Matthew 14:19, commentary and pictures

He ordered the great crowd to sit in orderly groups on the grass, then took the only food at hand, five small barley loaves and two small fishes, looked up to His Father in heaven, gave thanks, broke it into pieces and gave it to His disciples to carry to the people. The little store did not run out but grew in His hands and in the disciples' hands as they shared, so all of the more than ten thousand hungry people ate and were filled and twelve baskets of fragments were gathered. The act shows His divine power and tender care, meeting real bodily need as well as spiritual need in full reliance on God rather than offering luxury. He supplies need through appointed human helpers, so those united to Him receive the bread of life from Him and keep receiving only as they keep giving to others. The simple meal and the saving of what remained teach gratitude, simplicity, and careful economy, while the daily growth of harvest shows the same providing power still at work.

Setting and Course of Miracle

The gathering numbered five thousand men besides women and children, more than ten thousand people in all, near the time of Passover in a wilderness, out-of-the-way place away from the villages, on a grass plot on the shore of Galilee near Capernaum where much of Christ's ministry was spent. They had followed eagerly without invitation and listened all day until evening drew on and night was near, hungry and faint far from home, and He would not send them home fasting. He led them to rest and slowly opened truth in a simple way whose circumstances were given to be understood after His crucifixion and resurrection. The available food was only five small barley loaves and two small fishes, the humble ordinary fare of Galilean fisher folk, with no apparent means to provide in the wilderness.

He commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass or ground in orderly groups, in companies of fifty and one hundred, so they could rest comfortably and in order and all could witness what He would do. A hymn was sung before the distribution. Looking up to heaven to the Father in full reliance upon God, He blessed or gave thanks over the bread and fish, broke it into small pieces, and gave the loaves to the disciples and through them to the multitude, the people then sharing with one another. The small supply did not diminish as it was passed out but fresh supply was furnished as often as the disciples returned for more, multiplying in His hands and in their hands.

All ate and were filled and satisfied from the small store, and twelve baskets of fragments remained, twelve baskets in this feeding and seven in the other feeding. The fragments were gathered so nothing would be lost. Afterward Christ and His disciples ate of the heaven-supplied food. The open landscape and beautiful natural scenery made the occasion vivid and memorable, connecting sacred lessons with God's works in creation so the people could recall the truths when they later saw the landscape.

The teachings and manner of work in Matthew 13 and 14 were faithfully reported by believing disciples to leave a lasting impression on human minds to the end of time. Those who believe the truth for the last days are to follow, study, and bring into their ministry of the Word the instructions He recognized as essential, for they hold the principles underlying true higher education. Every such action was to make truth remain with those healed and witnessing the miracle.

Christ's Power and Compassion

The feeding was striking evidence of divinity, for no human power could have supplied so much food from so little, and as the small supply of five loaves and a few small fishes was blessed with thanks, broken, and passed from hand to hand through the disciples to the multitude, it multiplied until there was enough for all. The crowd was seated in orderly groups on the grass so all could rest and witness what was done, and when more than five thousand men besides women and children ate and were filled with twelve baskets of fragments remaining, the miracle strengthened their growing conviction that He was the Messiah, the promised Deliverer and the world's Redeemer revealing the Father.

He met genuine bodily need as well as spiritual need, with thoughtful and selfless care for people who were weary, hungry and faint after following eagerly without invitation and listening all day far from home until evening and night drew near, and He would not send them home fasting or unrefreshed lest they faint by the way. Having them sit in order to rest comfortably, He took the five small barley loaves and two fishes, the humble ordinary fare and daily food of Galilean fisher folk and not a rich repast, and looking to heaven He blessed and broke and gave the food to the disciples to distribute, making the simple meal an assurance of His power and tender care in the ordinary needs of life. That care expresses His love and mission of practical service to the poor, needy, suffering, afflicted and oppressed rather than pursuit of riches, honor, comfort, popularity or worldly advantage, teaching His disciples to care compassionately for those seeking salvation by giving them opportunity to hear the word of life, finding practical ways to help, removing what makes the way burdensome or discouraging, and not leaving them hungry, weary or discouraged.

