Matthew 14:15, commentary and pictures

At evening in a remote desert place far from villages with no food at hand, the hour was late and the time to eat long past. More than ten thousand people, five thousand men besides women and children, had lingered all day listening and being healed, and had grown tired, hungry and faint. Seeing the need beyond their means, the disciples urged Jesus to send the multitude away to buy themselves food in the villages. In compassion for them as sheep without a shepherd, He would not send them home fasting to faint by the way. Instead He made the disciples the channel between Himself and the people, receiving from the Father and giving to them to distribute until all were filled.

Evening Desert Setting

The hour was late, the time past, and evening had come upon a desert place, remote and secluded wilderness far from home and from the villages where food might be bought, with no food readily available and no nearby source of supply. The urgency was plain because the people were hungry, many far from home and unable to buy food, and the disciples saw the lateness of the hour and the deserted place as reason the multitude must be sent away. Their concern arose from the apparent lack and from judging feeding to be beyond their means, yet the setting itself teaches dependence on God in emergency when human provision fails.

The place lay beyond the sea from Capernaum, on the shore of Galilee near the beach, at Bethsaida where the first feeding took place among Jews. There Jesus taught the multitude from a grassy eminence, generally choosing the open air, the groves and the seaside for discourse because no walls could enclose so great a multitude and because He could have commanding view of landscape and scenery. On that shore near the beach more than ten thousand people were miraculously fed from a few small loaves and fishes.

He had sought a secluded retreat and then interrupted it in compassion to teach the way of salvation to those like sheep without a shepherd, ministering when about five thousand men besides women and children had gathered to hear. He labored to sow the seed of truth in out-of-the-way places, traveling slowly away from the villages and from city to city, walking on foot from place to place with the Word while the crowd kept gathering and gathering around Him. It was after people had followed Him away from the cities into that remote setting that the disciples' concern about food arose, and all these circumstances were for making His work known to those who afterward would be His disciples.

Crowd And Disciples Request

The gathering numbered five thousand men besides women and children, more than ten thousand people in all, and those fed at this first feeding were Jews. The count of five thousand men besides women and children belongs to the multitude that had followed after a sought seclusion was interrupted. The feeding near Galilee on the shore and beach belongs to this same account of more than ten thousand fed with a few small loaves and fish.

The people had come without invitation, many from far away, and many had eaten nothing since morning. They lingered all day listening to teaching of the way of salvation, while He ministered with compassion as to sheep without a shepherd receiving no help from religious leaders. The sick and afflicted brought to Him were healed, life was brought to the dying, and the day felt like heaven on earth, so the throng still lingered as the sun was sinking, unaware how long it had been since they had eaten.

Many were tired, hungry, weak, weary and faint, and some were fainting and falling to the ground. They could not be sent home unrefreshed without fainting by the way. Jesus Himself had labored all day without food or rest and was pale from weariness and hunger, yet He could not withdraw from the multitude pressing upon Him.

The disciples saw the late hour, the desert place, and the urgent need for food, with no nearby source of supply and no means at hand to provide it. They judged feeding so many beyond their means and urged Jesus to send the multitude away into the villages and nearby towns to buy themselves victuals. They were also concerned that He was exhausted and wanted to take Him away to rest and eat.

Jesus Himself knew their hunger and said they must have something to eat. As evening drew on He told His disciples the people were weary and needed rest and food rather than being dismissed. When the need for food arose He did not send the multitude away but kept them to be fed.

Compassionate Miraculous Provision

Jesus looked on the crowd as sheep without a shepherd, receiving no help from the religious leaders, and shared their human need with tender compassion. He knew they had followed Him and listened all day until many were weary and hungry and fainting and falling to the ground, and He would not send them home fasting to their homes unrefreshed nor let them faint by the way or suffer for lack of food. Though He would not work a miracle to satisfy His own hunger in the wilderness, He would not allow the multitude to suffer so. He cared for their ordinary physical needs, providing simple food rather than luxury, so His followers could trust their needs would be supplied even if their fare was plain or scanty, for His abiding presence is better than worldly goods.

Instead of dismissing them He tested the faith of the disciples by asking about obtaining bread for so many, already knowing Himself how He would provide. The disciples judged feeding beyond their means with no nearby source of food, yet Jesus depended on His heavenly Father to supply what was needed in the emergency. He knew they would be hungry and weak after listening, and intended that the people not go home unrefreshed. The shortage of food thus became the test of their faith and the need that prompted the miracle.

He led them to a grass plot and had them sit down in companies on the ground, seated on the grassy ground. He gave thanks and asked the blessing over the food with a hymn sung, broke the bread into small pieces and placed it in the disciples' hands to carry and distribute to the hungry multitude. The only supply was five small barley loaves and two small fishes, a scanty store that was but a small supply for His own family of disciples. Instead of inviting them to eat He began to distribute it and bade them serve the people, passing it through His disciples until all had enough though feeding so great a multitude seemed impossible.

