FEEDING OF THE 5000

SOW #2007 - June 24, 2007

The miracle of the feeding of the 5000 was a very unusual miracle for several reasons. For one thing, more people saw it than any other miracle the Lord ever worked; at least five thousand men not counting the women and the children. Then also it is unusual because it is the only miracle, aside from the resurrection of Jesus, which is recorded by all four of the gospel writers. It seems the Holy Spirit has something important He wants to emphasize to us in this miracle.

Jesus had gone across the Sea of Galilee into a mountain and sat with His Apostles; and a great multitude had followed Him because they beheld the signs He did on them that were sick. Jesus lifted up His eyes and beheld the large crowd. Mark says, “Jesus looked upon them with compassion because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and He began to teach them many things.” If He taught them many things, I wonder what He taught them. Mark does not say, but Luke fills in the rest.

Luke says, “He spake unto them many things about the Kingdom of God.” It would be hard to find any subject where Jesus had more to say about, than the Kingdom of God. Many times we read where Jesus said, “The Kingdom of Heaven is likened unto. Thou art not far from the Kingdom. Seek ye first His Kingdom and His righteousness. I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Repent ye for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except one be born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.”

If Jesus had so much to say about the Kingdom, should we not also spend much time teaching the things concerning the Kingdom; spend much time telling how to be members of the Kingdom, the work of the Kingdom, the officers of the Kingdom, faithfulness to the ordinances of the Kingdom? He taught them many things.

It must have been a long message because it lasted until evening was come. But no one complained even though they were hungry. Many churches today have put God on the clock. I have asked several preachers how long I had to speak and they say, “We are on a tight schedule, twenty minutes is enough.” It seems the important thing is to get out of this place on time.

Surely there must be some extra significance to this miracle since the Holy Spirit saw fit to list it four times. Here is a partial list of some of the reasons why this miracle was so important.

SEND THEM AWAY

For one thing, toward the end of the day the Apostles advised the Lord to get rid of this crowd. Send them away that they may go and buy themselves food. They are hungry, Lord, but this is no concern of ours. This is the way many Churches handle the situation today. People are hungry for the bread of life all over the world, but this is no concern of ours. The vision of the average Church has been narrowed down to the confines of the church lot. If we can take in enough to pay the bills, that is sufficient. Let us ignore the problem of preaching the gospel to every creature; a world without Christ is really no concern of ours. Send them away.

GIVE YE THEM TO EAT

Secondly, note that the Lord said “Give ye them to eat, they have no need to go away.” This was apparently an impossible task. How could they do it with nothing? Was the Lord joking? He was not mocking them for their inability. He knew they could do it with the power He would supply. Paul reminds us in Philippians 4, “I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.” The great commission seems impossible. How can we as a New Testament Church carry the gospel to the entire world to every creature? Almost any eleven men in any congregation has more money in their pockets at this moment than the eleven had on them when they stood on the Mount of Olives when Jesus issued those orders of world conquest. They never asked Him, “Where is the money coming from?” They knew if He could raise the dead, raising the money was a minor problem. We don’t need to look beyond our local congregation for the answer to the conversion of the world to Jesus. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned. When Jesus said that He was talking to you personally, give ye them to eat.

THE LEAGUE OF ANDREW

Then consider the League of Andrew. He reported, “There is a lad here with five loaves and two fishes.” Jesus said, “Bring them to Me.” Andrew is mentioned as doing something three times, and every time he is doing the same thing. Andrew and John were the first of the future Apostles to meet the Lord in the first chapter of John. As soon as Andrew met Jesus, he went and told his brother Simon, “We have found the Messiah”, and brought Peter to Jesus. In John 12 some Greeks came to Philip and said, “Sir, we would see Jesus.” Philip was not sure the Lord would want to see Gentiles, and told Andrew. Both Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. Andrew brought his brother Peter to the Lord, then he brought the boy with the five loaves and two fishes to the Lord, and then he brought the delegation of Greeks to the Lord. Andrew may have preached many sermons, and done many things, but the thing that stands out is his talent for leading people into the presence of the Lord. There are many who are not able to teach or sing, or organize, but many of us can lead others into the presence of the Lord Jesus as members of the League of Andrew.

BRING THEM TO ME

Now look again when Andrew said, “There are five loaves and two fishes,” Jesus said, “Bring them hither to Me.” It might not be much, but when what little we have is surrendered to the Lord He can work a miracle with it.

When David faced Goliath, if he had been like us, he would have said, “Lord, I think I can do it if I only had a sawed-off shotgun.” David did not have a sawed-off shotgun; all he had was a sling. The Lord said, “I think we can work with that.” The definition of a modern-day miracle in four words is: MAN’S BEST-GOD BLEST. Bring Him what little you have, and God will say, “I think I can work with that, bring it to Me.”

THANKSGIVING

Look now and see all four writers say, “Jesus gave thanks”, and it is said four times, that the Lord gave thanks. Do you give thanks today according to the example set by Jesus? A man one time had a dream. He dreamed he entered a humongous dining room. A table was set for 1460 settings. The table was covered with all kinds of food: Roasts of all kinds, gravy, fresh fish, oysters, clams, lobster, Porterhouse steaks, fast-food hamburgers, and French Fries. And there were all kinds of cakes and pies, various barbecued meats, baked potatoes, as well as potato salad, topped off with ice cream, and many other goodies too numerous to mention. The man in his dream could not wait to sit down to gobble it up. What a spread! He was told to wait for a special announcement. The announcement was, “These 1460 settings represents 365 breakfasts you ate last year, 365 dinners you ate last year, 365 suppers you ate last year, and 365 snacks you either ate between meals or at bedtime. You ate all this stuff last year like a hog, and never thanked God one time. Remember again it says, “The Lord gave thanks” and it says it four times.

