Jesus’ Feeding the Five Thousand

Jesus’ remarkable miracle of feeding the five thousand attests to God’s limitless resources. He satisfied crowds of hungry people with five loaves of bread and two fish. Afterward, twelve baskets were filled with food, and there was enough left over for more people to eat.

There was more food at the end of the meal than at the beginning. This implies that the miracle was limited only by the number of people who were present. God’s power in the miracle was such that any number of people could have been fed, with baskets of leftovers filled afterward. The miracle demonstrated Jesus’ power to feed not only five thousand, or ten thousand (if there were ten thousand present or more, including women and children), but any size of crowd that gathers to Him.

Jesus granted His disciples a surprising part in this miracle so that they also fed the crowds. He told the disciples to feed them. He said, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat” (Matt. 14:16, emphasis added). After saying a blessing, Jesus “broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds” (v. 19, emphasis added). Jesus said that the disciples would feed the crowd, and they did. His disciple Philip suggested that the prospect of feeding the crowd on their own was overwhelming. More than half a year’s wages would buy only a small amount for each person (John 6:7). Yet Jesus accomplished the task through the disciples. He demonstrated God’s unlimited power with only a small amount of food.

Similarly, when a church gathers, a pastor cannot feed souls by himself. Jesus must do it through him. Otherwise, as Philip indicated, the task is too much to ask. A pastor must come under Jesus’ direction, as the disciples did, so that Jesus feeds the souls of the congregation through his ministry. When the church gathers, the reading might be a small portion of Scripture, yet with “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15, KJV), a whole congregation is well provided for.

How many can have their souls fed in church? As with the feeding of the five thousand, as many people as come. There is no limit to the number who may be fed by God’s Word in any place where it is faithfully read and preached. There is enough spiritual food for all present and more. If two or three gather (Matt. 18:20), then there will be enough for two or three with more to spare. The same is true if five or ten thousand are present. There is no lack of power in God’s Word to feed or satisfy souls. The spiritual feeding takes place as the pastor submits to Christ’s will and the congregation does the same through being present, having an appetite, and receiving the Word “rightly divided” in faith.

This Sunday, when your local pastor faithfully opens up God’s Word, the feeding of souls is on offer. Gather, then, for the feast.