The food multiplied in His hands and kept coming as the disciples distributed it, the little store sufficing for all, until all were filled and satisfied. Christ and His disciples also ate of the precious heaven-supplied food. Twelve baskets full of fragments were gathered on this occasion, and seven baskets on the other feeding. He then commanded to gather up the fragments and let nothing be lost, so nothing was wasted. That careful gathering teaches careful use of resources and thrift, and care of the fragments is as essential as creating the food.

Divine Power To Provide

The miracle is an illustration of divine power in providing food, the same creative power that works every day in the growth of crops and the production of bread, though human labor in the process causes many to overlook God's agency. Care of what remains is as essential as the creating of the food, and is evidence of divinity. The same power was His while He labored to support His family, yet He did not use it to lessen ordinary toil or to relieve His own hunger and suffering, showing that useful labor is honorable and that men should work industriously. He had power to satisfy His own hunger miraculously, but to do so for Himself would not have accorded with the plan of salvation, for His miracles were for the benefit of suffering people. Though the Prince of life from the royal courts, He laid off His kingly crown and royal robes and clothed divinity with humanity, suffering the inconveniences of poverty that He might discern the needs of the poor, coming to minister to the suffering and needy. Obtaining the higher education does not mean gaining popularity, securing worldly advantages, having all temporal wants abundantly supplied, or being honored by the titled and wealthy, for He wore not the gorgeous robes of the high priest and had no earthly riches, but He had His Father's power to work miracles for the help and uplifting of mankind, supplying with a few loaves and fishes the needs of a multitude faint with hunger.

Christ can supply His people's needs even when what they have seems insufficient, making a small amount sufficient for a multitude, as He supplied bread and flowing water in the wilderness. With five loaves and two small fishes He fed five thousand men besides women and children, showing that He can do great things for His people today even when the visible supply appears inadequate. What appears to be a meager supply can become a rich feast, leaving enough to satisfy those who receive it and to share with others, for after all were satisfied twelve baskets of fragments remained. Means used faithfully can be blessed to meet the needs of a multitude, for the food was given to the disciples to distribute and the Lord blessed and multiplied it. His benevolence is not exhausted in providing for bodily necessities, and He can give knowledge to help obtain food. Today He gives tact, skill and understanding to those who come into line with Him, and the crowd's need for food illustrates also the spiritual hunger of those who need the bread of life.

The need could not be met by human means, with five thousand men besides women and children to be fed and only five loaves and two fishes in hand, so God's children are not to worry and fret over things they cannot help but are to trust Christ and go from strength to strength. The feeding in the desolate place is an object lesson in trusting Christ to multiply even small gifts for a work entrusted to His people when ordinary supplies appear inadequate. What is placed in His service can be multiplied as it is shared, so that all may eat and be filled, and the work should not be measured by the resources currently at hand. The fact that He could furnish food in a miraculous way did not teach that no effort is to be put forth to provide the necessities of life. Through the miracle He was seeking to impart spiritual truths of vital importance to the salvation of souls, and as with feeding, the Lord will not always work miracles to heal the sick and keep people alive in answer to prayer, so agencies for hygienic living and treatment remain God's way and must not be despised or abolished.

Receiving To Give

The disciples stood as the channel of communication between Christ and the people, for Christ received from the Father and imparted to the disciples, the disciples imparted to the multitude, and the people imparted to one another. The feeding of the five thousand in the secluded place thus teaches that those who serve others are to receive grace from Him and pass it on to people in need, just as the disciples received bread from the Saviour to give to the crowd. God provides for hungry people through disciples whose hands are supplied by Christ, enabling them to share with the needy what they receive from the Master.

All who are united with Christ receive from Him the bread of life, the heavenly food, and impart it to others. Christ is the great Center, the Source of all strength, and His disciples today are to receive their supplies from Him, for even the most intelligent and most spiritually minded can bestow only as they receive and of themselves can supply nothing for the needs of the soul. Their work as His representatives was to feed the people with the bread of life rather than turn anyone away unfed, and that work would expose their own helplessness and need for spiritual food from Christ so they could supply others.

In that giving the gift increases. In full reliance on God Jesus took the small store of loaves that was but a small supply for His own family of disciples, and instead of inviting them to eat He began to distribute to them and bade them serve the people. The food multiplied in His hands, and the hands of the disciples reaching out to Christ Himself the Bread of Life were never empty, and the little store was sufficient for all, and after the wants of the people were supplied the fragments were gathered up and Christ and His disciples ate of the precious heaven-supplied food. We can impart only as we receive, and we can receive only as we impart, and as we continue to impart we shall continue to receive, and the more we impart the more we shall receive. What is placed in Christ's service can be multiplied as it is shared, so that all may eat and be filled, and the work should not be measured by the resources currently at hand.

What people have should be shared with those who lack it, and temporal and spiritual blessings accompany such giving. This applies to sharing the truth with people everywhere, including with the bread of life, since scarcity of visible resources is no reason to despair. The crowd's need for food also illustrates the spiritual hunger of people who need the bread of life, which God can meet by blessing limited resources so they meet great needs. Gifts sent in with thanksgiving and prayer will be multiplied and blessed in the same way the Lord multiplied and blessed the food given into the disciples' hands to feed the five thousand. If believers make the best use they can of the means they have, with intelligent, self-denying, self-sacrificing effort, God will enable them to feed the multitude who are starving for the Bread of Life, carrying forward medical missionary work for soul-saving to fulfill the gospel commission.