God's providence had placed Him there in the wilderness where food was not readily available and there was no apparent means to provide, and He received the food from the Father and depended on His heavenly Father to supply what was needed, looking up to heaven to the Father in full reliance upon God. The miracle therefore teaches dependence on God in every emergency and difficulty, for when His workers face the need of thousands with little in hand as night approaches, they are to seek His help with confidence from His infinite resources rather than give up or rely on their own plans, since He already knows how to provide even after testing their faith.

By this miracle of mercy for suffering humanity He proved He had power to satisfy His own hunger in the wilderness, for feeding five thousand at once with five loaves and two small fishes showed He could have worked a miracle on His own account. He would not exert that miraculous power in His own behalf to take Himself out of the hands of His heavenly Father, for doing so would not have been in accordance with the plan of salvation and His mission to save others and to bring blessing, hope and life to the afflicted and oppressed. The same divine power was present while He did daily work as a carpenter to support His family, yet He did not use it to lessen His burdens or lighten His toil, and His example shows that useful labor is honorable and that people should be industrious.

He is the great Provider whose command to give the people food is backed by the same power that supplied the crowd's needs, so the small amount in the disciples' hands is no reason to withhold what they have when He directs them to serve others. That same Jesus can still bless His people's work and give it fruit today, and His benevolent care is not limited to that occasion, for He can give knowledge, tact, skill and understanding to those who seek Him wholeheartedly and come into line with Him to help provide food and help for others.

He does not draw people by offering luxury, and His provision did not promise luxury, for the plain and scanty fare taught simplicity rather than luxury and the gratification of appetite, showing that God's natural provisions had been turned from their proper purpose by indulgence and that food for luxury would not have conveyed the same lesson. His followers may live in poverty with plain or scanty food, yet their needs will be supplied and they will have the better gift of His abiding presence. Though He had left the royal courts and lived in the inconveniences of poverty so He could discern the needs of the poor, He still supplied their need, and His work to minister to the suffering and needy and to help and lift up mankind proves that true higher education is not gaining popularity, securing worldly advantages, having all temporal wants abundantly supplied, or being honored by the titled and wealthy of earth.

Sharing Through Appointed Agencies

He did not walk among the hungry himself to put food into their hands, but after having the crowd seated in orderly groups on the grass He took the five loaves and two fishes, gave thanks, broke them, and placed them in the disciples' hands to distribute to the multitude. In this He supplies human need through appointed human agencies who minister for Him and cooperate with Him, including ministers, evangelists, teachers, friends, companions, and all believers as workers together with God. What people receive through them they receive as if from His own hand, and their grateful response is accepted by Him as given to Himself. The small supply became enough to satisfy the people as the disciples kept returning to Him for more, and only after the multitude was fed did the disciples eat with Him of the heaven-supplied food. His command to give the people food is backed by the same power that supplied the crowd, so the small amount in their hands is no reason to withhold what they have when He directs them to serve.

The disciples were the channel of communication between Christ the great Center and Source of all strength and the people, taking the loaves from Him and distributing them to the waiting multitude, while the people then shared with one another. Their hands reaching out to Him in service were continually supplied and never empty, for the food multiplied in His hands and in their hands and the gift increased in the distribution. Those softened and subdued and sanctified by the Holy Spirit who dedicate themselves to God are to study how to work His very works, and He will give them of His Spirit so they can communicate to those in necessity. Those who labor with God in this way use their influence to lift up, encourage, and restore others.

All who are united to Christ receive from Him the bread of life, the heavenly food, and impart it to others. None can supply anything for the needs of the soul of themselves, but can impart only as they receive and can receive only as they impart; as they continue to impart they continue to receive, and the more they impart the more they receive. Because they will often feel helpless before those hungry for spiritual food, they must receive from God what they pass on, including giving the word of life to hungry souls who in turn share it with others. Those who receive the blessed bread are to give to others the bread that comes down from heaven to satisfy hunger of soul, repeating what they have learned of His wonderful things, so that nothing is lost.

He ordered the disciples themselves to feed the crowd and had them bring all the little they had, not first inviting them to eat but telling them to serve the people before eating themselves. Christians must use the means, time, and ability they have, bring their barley loaves to Jesus, and give what they have even when it looks enough only for one, sharing food, help, truth, and publications whose truth multiplies as shared. What is too little for many becomes enough for many in His hands, what is wisely used in His service increases as shared, and honest simple reliance is rewarded, turning a meager supply into a rich feast and sustaining givers even in difficult circumstances. Those who give in this way are also blessed, for the food increases as it is distributed and Christ supplies what is lacking.

