32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and
said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with
Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to send them away
hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
33 Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get
enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?” 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.” 35 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the
ground. 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave
thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the
disciples gave to the multitude. 37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up
seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left. 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides
women and children. 39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and
came to the region of Magdala.
Vs. 33 Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
The disciples, like when Jesus fed the five thousand, are again overwhelmed with the enormity of the task at hand, and thus they are only focused on it, and their lack of abilities and resources, rather than focusing on what the Lord can do through them. Therefore, they say to Jesus, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
Vs. 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”
Vs. 35-36 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.
The Lord Jesus now commands the multitudes to sit down on the ground and having received the seven loaves and few small fish from the disciples, Jesus gives God thanks for them, then He breaks them and gives them to the disciples, who in turn distribute what Jesus has given them to the multitudes. Notice then the order, first we give our resources to the Lord (and not just our money, but our talents and time and abilities, indeed our whole lives) then He multiplies them and gives them back to us so that we too might have something to minister God’s blessings to the multitudes of people whose hearts are hungering for the Gospel.
With the disciples having distributed the bread and fish to the multitudes, the Scripture says the all ate and they all were filled (vs. 37). And so, they were not just fed, they were filled! Filled with the blessings and goodness that the Lord Jesus Christ had given them through His disciples. Now the Scripture also says after feeding the crowds that seven large baskets full of the fragments were taken up by the disciples, now if they thought they’re would be nothing left afterwards they were mistaken because what was left was way more than what they began with!
Vs. 38-39 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.
The amount who ate were four thousand plus the woman and children. And so, with very little from us, the Lord Jesus Christ can feed many! Therefore, with the multitudes properly fed and well nourished the Lord Jesus Christ sends the multitudes away, and having sent them away as a proper host would, Jesus gets into the boat and comes to the region of Magdala, (the region or birth place of Mary Magdalene), a thriving fishing region (where fish was first processed and then preserved by salt) it is thought to have been more “Romanized” than the rest of Israel (Harper’s Bible Dictionary).
Commentary
Vs.
32 Now Jesus called His disciples to Himself and
said, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they
have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not
want to send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
Now in what will be a parallel of the Lord
Jesus feeding the five thousand (who had followed Him and His disciples when He
crossed the Sea of Galilee) He will now feed the multitudes Gentiles who had
now come to Him to have Him heal their sick. A ministering to them that had
lasted three days. Therefore, whatever food they had brought with them would’ve
been used up. And so, Jesus calling the disciples to Himself now says to them, “I have compassion on the multitude, because they have
now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat. And I do not want to
send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.”
Vs. 33 Then His disciples said to Him, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
The disciples, like when Jesus fed the five thousand, are again overwhelmed with the enormity of the task at hand, and thus they are only focused on it, and their lack of abilities and resources, rather than focusing on what the Lord can do through them. Therefore, they say to Jesus, “Where could we get enough bread in the wilderness to fill such a great multitude?”
Vs. 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” And they said, “Seven, and a few little fish.”
Once again, the disciples find but seven
loaves, and a few little fish. Now with the parallel (and seven being a perfect
number throughout the Scriptures) the disciples should’ve been awakened to the
fact that it is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who multiplies our resources,
(whether little or much) when we in faith deploy these for His work and
service. Nonetheless like us, the disciples were going to have to learn this
lesson again.
Vs. 35-36 So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground. 36 And He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitude.
The Lord Jesus now commands the multitudes to sit down on the ground and having received the seven loaves and few small fish from the disciples, Jesus gives God thanks for them, then He breaks them and gives them to the disciples, who in turn distribute what Jesus has given them to the multitudes. Notice then the order, first we give our resources to the Lord (and not just our money, but our talents and time and abilities, indeed our whole lives) then He multiplies them and gives them back to us so that we too might have something to minister God’s blessings to the multitudes of people whose hearts are hungering for the Gospel.
Vs.
37 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up
seven large baskets full of the fragments that were left.
With the disciples having distributed the bread and fish to the multitudes, the Scripture says the all ate and they all were filled (vs. 37). And so, they were not just fed, they were filled! Filled with the blessings and goodness that the Lord Jesus Christ had given them through His disciples. Now the Scripture also says after feeding the crowds that seven large baskets full of the fragments were taken up by the disciples, now if they thought they’re would be nothing left afterwards they were mistaken because what was left was way more than what they began with!
Vs. 38-39 38 Now those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. 39 And He sent away the multitude, got into the boat, and came to the region of Magdala.
The amount who ate were four thousand plus the woman and children. And so, with very little from us, the Lord Jesus Christ can feed many! Therefore, with the multitudes properly fed and well nourished the Lord Jesus Christ sends the multitudes away, and having sent them away as a proper host would, Jesus gets into the boat and comes to the region of Magdala, (the region or birth place of Mary Magdalene), a thriving fishing region (where fish was first processed and then preserved by salt) it is thought to have been more “Romanized” than the rest of Israel (Harper’s Bible Dictionary).
Scripture Quotations
The New King James Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982.
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