http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 1 At Capernaum April, 28 A.D. (R), March 27 A.D. (K) Feeding of the Five Thousand Jesus' Third Passover Matthew 14:13-21 Mark 6:30-44 Luke 9:10-17 John 6:1-13
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 2 Texts: (Third Year of Ministry) Aborted Attempt at Rest and Relaxation Matthew 14:13, 14, When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. Mark 6:30-34, The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, "Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest." So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things. Luke 9:10, 11, When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing. John 6:1-3, Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountain side and sat down with his disciples.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 3 Commentary: I. When Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been executed he went away to a solitary (deserted) place. A. This took place after the return of the disciples from the limited commission assignment. B. He was looking for a place to grieve, rest, relax and recuperate. C. We also need time to relax, meditate, recuperate. D. He made the trip to this place of seclusion by boat. E. Matthew calls this place a "desert," but grass was there. (Matthew 14:19) Desert means deserted, solitary here. F. Mark tells us "green grass" was there. (Mark 6:39) G. John wrote that "much grass" was there. (John 6:10) H. Luke gives the location as Bethsaida Julius (Luke 9:10), a beautifully situated town near the mountains at the northeast corner of Galilee (which was out of Herod's jurisdiction). I. The multitudes knew Jesus to be the one they had seen heal their sick and followed him enthusiastically. II. Jesus saw the multitudes, had compassion on them and healed their sick on this occasion also. A. Jesus has compassion on us and heals our infirmities as well. B. Jesus went up to a mountain and taught the people from there.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 4 C. Jesus met them at some distance from Bethsaida which made it impractical to go into the city to buy food. Jesus, consequently, fed the multitudes miraculously. III. Before Jesus crossed the Sea of Tiberius, Sea of Galilee, to rest the apostles gave him a full report of their work and teaching success during the limited commission. Names of the Sea of Galilee include the following: 1. Sea of Chinnereth. Numbers 34:11, The boundary will go down from Shepham to Riblah on the east side of Ain and continue along the slopes east of the Sea of Chinnereth. 2. Sea of Kinnereth. Joshua 12:3, He also ruled over the eastern Arabah from the Sea of Kinnereth to the Sea of the Arbah (the Salt Sea), to Beth Jeshimoth, and then southward below the slopes of Pisgah. 3. Lake Genessaret. Luke 5:1, One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 4. Sea of Tiberius. John 6:1, Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias). This name was in vogue toward the end of the first century when John wrote this gospel. Tiberius was the city founded on the western shore by Herod Antipas in 22 A.D. IV. Jesus and his disciples needed a "vacation." A. People were always coming and going, putting so much pressure on them that they didn't have time even to eat.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 5 B. Such is the stressful price of success! C. Care must be given to rest and health even when doing God's work. Even God rested on the seventh day. D. Some of the multitude reached the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee before Jesus and his disciples arrived by boat. E. When Jesus saw the multitudes he saw they were as sheep without a shepherd. 1. The self-righteous Pharisees were no shepherds. They were wolves. 2. Herod had shown himself to be a wicked sinner of the first order! No shepherd! 3. The multitudes were untaught and uncared for by their leaders. F. Jesus taught the multitudes many things to give them guidance to navigate the spiritual confusion they faced. G. The multitudes may have followed Jesus for selfish reasons, but he loved them and blessed them anyway. 1. Would we follow Jesus if there were "nothing in it for us?" 2. The multitudes were not at all considerate of Jesus' need for rest. 3. Their needs were more important than Jesus' needs, or so they thought.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 6 Texts: Feeding the Five Thousand Matthew 14:15-21, As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food." Jesus replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat." "We have here only five loaves of bread and two fish," they answered. "Bring them here to me," he said. And he directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children. Mark 6:35-44, By this time it was late in the day, so his disciples came to him. "This is a remote place," they said, "and it's already very late. Send the people away so they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat." But he answered, "You give them something to eat." They said to him, "That would take eight months of a man's wages! Are we to go and spend that much on bread and give it to them to eat?" "How many loaves do you have?" he asked. "Go and see." When they found out, they said, "Five - and two fish." Then Jesus directed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass; So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 7 Luke 9:12-17, Late in the afternoon the Twelve came to him and said, "Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here." He replied, "You give them something to eat." They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish - unless we go and buy food for all this crowd." (About five thousand men were there.) But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each." The disciples did so, and everybody sat down. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. John 6:4-13, The Jewish Passover Feast was near. When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. Philip answered him, "Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!" Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?" Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. When they had all had enough to eat, he said to the disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 8 Commentary: I. As the day neared an end, Jesus having taught the multitude and healed their sick, the twelve disciples came to Jesus advising him to send the multitudes into the nearby city of Bethsaida Julius to secure food and lodging because the place where Jesus was teaching was a deserted place having no amenities. A. The apostles were the first to think of food. B. Food was important, but not as important as teaching the gospel of the kingdom. C. John 12:1-8, Six days before the Passover, Jesus arrived at Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus' honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus' feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, "Why wasn't this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year's wages." He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the moneybag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. "Leave her alone," Jesus replied. "It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me." D. Luke 10:38-42, As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet listening to what he said. But Martha was
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 9 distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked; "Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her." E. Could we keep a multitude together now all day without food to hear the gospel?... to watch a football game?... to watch an automobile race? II. Jesus told the apostles there was no need to disperse the multitude. A. Jesus asked Philip, "Where are we going to get food with which to feed this great multitude?"... or "You disciples take care of that. You feed them." B. Philip/disciples were asked this as a test question. Jesus knew what he was going to do! C. Philip not only didn't have the slightest idea where food to feed the multitude could be bought, he had no idea where they could get the money to buy the food even if they could find the food. 1. No money meant no food then. What about today? 2. Isaiah 55:1, 2, "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 10 3. "Shilling" here in the King James Version, an English term, refers to the Roman "denarius," the going rate for a day's labor. 4. It would have taken 100 days of work to earn enough money to buy food with which to feed the multitude, or, if paid less per day, 8 months work would be required as stipulated in the New International version. 5. Judas bag/treasury didn't contain anything like this amount of money, it is generally agreed. III. Jesus knowing what he was to do and having focused the attention of the disciples on the problem asked, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see how much food you can find among the multitudes." A. Andrew found a boy who had five barley loaves and two fishes, but he concluded that was such a small amount of food wouldn't do any good. "Loaves" were like our large crackers. "Fish" were like our sardines, preserving being a major industry of the area around the Sea of Galilee. B. The multitudes consisted of 5,000 men plus women and children. (Matthew 14:21) A college football game has more people present than that, but it still was a huge number of people to feed with nothing. C. Women and children were not permitted to sit with the men. They stood to themselves. There are still places like this in the world. 1. The apostles evidently had no food at all.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 11 2. The multitude, except for this one lad, had brought no food. They did not plan ahead. When do we fail to plan ahead? 3. The food belonged to the boy, but he relinquished it to Jesus when Jesus said to the disciples, "Bring them to me." D. Jesus ordered the disciples to seat the people on the ground on the green grass in groups of 50 and 100. 1. Jesus did everything decently and in methodical order. 2. This facilitated distribution, reduced the disciples work and insured that no one would be overlooked. E. Setting us an example, Jesus looked up to heaven from where the food had come, gave thanks for the food, broke the loaves, and gave the food (loaves and fishes in that order) to the disciples who in turn distributed the food to the multitudes. 1. All ate and were filled. 2. We too are to be grateful for all of God's blessings and give thanks to the Father for his gifts. IV. After all, 5,000 men besides women and children (Matthew 14:21), had eaten Jesus directed that all the food that remained should be gathered up. A. Nothing was to be lost, wasted! B. Jesus is the chief economist of the universe! C. One man said, "I never pay full price for anything."
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 12 D. How can we "waste not, want not?"... "stretch a dollar?"... "pinch a penny?" E. Twelve baskets full were collected of uneaten food. What was done with the food? V. When the multitudes saw this great sign, miracle they concluded that Jesus was indeed the prophet who was to come; that is, the Messiah. A. Deuteronomy 18:15, The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him. B. Honest men today come to the same conclusion. C. Jesus could have sent the multitudes away into the nearest town for food. D. Jesus performed this miracle to prove his divinity! E. The main reason for all Jesus' miracles was to prove his divinity.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 13 Feeding of the Five Thousand Questions 1. When Jesus learned of the death of John the Baptist he by to a. 2. Another reason Jesus withdrew to a solitary place was that "so many were and that they didn't even have a chance to." 3. When the returned from their mission, they to Jesus what they had done. 4. At this time Jesus went to, a beautifully situated town near the at the of (which was out of 's ). 5. followed. Jesus had on them and their. 6. Capernaum was located on a body of water variously known as, of, of,,, of and of. 7. With and Jesus fed, besides and. leftovers were gathered. Jesus did not waste.
http://www.biblestudyworkshop.com 14 8. Jesus ordered the to seat the on the on the in groups. 9. Jesus did everything and in. 10. Jesus looked up to,, the, and gave the food to the who in turn the to the. All ate and were.