Feeding the Five Thousand
[Matthew 14:15-21, Mark 6:35-44, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:4-13]
Beyond the Text
- What fish did Jesus feed to the people?
- The Bible doesn’t say and scholars don’t know. Legend has it that the fish was Tilapia, also known as “St. Peter’s Fish.”
- What about the Feeding of Four Thousand? Is it the same?
- Matthew 15:32-38 and Mark 8:1-9 contains a story of the Feeding the Four Thousand in Decapolis. Though some people believe this is another account of the Feeding the Five Thousand, most agree it is a different event. This event describes seven loaves of bread and two fish.
- The Feeding the Five Thousand is the only miracle to appear in all four Gospels besides the Resurrection.
- The Bible says there were 5,000 men. This number does not include the women and children. Most scholars believe there was likely 15,000 people fed during this miracle.
- What was eight months of a man’s wages?
- The eight months of a man’s wages is about two hundred denarii. A denarius was a day’s wage for a laborer.
Discussion
When it was getting late, what did the disciples want to do with the crowds?
What was Jesus’ response to the disciples?
When Jesus told the disciples “You give them something to eat,” what was the response from the disciples?
The boy provided five loaves and two fish. What did Jesus do? What did the disciples do?
When you have a need, do you try to meet the need? Do you trust God to meet the need? Do you trust God to do the impossible?
This event shows us Jesus provides to the disciples and then they provide to the crowd. How is that similar to what we do as good stewards? As ministers of the Good News? How is this similar for both physical needs and spiritual needs?
The disciples wanted to send the people away but Jesus wanted to take care of their needs. The passage before the Feeding of Five Thousand speaks about something Jesus had for the people. What was this trait? How does it help us to meet the needs of others?
Tania Gutekunst 
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