The feeding teaches trust: God's children should not worry and fret over things they cannot help but should learn to go on from strength to strength. They are to act in faith rather than judge a gift only by its apparent size, for He can make gifts that seem too small more than sufficient for His people's needs. What appears meager in His hands can become abundant, satisfying receivers and leaving something to give others, with twelve baskets full gathered in this feeding and seven in the other, and this calls for greater faith in Him to minister, teach, and help in every trial. The miracle at Bethsaida should have taught the disciples to trust His power to provide, but they failed to rely on it before a later Gentile crowd, with Jewish prejudice contributing to their doubt.

Gifts offered with thanksgiving and prayer for gospel and soul-saving work are blessed and multiplied by the Lord as the loaves were, so limited resources used in trust can reach many with the bread of life. If the best use is made of available means, God can do great things even when resources seem far too small, making scant provision more than sufficient by divine power and grace.

Simplicity Economy and Daily Provision

The humble meal itself was the lesson, for five small barley loaves and two small fishes were the ordinary fare of Galilean fisher folk, not a rich repast, and in choosing them He taught simplicity rather than luxury and assured hungry people of His tender care in their common needs. Natural provisions of God had been turned from their proper purpose by indulgence of appetite, and food for luxury would not have conveyed the same lesson, so His provision teaches gratitude to the Creator and restraint from indulgences that harm body and mind. Simple living in harmony with nature's laws is thus joined to abundant provision, while selfishness and indulgence bring both excess and want.

After all had eaten their fill from a supply that did not diminish as it was passed out, He directed that the remaining broken pieces be gathered so that nothing would be lost, and they filled twelve baskets. That command means more than saving leftover food, for it teaches carefulness, saving, and economy in the use of all gifts of life, means, health, food, and air, wasting in temporal as in spiritual things no opportunity, no advantage, and nothing that would benefit a human being or relieve the necessities of the hungry. What God gives is to be freely imparted to supply the needy and not wasted or gotten by gambling and robbing others, and those who receive the blessed bread are to give to others the bread that comes down from heaven to satisfy hunger of soul, repeating what they have learned of His wonderful things so that nothing is lost. The lesson applies especially in difficult times to those responsible for institutions, calling for thrift and economy, for plain and simple yet ample sanitarium buildings with room to care for and impress visitors and without extravagance, and for food work conducted economically without selfish private interests obstructing its progress.

The same divine power that multiplied the loaves works daily through rain, sunshine, seed growth, and harvest to supply food for countless people, and God feeds millions through the earth's harvest while people cooperate in tending grain and making bread. This continual miracle is often overlooked when people credit human effort or natural processes and fail to give God the glory, whereas the feeding reveals the divine agency behind daily food and shows that His gifts are meant as blessings, not turned to selfish use.

When people live in obedience to Him and food is used for His glory, His blessing can make a small supply go far and satisfy them with less than they expect to need, even providing food in a barren place where food seems impossible to raise. His works, including works done through a message or helpful service, are therefore to be valued.

The feeding of the five thousand, and also of the four thousand, gives instruction in preparing the best, suitable, wholesome, palatable, inexpensive foods for different times, needs, and occasions, and the health-food work is one of His means of supplying necessities under the heavenly Provider's guidance. Yet miraculous provision and miraculous healing do not teach idleness or abolish human agencies, for although He could furnish food miraculously He used the miracle to impart spiritual truths vital to salvation, and people must still put forth effort to provide the necessities of life. God will not always work miracles to keep people alive, so the sick are to be placed where they can have the benefit of hygienic living and treatment, and these agencies must not be despised.

The same divine power shown in feeding the multitude was present while He did daily work as a carpenter to support His family, but He did not use it to lessen His burdens or lighten His toil, and His example shows that useful labor is honorable and that people should be industrious. His feeding of the hungry was part of His work of doing good, and it teaches His disciples to care compassionately for people seeking salvation, giving them opportunity to hear the word of life and not leaving them hungry, weary, or discouraged. Christians have a duty to find practical ways to help and to remove whatever makes the way to Christ burdensome or discouraging.