It would be an amazing miracle, if it weren’t for the fact that it followed a similar but even greater one. Jesus fed about four thousand men. He did it by multiplying seven loaves of bread and a few small fish. Seven basketfuls of leftovers were collected when everyone was satisfied.
This is an amazing miracle. It’s something beyond all human powers, something that shows Jesus’ divine power and might. It’s at a huge scale, with thousands involved, unmistakable as a miracle.
But it’s not as big as the other miracle like this. The feeding of the five thousand is the miracle everyone thinks about when they think of Jesus’ miraculous power to provide a great feast from a small amount. That miracle came first and it is bigger in almost every way. Obviously, there were more people. In both cases, the number of men is given, and so it’s assumed that at least some of these men were there with families and we know that there were also women who followed Jesus. But in the first miracle the crowd is said to have had about 5,000 men and in the second it’s said to have had “only” 4,000. Four thousand would seem enormous, if not for the fact that it was a twenty-percent decrease from the previous crowd.
The amount of food Jesus started with in that other miracle was smaller, even though the crowd was bigger. It was five loaves of bread and two fish there with the five-thousand. And when we say “loaves of bread” don’t think of something like sandwich bread from the grocery store. It would be more like what we would call a roll. For this second miracle it wasn’t a lot more, but it was seven loaves instead of five, and a few small fish, which would at least seem to be more than two.
Even the leftovers were fewer this time around. In both cases Jesus instructed his disciples to collect what was left over after all the people had eaten their fill, and in the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand they collected twelve basketfuls, but in this miracle, the feeding of the four thousand, they only collected seven basketfuls. People will often comment on how twelve baskets is the perfect number for each of Jesus’ disciples to have one. But then what were they supposed to do with seven?
So I guess we have to ask why. Why did Jesus do this? And why did Mark and Matthew record it? Why does God the Holy Spirit want us to read it? Examine this closely and see. God here is leading you into a greater understanding, a greater appreciation of who he is and what he does for you. Jesus reveals his heart and he reveals his work, which is the same today as it was back then. In compassion, Jesus provides.
Because the feeding of the four thousand comes after the feeding of the five thousand, we’re naturally going to make some comparisons. Some critics claim that these are really just two different versions of the same story, but there are a number of notable differences. From a practical perspective it makes sense too. People need to eat, and Jesus performed many miracles more than once. He healed people who were sick many times. He drove out demons at every opportunity. Even raising the dead was something he did on multiple occasions.
So to some extent the reason that Jesus performed this miracle is very much the same as the first time Jesus performed it. There were people who were hungry and Jesus cared. Mark begins this account by saying,
In those days, when there was again a large crowd and they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, 2“I feel compassion for the crowd because they have already stayed with me three days and do not have anything to eat. 3If I send them home hungry, they will faint on the way. Some of them have come from a long distance.”
Jesus had compassion on them. This is just like the other miracle two chapters earlier, where Mark says, “His heart went out to them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.”
It’s the same Jesus. Jesus sees the people in need and he has compassion.
But there are also some notable differences between these two events. Jesus spent a day with that first crowd, teaching them and healing their sick, and then it was Jesus’ disciples who said he should send them away so they can go and get food. Only then did Jesus test his disciples by saying, “You feed them.” At those instructions they were at a complete loss, searching every human means they could think of, with no idea what to do.
This second time they had already been out in the wilderness for three days. And now it was Jesus who raised the matter of feeding them.
Commentators don’t agree on how to take the disciples’ response. Mark and Matthew both record only a simple question from them. “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed these people here in this deserted place?”
Some commentators see this as a question of doubt. Probably just a few months ago they saw that other miracle of Jesus, and here they are with the same doubts! “How are we going to feed all these people?”, they wonder, when the answer is right there in front of them.
But if that is the right way to take their words, would it really be so surprising? Don’t you and I quickly forget about God’s goodness to us? About 8% of adults in the United States are affected by depression every year. Depression comes in a variety of different forms, but one of the common symptoms is hopelessness. A person who is stuck in a depressive cycle can’t see anything good and only sees hopelessness. For some people that can be especially overwhelming, but even if you haven’t been diagnosed with depression you probably have some inkling of what that’s like. It is a universal human thing that when we are facing trouble we lose focus on everything else. We’re short-sighted, and just because I ate well yesterday it does not mean that I won’t grumble if I am hungry today.
Is that what these disciples were doing? It is possible, but their simple statement could be taken another way. They know that they can’t do it. There is no way that they can feed all these people. It’s going to have to be Jesus. Maybe they have learned.
And you might not always realize it, but you are learning too. All the troubles and trials that you face in this life, all the crosses you bear for the sake of your faith, are things that Jesus uses to teach you. He does this so that you’ll stop trusting in yourself. He does this so you’ll stop thinking you have all the answers, and you’ll turn to him and trust in him instead.
That’s a hard lesson to learn, and it’s one thing to think you know it in your head and another to actually know it by experience. Martin Luther liked to say that the three things that make a theologian are oratio, meditatio, and tentatio – Latin for prayer, meditation, and suffering. And Jesus is the one who said that you must take up a cross if you want to follow him. That cross is your daily struggle with the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh.
Take a look at that crowd. Here’s another place we can find a difference between the two miracles. The first crowd, after Jesus’ miracle, wanted to make him their king by force. They chased after Jesus and when he made it clear that he had a different purpose besides giving them free meals every day many of them turned away from him.
This crowd, though, had already been out in the wilderness with Jesus for three days. That’s three days without food, or maybe with a few supplies that they brought along. There weren’t any buffet lines or refreshment tents. And they weren’t there asking Jesus for a meal. Nor were they complaining about how hungry they were. This group was hungry for the word of Jesus. In fact, they wanted so badly to hear him that they put everything else out of their minds, to the point where Jesus said, “If I just send them home without giving them something to eat they’re going to faint on the way!”
Maybe that puts us to shame. We need our comforts. We worry about our next meal and all our other bodily needs. But Jesus is the one who provides all these things. Every day all around us are miracles of God’s grace. He’s the one who provides for us. Our food, our clothing, our homes, our ability to work, these things all come from him. They’re miracles. They just don’t seem so big and exciting as feeding five thousand.
Jesus took care of the needs of this crowd. First, he spoke the word of God to them. He filled them and satisfied their spiritual hunger as only he can. He does that for you too, and that’s a miracle no less great than feeding four or five thousand people with loaves and fish. Our own church is small and humble, but just on this one August morning, how many Christians around the world are gathered to be fed by Jesus? It’s a lot more than four thousand! Jesus himself is the one who has drawn you here for this rich banquet. Here is food for your soul. The gospel is proclaimed to you and Jesus makes himself your holy food and drink. You will not leave here fainting from guilt. He forgives your sins with the salvation he won for you at the cross and sends you home satisfied.
And there he will continue to be with you, and he’ll continue to provide for you. He knows your every need. In compassion Jesus provides. He provides for you for body and for soul. He sustains you for this life, and for heaven. Amen.
— Pastor Seth Georgson