You’ll find Miracles of God all through the Bible. And, many seem incredible. But, this Bible study lesson from Mark touches on one of the most baffling. Discover how Jesus feeds 5000 people from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes.
Impossible?
Not for Christ!
See how God works in impossible situations.
Miracle of Christ – In Mark 6 Jesus Feeds 5000 People with 5 Loaves & 2 Fish
The people saw them going, and many recognized them and ran there together on foot from all the cities, and got there ahead of them.
When Jesus went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and He felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and He began to teach them many things.
When it was already quite late, His disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and it is already quite late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.”
But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!” And they said to Him, “Shall we go and spend two hundred denarii on bread and give them something to eat?”
And He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go look!”
And when they found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”
And He commanded them all to sit down by groups on the green grass.
They sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties.
And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.
They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up twelve full baskets of the broken pieces, and also of the fish.
There were five thousand men who ate the loaves. – Mark 6:33-44 NASB
The Miracle – Jesus Feeds Five Thousand People
The feeding of 5,000 (men, not including women and children), is one of the most baffling miracles in the Bible.
A Sunday school teacher once enlightened me to the fact that scientists and archaeologists challenge many miracles in the Bible with theory.
And, if you watch TV documentaries, the shows try to “explain away” the miracles.
But, this one is impossible to explain away.
Christ created hundreds of pounds of food from 5 loaves of bread and 2 fishes? Impossible?
Remember, what’s impossible to us is just another way God takes the opportunity to let us know who He is.
Creating food is a simple feat for Him.
To paraphrase a quote I once heard (don’t know the origin):
“Our problems are God’s opportunities.”
Christ Feeds His Sheep
Jesus referred to the crowd as sheep.
And, a flock of sheep without a shepherd to guide it becomes dazed and confused. When this happens, the sheep wander into harm’s way from predators and the elements of nature.
Like sheep, the crowd also needed to be guided and protected.
Jesus organized them in smaller groups. Then, He took care of their physical needs by feeding them.
And finally, He taught them, providing for their spiritual needs.
Although we cannot perform miracles as Christ did, we have a similar goal.
Our mission is to …
Go, Serve and Share
As Christians, we receive a calling. A former pastor at our church gave a simple statement about missions.
It was …
- GO – Go to where people are.
- SERVE – Take care of their physical needs such as food, shelter, education, etc. Example: A hungry person who needs food to eat may not be interested in hearing what we have to say about salvation.
- SHARE – Once the first two steps are taken, we can share what we know about Christ and what He has done for us.
Isn’t this a wonderful way to reach out to others?
I believe this Bible lesson about the feeding of five thousand teaches us about sharing.
And, it doesn’t matter how little we have.
We may not have the means to reach 5,000 people at once. But, someone out there needs Christ right now. We can tell them while we serve them.
Love in Christ
– Bob
If you would like to learn more about the love and life-changing experience of Jesus Christ, please take a moment to go here.