He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat. And they say unto Him, Shall we go and buy two hundred penny worth of bread, and give them to eat? He saith unto them, How many loaves have ye? Go and see. And when they knew, they say, Five, and two fishes. And He commanded them to make all sit down by companies upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks, by hundreds, and by fifties. 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. And they did all eat, and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments, and of the fishes. And they that did eat of the loaves were about five thousand men. Mark, Chapter 6, verses 37-44.
I had always enjoyed reading about this miracle that Jesus did, but I was really surprised when I was reading the Bible and found there was another time Jesus fed the multitudes. At first, I thought it was a different disciple telling about the loaves and fishes and was just off on some of the basic facts a little. Then after reading the Bible many times, I realized it was Mark who told about the first feeding of the five thousand and he was the same one who told about the feeding of four thousand. These were two different, but similar miracles that Jesus did.
In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples unto Him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far. And His disciples answered Him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And He asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And He commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and He took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to His disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes and He blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled, and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and He sent them away. Mark, Chapter 8, verses 1-9.
This amazed me, but I still figured I must be mistaken. This next passage, also written by Mark, puts the whole thing together.
And He left them, and entering into the ship again departed to the other side. Now the disciples had forgotten to take bread, neither had they in the ship with them more than one loaf. And He charged them saying, Take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, and of the leaven of Herod. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have no bread. And when Jesus knew it. He saith unto them, Why reason ye, because ye have no bread? Perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your heart yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember? When I brake the five loaves among five thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? They say unto Him, Twelve. And when the seven among four thousand, how many baskets full of fragments took ye up? And they say Seven. And He said unto them, How is it that ye do not understand? Mark, Chapter 8, verses 13-21.
I know, I know! This may not be the most profound religious experience you have ever had. I just thought it was interesting to know that there were two totally different times that Jesus provided food for the multitudes and Mark told about both of them. It influenced me to start reading more in-depth to not miss the details. Then, Jesus refers to both miracles when He asks His Disciples why they were so worried about having enough food; didn’t they remember the two recent miracles He had done in their midst?
I guess the lesson I would get out of all of this is to remember that God does so much for me. He provides for my every need. He gets me through all types of situations. Now, do I remember these things when I’m faced with uncertainty? Nope! Just like the disciples, I’m too quick to fret and worry about things, forgetting God will provide for all my needs and take care of me, if I let Him.
Here are some related passages:
*When Jesus then lifted up His Eyes, and saw a great company come unto Him, He saith unto Phillip, whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this He said to prove Him: for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, saith unto Him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? 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. 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. When they were filled, He said unto His disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. 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. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a Truth that Prophet that should come unto the world. John, Chapter 6, verses 5-14.
*Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread. Which when Jesus perceived, He said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves because ye have brought no bread? Do ye not yet understand, neither remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? Neither the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets ye took up? How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that He bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew, Chapter 16, verses 6-12.
Because this an example of how I’ve applied these Bible passages to my life, it doesn’t necessarily reflect the whole meaning of the passages.
This is a connection I've made from this Bible passage. Please
share your connections.
