Luke 9:13, commentary and pictures

Christ commanded His disciples to feed the hungry multitude in the desert place rather than send them away fainting, and they answered that they had no more but five barley loaves and two small fishes, scarcely enough for a score, unless they should go and buy food for all the people. He already knew how He would provide, and His command tested their faith, which faltered as they fixed on the meager supply like Elisha's servant before the hundred men. Having the people seated in orderly companies, He gave thanks, broke the food, and placed it in the disciples' hands, and it increased as they imparted what they received until all were satisfied and twelve baskets of fragments were gathered that nothing be lost. His followers are therefore to obey the work He gives without judging whether means seem adequate, bringing what little they have to Him to be blessed and then passing on to the needy both temporal help and the bread of life, receiving more as they give. The same miracle reveals the creative power that daily multiplies seed into harvest, and calls for compassionate care for bodily needs with thrift and economy that wastes no resource or opportunity to bless others.

Setting and Circumstances

Luke 9:13 belongs to the feeding of five thousand men besides women and children in a secluded desert place beyond the sea from Capernaum, where Christ had withdrawn with His disciples for quiet rest. The multitude pursued Him there after learning His direction, following by land and by boat, and the crowd was swelled by bands of pilgrims from far and near on their way to Jerusalem because the Passover was at hand. Christ landed unobserved and spent a little time apart with the disciples before meeting the multitude waiting on the shore.

The crowd had listened all day to His teaching from the Old Testament Scriptures, with healing joined to preaching as part of His mission of love and compassion exercised by divine power. As evening drew on and sunset and night came near, the people were far from home, weary and needing rest and food, hungry and fainting. Many were unable to buy food, and in that desert place nothing more could be obtained. On one occasion described, Jesus had led about five thousand on foot away from the cities to a retired grassy place, where after three days they were weary and hungry and had used up their food.

The feeding took place on the preceding day on the barren shore. Afterward the fed multitude left Jesus there knowing no boat remained for Him to depart, while He watched their departure with compassionate eyes. News of the miracle spread far and near, so that on the following morning people returned in large numbers at an early hour to the spot where they had last seen Him, coming both by land and by water.

Command and Disciples Response

His command to give the crowd something to eat directed the disciples themselves to feed the hungry multitude rather than sending them away. He would not send them home unrefreshed nor let them faint by the way, and His direction shows He cares for bodily needs as well as spiritual instruction. That care points to the compassion and practical concern His followers are to show toward those seeking salvation, not neglecting or discouraging the weary and hungry but finding ways to help without making the way burdensome.

They answered that they had no more but five barley loaves belonging to a lad and two small fishes. It was a slender store scarcely sufficient for a score of persons, with Philip adding that two hundred pennyworth of bread would not give each even a little. Except they should go and buy food for all this people, nothing could be done in the desert place where nothing more could be obtained.

Jesus already knew how He would provide, and His question about the available food and His command tested the disciples' faith. Their focus on the meager supply and on the need to buy food displayed unbelief, the same unbelief as Elisha's servant when he questioned whether a small provision could feed a hundred men. God's people are therefore to obey the work He gives without stopping to judge whether resources or likely results seem adequate, for what appears insufficient in human hands can become more than enough in the Lord's hands.

His command is also a promise backed by the power that supplied food for the crowd. Jesus depended on His Father to provide, though food was not nearby and He appeared to have no means, and the need was real with the people far from home, many unable to buy food, and night near. In difficulty God's workers must follow His instructions and depend on God's resources, while using wisdom and the means and abilities He has provided rather than acting recklessly. When brought into difficulty while following the Lord's direction they are not to give up but to seek help from God who can deliver them.

Miracle of Multiplication

The small store was brought to Him, and He had the multitude seated on the grass in orderly companies of fifty and one hundred to preserve order and that all might witness what was done, a hymn being sung, before He gave thanks and asked blessing upon the bread and the fishes and broke them. He placed the broken pieces in the disciples' hands and worked through them to distribute the loaves and fishes to the multitudes in quantities sufficient to satisfy appetite. The food did not diminish as He handed it to them, and their hands were supplied as they reached out to Him, so that every time they gave out all they had and came back for more there was more supply furnished. The supply kept increasing as they imparted what they received until all were satisfied, and the disciples themselves also ate.

After all had eaten and were satisfied He commanded that the broken fragments be gathered so nothing would be lost, and twelve baskets were filled, showing that none of the food was wasted. What seemed meager in His hands became abundant, satisfying those who trusted Him and leaving something to share. The feast displayed power and benevolence that no human power could provide, and it convinced the people and strengthened their belief that He was the Messiah with divine power.

The power by which He fed the five thousand was the same power He possessed while working to support His family in daily labor, yet He did not use it to lessen His own burdens. Just so, He had refused to work a miracle to satisfy His own hunger in the wilderness, though He would not send the crowd home unrefreshed nor let them faint by the way. The multiplying of the loaves draws aside the veil from nature and reveals the creative energy constantly exercised for human good. He who multiplied the loaves multiplies the seed cast into the ground every day, and by a miracle constantly feeds millions from earth's harvest fields.

