The miracle of the loaves and fishes is probably one of the most well-known miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ. It appears in all four of the gospels, and each account has it’s own flavor to it. The text is lengthy so I’m not going to include it in this devotion. Instead, I’ll make each passage collapsible so it won’t take up so much space. Most of us do know the story.

Matthew 14:13-21

Matthew 14:13-21 When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities. 14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick. 15 And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. 16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18 He said, Bring them hither to me. 19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children.

Mark 6:30-44

Mark 6:30-44 And the apostles gathered themselves together unto Jesus, and told him all things, both what they had done, and what they had taught. 31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. 32 And they departed into a desert place by ship privately. 33 And the people saw them departing, and many knew him, and ran afoot thither out of all cities, and outwent them, and came together unto him. 34 And Jesus, when he came out, saw much people, and was moved with compassion toward them, because they were as sheep not having a shepherd: and he began to teach them many things. 35 And when the day was now far spent, his disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed: 36 Send them away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. 37 He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? 38 He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. 39 And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. 40 And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. 41 And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and brake the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them; and the two fishes divided he among them all. 42 And they did all eat, and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. 44 And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men.

Luke 9:10-17

Luke 9:10-17 And the apostles, when they were returned, told him all that they had done. And he took them, and went aside privately into a desert place belonging to the city called Bethsaida. 11 And the people, when they knew it, followed him: and he received them, and spake unto them of the kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing. 12 And when the day began to wear away, then came the twelve, and said unto him, Send the multitude away, that they may go into the towns and country round about, and lodge, and get victuals: for we are here in a desert place. 13 But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people. 14 For they were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, Make them sit down by fifties in a company. 15 And they did so, and made them all sit down. 16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude. 17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.

John 6:1-15

John 6:1-15 After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. 2 And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. 3 And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. 4 And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. 5 When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. 7 Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. 8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto him, 9 There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 10 And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. 12 When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 13 Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. 15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.

 

What stood out to me were the commands of Jesus to the disciples; the specific things that Jesus told the disciples to do. 

Give ye them to eat… (Matthew 14:16)

This reminds me of what Jesus told Peter before he left. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. (John 21:17) There is man’s will and then there is God’s will. The disciples said emphatically, Send the multitude away. (Matthew 16:15) But Jesus corrected them and said, No. Give ye them to eat. We see the contrast between what God wants to do and what man thinks should be done. People want to blame God for being unjust and unfair in life. But I wonder how things would be if the tables were turned. Can you be more just than God? Can you be better than God? Those people were hungry. If it was up to the disciples, those families would have traveled on empty stomachs in the middle of the night and possibly fainted along the way. But Jesus had compassion on them. 

Now one might argue that Jesus is God, and the disciples were only suggesting what they saw possible to do. If they knew that Jesus was capable of turning five loaves and two fishes into a feast for five thousand, they would have never dreamed of sending them away. Well, I think that’s just it. They didn’t know better. And we don’t know better. 5 He saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? 6 And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. (John 6:5-6) Maybe the impossible situations that come our way are meant to prove us and to give us the opportunity to see what God can do when we just do what he says. Give ye them to eat…

I’ve wonder much about the balance between man’s efforts and God’s power. We know that Faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (James 2:17) But, Paul said And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:( 1 Corinthians 2:4) So where do we draw the line? I heard this said many years ago:

Pray as though everything depended on God. Work as though everything depended on you.

Augustine

Often times we are admonished as to the futility of serving in the flesh, We question if it’s better to just not serve than to serve without the aid of God. Preachers claim that they don’t want to preach without the touch of God, but I’ve never seen a preacher step down for the lack of it. It seems all preachers all the time must have the touch of God. Sure. But at the same time, God may think it futile to put his touch upon someone that doesn’t serve. It’s not that we earn his touch. I’m just saying that the command is not to send them away, but to feed them.

