Posted by Chester Morton / Monday, 20 March 2017 / No comments
The feeding of the five thousand
After the disciples had returned from the missionary journey
on which Jesus had sent them, Jesus took them to a quiet place to rest for a
while. According to Matthew, this happened after Jesus had heard about the
death of John the Baptist.
Unknown to Jesus and his disciples, the crowd had
followed them on foot and had reached the destination before their arrival.
Jesus seized the opportunity to preach to the them. Luke
and Matthew, however, added that Jesus also healed the sick among them.
As they were there, evening approached and the disciples told
Jesus evening had come and there was no food available so he should send the
people away so that they can get themselves food to eat in the surrounding villages.
To their surprise, Jesus asked them to feed the crowd. They replied that even
200 Dinarii worth of bread could not be enough to feed them.
Jesus asked if they had any food. The disciples managed to
find five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus asked the people to sit in
groups. Mark recorded that he told them to sit on the green grass and in groups
of 50s and 100s.
Jesus looked up to the heavens, with the food in his hands,
he blessed it and gave it out to be shared among the people. Everybody was fed
but there were still some left to fill twelve baskets.
Five thousand people were fed. According to Matthew, five
thousand men were fed besides women and children.
SAMPLE QUESTIONS
1. a. Give an account of the feeding of the five thousand.
b. In which three ways is God performing miracles today?
