Feeding the 5,000 (John 6:1-15)

Published in the February 2013 issue of the Record of the Free Church of Scotland

The miracle of the feeding of the 5,000 is recorded in each of the four Gospels, and is the only miracle of Jesus recorded by each writer. John tells us several details that the other writers don’t record. He tells us, for example, that Jesus knew that he was going to feed the 5,000 when he asked Philip about purchasing food for them. John also is the writer who mentions the involvement of Philip, Andrew and the young lad. He told his account because he wanted to highlight important aspects of the person and work of Jesus that would inform and challenge the readers about their relationship to Jesus.

The first detail to observe concerns the capability of Jesus. So far in his Gospel, John has described how Jesus could help individuals with their problems and even how he came to the aid of a wedding party. Yet how would he cope with larger problems? Each account says that 5,000 men were present, and Matthew also says that women and children were there. So the crowd could have numbered between 10,000 and 12,000, or even more. Was this large number beyond the ability of Jesus? The incident says no. In fact, they had more left over (twelve large baskets) than when they began. This feature of the story is a vivid picture of the wonderful reality that Jesus is capable of providing for the needs of large numbers, indeed of the whole world. It is a reminder that Jesus can solve the individual needs of a crowd simultaneously, which means that he can deal with each one of us at the same time.

We can also see Jesus’ compassion for people. Although, these people could have taken food with them, Jesus had compassion on them even although we could describe their need as the result of their own carelessness. Here we see clear evidence of his obedience to his Father: in addition to loving God with all his heart, mind, soul and strength, Jesus loved his neighbours as himself. Whatever the causes of their lack of food, Jesus was moved by deep love to do something for them.

The story also highlights the confusion of the disciples. Philip was from the village of Bethsaida, and it was near there that the crowd was gathered. So it is not surprising that he speaks concerning the problem because he would know the various places where food could be obtained. He also knows how much the required bread would cost (the equivalent of eight months’ wages), and the price was far more than the disciples had. Philip had carefully assessed the problem and seems to have made an accurate assessment. 

There are many in the church today with the same contribution as Philip. They would like to help but the facts speak for themselves. The situation is obviously too much for their congregation to cope with. Their little knowledge, which is often very accurate, becomes an expression of lack of faith. Why?

Philip had forgotten a very important detail. Jesus had not said to Philip, ‘Where will you get food for the crowd.’ Instead he asked, ‘Where will we get food for them?’ Jesus had not suggested to Philip that the disciples solve the dilemma by themselves. Rather they were being tested to see if they had learned from their previous experiences with Jesus. Philip had been present at the wedding in Cana and should have applied the lesson learned there to the current circumstances. His response should have been, ‘Jesus dealt with a problem in Cana. He can deal with this one as well.’ Looking at circumstances prevented him from looking to Jesus as the answer.

Andrew’s response is little better. How he came across the boy and his lunch is not revealed. Although he had been at Cana, he did not conceive that such a small amount of food could become sufficient for the large crowd. His assessment was that there will be some situations that are too big for Jesus to handle.

The clear lesson that John is illustrating here is that even some of Jesus’ closest disciples will not have faith in Jesus in certain situations. Perhaps some of his immediate readers had been let down by the lack of faith in their leaders or by a lack of discernment or lack of courage. Leaders are often frail and fearful, and sometimes those who are most intimate with Jesus can let others down. In such circumstances, John tells his readers to stop looking and listening to their leaders and to other notable believers. Instead they should focus entirely on Christ.

Jesus, however, was prepared to use the boy’s lunch to meet the needs of the great crowd. This is an encouragement to each of us because, spiritually, what we have to contribute to the work of Christ is as inadequate as the boy’s lunch was to feed the crowd. Yet the inadequacy of our talents is not the difficulty. What is wrong is our unwillingness to allow Jesus to use our weak and limited abilities. We should imitate the boy and give what we have for Jesus to use.

It is also worth noting how methodological Jesus was in his response. He told the disciples to arrange for the crowd to sit in groups of fifty, which means that there would be about two hundred or so groups. Although he was going to perform a mighty miracle, he did not what a situation of chaos. Instead, everything was to be orderly and straightforward. I think John is telling his readers that if Jesus is involved in a situation, then there will be order.

Jesus also involved his disciples in the event. Not only did he ensure that they would arrange the people into groups, he also used them to bring his provision to the crowd. Jesus could have performed another miracle in that he could have arranged for each person to receive their portion of bread and fish instantaneously. Or else, he could have made them all stand in a queue and receive bread and fish from him personally. But he chose to involve his followers.

We can imagine people in each group asking each disciple as he returned with a full basket, ‘Where are you getting all the food from?’ Each disciple would answer, ‘Jesus is giving it,’ and right away the people would stop looking at the disciple and gaze on Jesus.

After all had eaten, Jesus asked that his disciples gather up all that the crumbs left over. They did so, and collected twelve baskets full. The number of baskets must correspond to the number of disciples. So each of them received a great blessing from serving Jesus. They had started out with a young boy’s small basket, and finished off with a large basket each. Here is a vivid picture that spiritual poverty does not come to those who share the provision of Jesus with others.