Bring them hither to me… (Matthew 14:18)

Jesus commanded that the five loaves and the two fishes be brought unto him. The only gospel that explains where that food came from is the gospel of John.  There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? (John 6:9) I find it sweet and amazing that God would use something from such a small person to feed so many. Just a little boy. God can use a young person to do his work, if they be willing. No matter your age, if you would just give God all you got, he can bless it. It’s kinda like the widow’s mite. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: (1 Corinthians 1:26) I like the way Paul put it. Even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. (Romans 4:17) God can use the be-nots. Amen?

Also, John is the one who describes the food. They are barley loaves. And they were small fish. That barley was the least of all bread. It was the bread of the poor. The barley was animal feed turned into bread for human consumption. It definitely wasn’t the best, but it was a rough, rugged plant that got the job done. And he didn’t have 300 lb tunas. He had small fish. It’s just amazing. God used a little boy, with sorry bread and tiny fish to feed 5000 men, plus their families. All the money that they had collected, two-hundred pennyworth, was not enough to feed the multitude, but God didn’t need money. You might think that you don’t have much. And you might not. But give it all to him. That’s what he’s looking for anyhow. All I can say is that Little is much when God is in it. Labor not for wealth or fame. There’s a crown and you can win it, if you go in Jesus name.

 Make the men sit down… (John 6:10)

I like this one. I’ve been thinking much recently about how people’s attention spans are just not what they used to be. I saw a book the other day entitled 30 Second Religion. If you can’t get your point across in 30 seconds, then you can forget it. People that are into social marketing know that videos and memes get the clicks. This is why the modern church invests so much on the sensuality of videos, lights, music, and things of that nature. This is because just coming in to church, sitting down, and listening to the man of God preach the word of God is just not appealing to the worldly crowd.

But nonetheless, Jesus said Make the men sit down. I think this is perfectly good instruction as to how to conduct church, where God’s sheep must be fed. They need to just sit down and eat. And the men of God need to prepare the food, prepare the table, and serve a great feast of the word of God for His people to partake.  Come and dine. (John 21:12) The master sayeth, Come and dine.

Now I’m all for standing up in church. Don’t get me wrong. What I’m saying is that God’s people ought to be prepared to sit down and eat. Church should not be a fast-food joint. That’s what Facebook and Instagram has become. People get their religion from memes. And then they go to church and expect the same thing. And they get bored and leave, and complain I’m not getting fed. No. They have an eating disorder; anorexia spiritus. 

Preaching works. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. (1 Corinthians 1:21) Preaching is God’s program for church. And this implies that must needs be listening. Listening requires concentration. Concentration requires stillness. That’s why Jesus said Make the men sit down.  It’s a well known and established fact, that eating your food in a rush can be detrimental to your health. Dietitions have always recommended that you relax, eat slowly, and chew your food much.

Gather up the fragments… (John 6:12)

Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. (John 6:13) Everything in the bible declares emphatically and abundantly that God wants to bless his people. And truly there is a lake of fire for those that just don’t want God’s blessings. I believe it’s that simple. 

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Romans 8:32

And I like the way John describes the left-overs. Over and above! This is how God wants to bless us. You say, God ain’t answering my prayers! You might not be asking for the right things. And I don’t intend to belittle other people’s prayers. But I’ve been in prayer meetings when petition after petition was said and every single one of them had to do with circumstances, whether they be health, finances, family, and such. I think about what Solomon replied when God said to him Ask what I shall give thee. (1 Kings 3:5) Instead of riches and power, Solomon said Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad. (1 Kings 3:9) That pleased God and He gave Solomon exactly what he asked. But then he also blessed him over and above. God said And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: (1 Kings 3:13) 

There is no lack from God. There is no begging bread. Why would God command his people to be filled with the Spirit if he wasn’t fully prepared and supplied to deliver such a request. The supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:19) is not trickle. It’s not on back-order. The other day my daughter went to the Hardee’s drive-thru and asked for nine cheeseburgers. They said, We don’t have enough meat. And they sent my daughter away. That’s just not the case with God. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. (John 6:37) If God is going to send someone away, mark it down: It’s going to be with left-overs.

Conclusion

What a miracle. There’s just too much in these verses to even scratch the surface. Boy, I love the word of God. So many scriptures come to mind about God’s abundant grace, his love that just doesn’t stop, and his mercy that just knows no limit. God sure is good.