Men are called to cooperate with Him in the care of the grain and the preparation of the loaf, yet this cooperation makes them lose sight of the divine agency. They ascribe His working to natural causes or human instrumentality and pervert His gifts to selfish uses, so that they become a curse instead of a blessing. Dull senses must be quickened to discern His merciful kindness, so His gifts may be the blessing He intended. As a man preaching the gospel He worked the same wonder He had worked in Old Testament times for one hundred men, feeding five thousand in the wilderness from a small portion. In the wilderness He supplied His people not only with bread but with clear flowing streams, casting His glory on those He guided as on those He taught in His humanity, though He walked the earth in lowliness and poverty and was greater than Moses. It is the grace of God on the small portion that makes it all-sufficient, His hand can multiply it an hundredfold, and from His resources He is able to spread a table in the wilderness for more than a million people.

Giving What Is Received

The disciples were able to give to the crowd only what they had first received from Christ, for they brought the five loaves and two fishes to Him to be blessed and multiplied, and as they imparted what they received they continued to receive until all were satisfied and more remained than at the first. Their hands were supplied as they reached out to Him, and in the giving the gift was increased. Those who work together with God in this way carry out His purpose to lift up, encourage, and restore others.

No one is to wait for someone more capable or for an organization to act, but each is to use the means, time, and ability already in hand to meet the needs of others. Even a small gift, placed in Christ's hands in simple reliance upon Him, can help many and prove sufficient. What seemed far from sufficient became through His power enough for a large work, for He can increase what is offered and placed in His servants' hands until it feeds five thousand men besides women and children. Limited means are no barrier, for God can use them to provide for many.

Lack is to be met by Christ present. When people are destitute of the bread of life, His followers are not to ask for someone to be sent from afar to feed them, but to know that Christ is there, to commune with Him, and to bring their barley loaves to Jesus, and He will feed the needy souls where they are.

Christ's followers are to pass on to the needy what they receive from Him, sharing what they have with those who lack. This includes sharing the truth with people who have not received it, and sharing the bread that satisfies spiritual hunger. Temporal and spiritual blessings accompany such giving, and no resource, opportunity, or advantage that could help others should be squandered. Blessings received from God are to be shared, and in giving the gift is increased.

God can bless and multiply what is given so that it meets a great need, a principle that applies to gifts used to provide the bread of life to spiritually hungry people.

Those who are softened and subdued and sanctified by the Holy Spirit, who study to work the works Christ worked, and who dedicate themselves to God, will be given the Holy Spirit so they can give to those in necessity. The same works of Christ will be manifested in the present day by the message and by every way of helpfulness, as the supply kept increasing every time the disciples gave out all they had and came back for more until the whole multitude was fed.

Faith must lay hold upon God and expect success, for the scattered small supply placed in missionary work will be multiplied by God as it is imparted to others, so that all may eat and be filled. Advance in the work must not be stopped and measured by the means at hand, for that shows very limited faith. Whether means are large or small, God's human agents must plan and work in faith to diffuse the gospel over the whole earth in obedience to God's command to go forward, and God gives tact, skill, and understanding to those who align themselves with Him.

Economy and Practical Application

After feeding the five thousand, nothing that remained was allowed to go to waste, and the careful gathering of the fragments teaches care, frugality, thrift and economy, especially in difficult circumstances and when resources are limited. Though Christ could provide what the people needed even from only five loaves and two fishes, His later command to gather the leftovers showed that even miraculous abundance was not to be wasted. Provision is therefore to be handled carefully and nothing useful discarded, and the lesson reaches to both temporal and spiritual things, that no resource, opportunity or advantage that could help others should be squandered, and that blessings received from God should be shared, including the bread that satisfies spiritual hunger.

The command to gather means more than saving leftover food, for every such act is meant to make an impression on human minds so that it is never lost, and those healed and seeing the miracle keep the impression of truth in their minds. After the crowd had sat down, a hymn had been sung, and He had blessed and broken the bread and the fishes and placed the pieces in the disciples' hands, the supply kept increasing as they imparted what they received until all were satisfied, and then the fragments were to be gathered so nothing would be lost. That absence of extravagance in anything applies to building sanitariums plain and simple, yet with room to care for people and impress them. The feeding stands as an example whose methods are to guide practical food work, using simple, inexpensive preparations economically and letting no selfish private interests obstruct the work. What God gives is to be imparted to others from the small supply at hand, multiplied as it passes through the hands of His servants to the hungry until all are satisfied with food still left, and not wasted, gambled away, or taken by robbing another.

His continuing benevolence also provides people with knowledge to find food in different places and ways, meeting bodily needs for five thousand men besides women and children. His command to feed the hungry points to the compassion and practical concern His disciples should show those seeking salvation, caring for bodily needs as well as spiritual needs, so that the weary and hungry are not neglected or sent away discouraged, and believers find ways to help without making the way to Christ burdensome. Those who work together with God carry out Christ's purpose as the disciples received bread from Christ to distribute to the people, just as those who serve others receive divine grace to impart to people in need, and in giving the gift is increased; they should lift up, encourage and restore others. His example further shows that useful labor is honorable, for He possessed the same divine power while working to support His family yet did not use it to lessen His own daily burdens, and people should work industriously.