THE MENU

And now let us look at the menu. Then they were told to sit down in companies of hundreds and fifties. The Apostles were the waiters, and they gave everyone present the special of the day: Fish and a small loaf of barley bread. There is no hint that anyone called out to any of the Apostles as they served and said, “Brother Philip, when you come back to section D, bring me a little tartar sauce. This fish is rather dry.” Did someone call out, “Oh Brother Andrew, we need a little more hot coffee here in section A.?” How about someone saying, “Hey Brother Peter,  is the Lord serving desserts today? If He is, I’ll take a double order of strawberry pie, and I’d like a little whip cream on mine.” Nothing like this was said. When Jesus fed this crowd, He used the same old staple diet they had been eating every day; fish and bread. That was it.

Sometimes today we like to have things fancy, and that is our culture. We have to have cushions on our seats, and air conditioning, and fancy buildings. The 5,000 that day were told to sit down on the grass. We like a little coffee and donuts, a dancing praise team, and special entertainment. Now all of this may be helpful, but if the world is ever won to Christ, it will have to be because of the same old staple diet of the Word of God, complete with large servings of repentance in this permissive do-as-you-please world. All of the hoopla we have will be little comfort when they come to burn the church house down.

THE METHOD OF JESUS

Next we notice something about the method of Jesus in feeding. Please notice the Lord did not pile up the broken pieces of fish and bread until He had enough to feed the whole crowd. He fed the crowd as He broke the loaves and fishes. This would have made many modern-day assemblies a little nervous. As He fed the first few, the rest could see He was working with a small amount, just five small rolls, and two fish, and would have figured He will run out before long and they wouldn’t get any. We better get out of here and head for the nearest restaurant. It would have taken great faith for us to hang around long enough for the Lord to demonstrate He really did have the resources to feed all of them, and have some left over. As the prodigal son said, “In the Father’s house, there is bread enough and to spare.”

The attitude of many today when something needs to be done is get all the money saved up first, and then do it. Don’t do anything until you can afford it. It is all right to buy a car, or a house when you do not have the funds, but we must be cautious in something for the Lord. That was what we were told to do when we started this radio program many years ago. You don’t have any money, it costs too much; get the money saved up first until you can afford it. If we had done that, it would never have happened. If a congregation needs more space for classrooms to teach Bible school lessons, and they wait until they can afford it, it will never happen. The Lord always has bread enough and to spare.

THEY WERE ALL FILLED

Next that statement, “They were all filled” needs a closer look. The next day, in John 6, some of these same people came looking for Jesus, and He reminded them that they sought Him because they ate the loaves and were filled. He told them to work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal life. When they asked for some of that bread, Jesus told them, “I AM the bread of life: he that cometh unto Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.”

The human race can thirst for many things, but the only thing that completely satisfies is the bread of life, and that bread is Jesus. Only in Him can it be said they were all filled. There is a statement in Revelation 7 that speaks of the eternal fulfillment of that statement of Jesus when we are told, “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more.”

BROKEN BREAD

Notice now the comparisons in the broken bread and the broken body of the Lord. Jesus blessed and brake and fed the multitude. This reminds us of the Lord’s Supper when Jesus also blessed and brake and gave to the disciples.

At the feeding of the 5,000 He spoke of gathering up broken pieces. The multitude was fed with broken pieces, but at the Lord’s Supper, the disciples were fed with the broken body of Jesus. Paul tells us in 1^st Corinthians 11, “Jesus said this is My body which is broken for you.”

We remember also the soldiers at the cross were sent to break His legs, and pierced His side with a spear instead. All the power of the Roman Empire could not force this disciplined soldier to obey the order to break the legs of Jesus, because the prophecy stated, “A bone of Him shall not be broken.” And Jesus said in John 10, “The scripture cannot be broken.”

His legs could not be broken because the scripture cannot be broken, and His body was broken for the same reason; the scripture cannot be broken.

That verse applies to every verse of the Word of God including the plan of salvation. Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be damned. Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The Word of God cannot be broken.

                                                            CONCLUSION

When the multitudes saw the sign that He did, there was a ground swell. At first a murmuring, then it grew louder and louder. JESUS FOR KING! JESUS FOR KING! JESUS FOR KING! So He sent the Apostles to the boat while He sent the multitudes away, and then went up into the mountain alone to pray. The disciples got into the boat and sailed across the sea, and that night there was a great storm. Jesus saw them toiling at the rowing, and came down from the mountain, and to escape the crowd He walked across the sea, and rescued the disciples in the boat.

Jesus sees us today toiling at the rowing in the Old Ship of Zion, and will come to us not on the water, but in the air, and we will assemble; not on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, but on the shore of that sea which is like unto glass mingled like as of fire. Not with a crowd of five thousand, but with a number no man can number out of every tribe and tongue and nation. We will feast, not on bread and fishes, but at the wedding supper of the Lamb. And then in a voice like the voice of a great multitude, like a voice of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunders, our acclamation of voices harmonized with the singing of the angels will resound throughout the universe, “JESUS IS KING! JESUS IS KING! JESUS IS KING!”