The first feeding at Bethsaida was for Jews, and there with Christ's blessing the disciples' little store availed for feeding the multitude. Though the disciples saw His power to multiply the food for the hungry crowds, afterward they still failed to bring forward all they had and trust that power.

Thrift And Practical Care

The miracle together with the command to gather what remained teaches carefulness, saving and economy in the use of all God's gifts, in order to give, since giving is more blessed than receiving. Care of the fragments is as essential as creating the food and proves divinity, showing that the bounties of Providence are not to be squandered or used aimlessly or wastefully. This points to God's standard of economy in saving food as well as money, for the Lord values every gift and all depend on Him for life, means, health, food and air, while industry and frugality teach careful use of what is received from His hand. Even in trying circumstances in a deserted place at a late hour, provision was made and the food left over was not wasted, as a lesson in careful stewardship and thrift use of resources.

The lesson is twofold, that in spiritual as in temporal things nothing is to be wasted, with no temporal opportunity or spiritual advantage let slip and nothing wasted that would benefit a human being or relieve the hungry. Every such act of gathering is to make a lasting impression of truth on human minds, beyond merely saving leftover food. The baskets were distributed among the throng and carried into all the region round about for friends at home, so those fed were to give others the bread from heaven to satisfy hunger of soul and repeat what they had learned of God, with nothing lost. Allowing no extravagance, sanitariums are to be made plain and simple while still providing room to care for people and impress those healed who see His miracles. None have a right to gamble or to get means by robbing another, but must impart what God has given them.

Surroundings were regarded when giving truth, with the open air, groves and seaside generally chosen because no walls could enclose the multitude and a commanding view of landscape and scenery could be had. Scenery that would attract the eye and awaken admiration in lovers of the beautiful was chosen to make lessons plain, simple and interesting, using objects and scenes familiar to humble life to illustrate important truths and connecting the works of God's finger in heaven and earth with the words of life, so that looking on nature would bring the lessons fresh to memory. Birds caroling without care, flowers of the valley, the lily on the lake, lofty trees, cultivated lands, waving grain, barren soil, the fruitless tree, everlasting hills, the bubbling stream, and the setting sun gilding the heavens were associated with divine truth, extolling the wisdom of God in creation and directing minds through nature up to nature's God, so that landscape, trees, birds, flowers, hills, lake and heavens would remain hallowed in memory with sacred truths after the ascension. A tired, hungry throng of five thousand gathered in the open air to listen to words of life was known to be unable to receive spiritual benefit while hungry, and bodily needs were not forgotten but met by miracle instead of leaving them unfed. Simple food rather than luxury was provided, showing care for ordinary physical needs and that abiding presence is better than worldly goods, with followers able to trust that needs would be supplied even if fare was plain or scanty.

People seeking the way of salvation must not be neglected when hungry or weary, and practical care should help them hear the message without making their path burdensome. God provides for human necessities and gives guidance and knowledge for preparing suitable food for different times and occasions, and providing food for the needy is a lesson of the miracles showing care for the poor and needy. He came to serve the poor and needy, not to seek comfort or worldly advantage, and His benevolence is not exhausted but can give knowledge to help obtain food. The feeding provides a lesson for food work, that Christ's methods should be studied and practical provision carried forward without selfish private interests obstructing the work. Everything put in servants' hands is to be used to meet need and glorify God's holy name, to communicate light, open the door to those in darkness, and save the world because Christ is coming, as shown when the crowd following on foot from place to place and city to city until five thousand besides women and children were together with nothing to eat were not sent away but seated and fed.

Christ was attentive wherever He went to all needing help, being their sanctuary and helper and the great leading Physician even without buildings like sanitariums. Those softened and subdued and sanctified by the Holy Spirit must study how to work the very works He worked, going with Him from place to place and trusting that dedication to the Lord God of heaven will bring the Holy Spirit to communicate to those in necessity. He laid off His kingly crown and royal robes and clothed divinity with humanity, suffering poverty's inconveniences that He might discern the needs of the poor. Obtaining the higher education does not mean gaining popularity, securing worldly advantages, having all temporal wants abundantly supplied, and being honored by the titled and wealthy, for He wore not gorgeous robes nor had earthly riches but had His Father's power to work miracles for the help and uplifting of mankind, supplying with a few loaves and fishes the needs of a multitude faint with hunger, as part of His mission of love. All these circumstances, including the request in the evening in the desert place where about five thousand besides women and children had gathered to hear teaching to send the multitude away into the villages to buy food because the time was past, came about because labor was given to sow seed in out-of-the-way places while traveling slowly away from villages where Scriptures had been opened in simplicity, since there was a world to hear and some souls who had not yet heard truth would receive it, and were for making His work known to those who after crucifixion and resurrection would be His disciples.