only be enough to buy food for two thousand people.

Perhaps the Lord Jesus was testing Philip’s faith. Philip had witnessed many miracles performed by the Lord, starting with the miracle of turning water into wine. Therefore, the Lord wanted Philip to demonstrate his faith in the Lord’s power. However, Philip only thought of solving the problem through human wisdom, not faith.

Today, many of God’s people, when faced with problems, only think of solving them through human wisdom. Meanwhile, the most effective way is to praise and thank God for everything He has allowed to happen and to present all problems to Him. The Word of God clearly teaches:

“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;” (Ephesians 5:20)

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6)

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” (1 Peter 5:7)

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” (James 5:16b)

The important thing we need to remember is that *God only accepts the prayers of the righteous. They are those who believe in His salvation and wholeheartedly live according to His Word. Anyone who still harbors sin in their heart can be certain that God will not listen to their prayers.

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:” (Psalm 66:18)

Loving the world and the things of the world (1 John 2:15) is indeed cherishing sin.

Matthew 14:16-19a

16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat.

17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.

18 He said, Bring them hither to me.

19a And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass,

Mark 6:37-40

37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?

38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes.

39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass.

40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.

Luke 9:13-15

13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people.

14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company.

15 And they did so, and made them all sit down.

John 6:8-10

8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him,

9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

The Lord responded to the disciples by saying that they should feed the crowd. Matthew briefly recorded the event. Mark added the exchange between the Lord and the disciples. Perhaps they had heard Philip mention that two hundred denarii would not be enough to buy bread for the crowd, so someone asked, “Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat?” The Lord Jesus then told them to go and see how much bread they had. After checking, they reported that they had five loaves and two fish. Besides that, there was nothing else unless they went and bought more bread.

Luke and John stated that the crowd numbered about 5,000 men, not including women and children. If women and children were counted as well, the number could reach six or seven thousand people. In reality, the amount of money the disciples had was not enough to buy food for such a large number of people. And it would have been impossible for the surrounding villages to have enough bread for that many people.

John provided additional details about the five loaves and two fish. He mentioned that these were five barley loaves and two small fish that the Apostle Andrew received from a boy. It is possible that the boy was a young teenager who followed the Lord alone amid the large crowd. His mother had packed his meal for the day for him to bring along. When the disciples of the Lord asked the crowd if anyone had food, the boy came forward and offered the five barley loaves and two small fish that had been cooked. The boy might have thought that the disciples were looking for food for the Lord, and he willingly gave up his own meal for Him. It is also possible that many people in the crowd had brought food but did not want to offer it. The Bible does not provide details about these scenarios, so we can only speculate and draw lessons from each hypothesis.

Have we ever put the Lord above all things and placed our brothers and sisters in faith above ourselves? Have we ever joyfully offered to the Lord what belongs to us, even if it is just two cents or a meager meal? Just as the widow gave two small coins to the Lord, the boy offered everything he had and needed for himself. Many people think that their financial offering to the Lord is insignificant because they are too poor. But the Lord has the power to make our offerings valuable many thousands of times over, benefiting many people. As long as we give with a heart that loves and honors the Lord above all else and loves others as ourselves.

The Lord Jesus instructed the disciples to have the crowd sit down on the grass in groups. Matthew and John recorded this briefly. Mark wrote, “And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties.” Luke noted that the Lord told the disciples, “Make them sit down by fifties in a company.”

It is possible that the crowd sat on the grass in rows of ten, with each group arranged in five or ten rows. It might have been only the men who were arranged in rows to receive bread for their families. Therefore, the disciples could count around 5,000 men, not including women and children.

Assuming groups of 100 people each, there would be at least 50 groups. If the average space required for one person to sit is 0.75 square meters, then each group of 100 people would need 75 square meters. The total area required for 5,000 people would be 3,750 square meters. If it were a square area, each side would be more than 60 meters long.

Matthew 14:19b-21

19b and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.

21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Mark 6:41-44

42 And they did all eat, and were filled.

43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes.

44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

Luke 9:16-17

16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.

17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.

John 6:11-13

11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all recorded that “He took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven.” John does not include the detail that the Lord Jesus looked up to heaven. His looking up to heaven was a gesture to begin praying to God. He held all the available food in His hands and looked up to heaven to pray to God. The custom of the Israelites when praying was to look up to heaven to direct their prayers to God. The prayer before eating was both a thanksgiving to God for providing the food and a blessing for the food. To bless the food means to ask God to make the food beneficial for those who eat it.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all use the verb “εὐλογέω” (eulogeō), /yoo-log-eh’-o/ (G2127), which has the following meanings:

Praise and thank God.
Bless.
Dedicate a person or thing to God.
Ask God to bless.
God blesses.

