13 When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by
boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they
followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with
compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him,
saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the
multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” 16 But Jesus said to them, “They
do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” 17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves
and two fish.”
18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the
grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven,
He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples
gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up
twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men,
besides women and children.
The Lord Jesus having been told of the death of John the Baptist He along with His disciples now departs from that region in a boat to a deserted place belonging to the city of Bethsaida (Mark 6:31-33; Luke 9:10; John 6:1-2). However, when the multitudes saw that Jesus had left they ran on foot along the shoreline to where He was going and they started arriving there before Him (Mark 6:33). Now Jesus when He arrived He first took the disciples up on a mountain and when He came down from it He went out to the now assembled multitudes and began to teach them about the Kingdom.
Jesus now goes out and seeing a great multitude of people He is moved with compassion for them, (just as He is moved with compassion for you and me, especially when we are seeking Him). And seeing the sick amongst them Jesus heals them all. Something that the Lord Jesus Christ does for everyone who comes to Him; He heals us. First our souls, hearts, and minds, and finally in the Resurrection our bodies, indeed our entire person will be made whole and complete again, being remade in His Glorious Resurrection Person and Bodies Image (Phil. 3:20-21). And so what Jesus did here and throughout the Gospel, is only a foretaste of what He will do in your and my life, making us whole and complete and sound again as new creations In Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).
Vs. 15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”
The Lord Jesus having spent the day teaching and ministering to the crowds, and with evening dawning upon them, the disciples now come to Jesus and say to Him, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” Clearly the disciples were preoccupied with the “logistics” of having such a large group of people assembled in a deserted place. Missing then the whole point of God having moved so many people together in one place, so that He might both reveal and glorify His Son to them, but more specifically reveal Christ (and His abilities to provide for them all) to the disciples.
Vs. 16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
In response to the disciple’s concerns, Jesus tells the disciples that they do not need go away, but rather the disciples should give them something to eat. Which I’m sure would’ve somewhat startled the disciples given the size of the crowds and the lack of having any resources on their part.
Having heard the disciples concerns about not having anywhere enough to feed the multitudes the Lord Jesus now says to them to bring the people to Him. And so rather than sending the people away as the disciples initially wanted Jesus to do, Jesus tells them to bring them all to Him, so that no one would be unfed by Him. Something which we ourselves need to consider when faced with the seemingly impossible task of preaching the Gospel too and making disciples of all nations. Therefore, having the received the multitudes, Jesus tells the disciples to have the people sit on the ground, just as they would if they were preparing to eat a meal. And with that Jesus looks up to heaven and having blessed our God and Father He breaks the loaves and gives them to the disciples, who then distribute to the multitudes giving them as much as each person wanted. Notice that it is from Jesus Himself that we ourselves receive the resources we need to feed the multitudes.
Commentary
Vs.
13
“When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by
boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they
followed Him on foot from the cities.”The Lord Jesus having been told of the death of John the Baptist He along with His disciples now departs from that region in a boat to a deserted place belonging to the city of Bethsaida (Mark 6:31-33; Luke 9:10; John 6:1-2). However, when the multitudes saw that Jesus had left they ran on foot along the shoreline to where He was going and they started arriving there before Him (Mark 6:33). Now Jesus when He arrived He first took the disciples up on a mountain and when He came down from it He went out to the now assembled multitudes and began to teach them about the Kingdom.
Vs.
14
“And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and
He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.”
Jesus now goes out and seeing a great multitude of people He is moved with compassion for them, (just as He is moved with compassion for you and me, especially when we are seeking Him). And seeing the sick amongst them Jesus heals them all. Something that the Lord Jesus Christ does for everyone who comes to Him; He heals us. First our souls, hearts, and minds, and finally in the Resurrection our bodies, indeed our entire person will be made whole and complete again, being remade in His Glorious Resurrection Person and Bodies Image (Phil. 3:20-21). And so what Jesus did here and throughout the Gospel, is only a foretaste of what He will do in your and my life, making us whole and complete and sound again as new creations In Christ (2 Cor. 5:17).
Vs. 15 When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”
The Lord Jesus having spent the day teaching and ministering to the crowds, and with evening dawning upon them, the disciples now come to Jesus and say to Him, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.” Clearly the disciples were preoccupied with the “logistics” of having such a large group of people assembled in a deserted place. Missing then the whole point of God having moved so many people together in one place, so that He might both reveal and glorify His Son to them, but more specifically reveal Christ (and His abilities to provide for them all) to the disciples.
Vs. 16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
In response to the disciple’s concerns, Jesus tells the disciples that they do not need go away, but rather the disciples should give them something to eat. Which I’m sure would’ve somewhat startled the disciples given the size of the crowds and the lack of having any resources on their part.
Vs. 17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves
and two fish.”
The disciple’s response to Jesus telling
them to feed the multitudes is to tell Him that they only have five fish and
two small loaves of bread. And so, the disciples are only seeing the situation
from their own finite resources perspective. Something that each and every one
of us will also face in our journeys with Christ, a seemingly impossible situation
that is going to require our trust in Him to do for us what we cannot do for
ourselves.
Vs. 18-19 18 He said, “Bring them here to
Me.” 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the
two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to
the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes.
Having heard the disciples concerns about not having anywhere enough to feed the multitudes the Lord Jesus now says to them to bring the people to Him. And so rather than sending the people away as the disciples initially wanted Jesus to do, Jesus tells them to bring them all to Him, so that no one would be unfed by Him. Something which we ourselves need to consider when faced with the seemingly impossible task of preaching the Gospel too and making disciples of all nations. Therefore, having the received the multitudes, Jesus tells the disciples to have the people sit on the ground, just as they would if they were preparing to eat a meal. And with that Jesus looks up to heaven and having blessed our God and Father He breaks the loaves and gives them to the disciples, who then distribute to the multitudes giving them as much as each person wanted. Notice that it is from Jesus Himself that we ourselves receive the resources we need to feed the multitudes.
Vs. 20-21 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up
twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and
children.
And so, everyone ate, everyone was filled,
everyone was satisfied. For such is the Person and life of Christ when He feeds
the hungry multitudes, not only did the multitudes eat and were filled, but
there were also twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained, so that even
the disciples themselves ate and were filled! Now there were about five
thousand men, besides woman and children who ate at Jesus “table” so very
likely the number who ate that day could have easily been 20,000 or more.
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
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