According to the context, Matthew and Mark use the verb “εὐλογέω” with the meaning of praising and thanking God. However, Luke uses it with the meaning of blessing the food. This is because after the verb “εὐλογέω,” Luke adds the pronoun “them” as the object. John uses the verb “εὐχαριστέω” (eucharisteō), /yoo-khar-is-teh’-o/ (G2168), which means to be thankful or to give thanks.

Except for Mark and Luke, who recorded the event according to the accounts of others, the Apostle Matthew and the Apostle John recorded the event according to their own understanding. The two used different verbs to describe the same action of the Lord Jesus. We believe that both were inspired by the Holy Spirit to choose the words that best described the actions of the Lord Jesus according to their understanding.

The Lord Jesus broke the five loaves and two fish into many small pieces and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd. The disciples brought the bread and fish and placed them before each person. The disciples might have used baskets available on the boat or those brought by the crowd. The Israelites had a custom of carrying a basket when traveling to hold food and keep it from coming into contact with things considered unclean. It was a small basket, woven from willow, rattan, or other plants, about 30–50 cm high and 20–30 cm in diameter.

We can imagine the scene of the Lord Jesus alternately breaking the bread and fish into the baskets, while the bread and fish in His hands never seemed to diminish. There must have been amazement among the disciples and the crowd as they saw the bread and fish continually falling from the Lord’s hands, filling basket after basket.

After everyone had eaten their fill, the Lord Jesus instructed the disciples to gather up the pieces of bread and fish that were left uneaten. John recorded the Lord Jesus saying, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.” The Greek verb translated as “lost” also means to be completely destroyed or rendered useless. Although God’s blessings are limitless and boundless, the Lord Jesus did not want God’s blessings to be squandered.

The leftover pieces of bread and fish were collected into twelve full baskets. Perhaps part of the surplus food was taken by the disciples, and the rest was taken by many in the crowd.

John 6:14-15

14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.

15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

Before the miracle of the Lord Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish to feed more than 5,000 people, the crowd recognized Him as the true prophet sent by God into the world. When they used the term “the true prophet,” they likely implied that He was the prophet Moses had mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:15. By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus understood that they wanted to come and force Him to become their king, so He once again withdrew alone to the mountain. We understand that He went alone into a solitary place to commune with God.

The event of the Lord Jesus multiplying the loaves and fish to feed more than 5,000 people has the following notable points:

1. The crowd followed the Lord Jesus.

2. The Lord Jesus saw the crowd.

3. He was moved with compassion for them.

4. He taught them many things. This was His way of providing spiritual food for them.

5. He healed those who were sick and infirm. This was His way of addressing their physical needs.

6. He provided abundant physical food for them through a miracle, based on the offering of a child among them.

7. The Lord’s provision was carried out in an orderly manner.

8. He did not waste God’s blessings.

9. He was aware of the crowd’s desire to act according to their carnal thinking.

10. He avoided them, preventing them from taking any wrongful actions.

Let us take some time to reflect on what each of these points means for us in our relationship with the Lord Jesus.

We conclude this lesson here.

May the Holy Spirit guide us into all the truths of God’s Word (John 16:13). May the Word of God sanctify us (John 17:17). May the Faithful *God of Peace Himself sanctify our spirit, soul, and body entirely, without blame (1 Thessalonians 5:23), at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, our Beloved Savior. Amen!

Timothy Christian Huynh
Priscilla Christian Huynh
07/27/2024

Notes:

Note About Using “*God” and “holy spirit”

Wherever the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts of the Bible use a definite article with a noun to denote GOD, we translate it into English as *God or “the God” to refer to God the Father. We understand that “God,” without a definite article, was used as a collective noun for all and any of the three Persons of the Godhead. And “God,” with a definite article, was used to refer to God the Father.

In the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament, the term “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) without the definite article “the” (το) is used to denote the power of God, which is given by God the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit” (το πνευματι το αγιω) is God, and “holy spirit” (πνευματι αγιω) is the power that comes from God.

[1] https://preachingfromthebible.net/the-day-of-the-lords-death-and-the-day-of-the-lords-resurrection/