Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

(Mark 6:33-44)

For how many centuries have men tried to create or transform matter? Alchemists in the middle and dark ages attempted to turn base metals into gold…unsuccessfully. This has proven impossible for man, but consider the case of Jesus who took just five loaves and two fish and created a feast to satisfy five thousand men, not counting any women and children. And not only did he do it once, he did it twice!

We tend to miss the point sometimes that what Jesus did was to transform or create matter from nothing. He multiplied those few loaves and fishes to feed the five thousand. The only way this could be done was to create matter from nothing. For us this is impossible, but for the God of Creation this would not prove too difficult a task, considering that he had already made the whole universe from nothing.

There is a second point we should remember too. The people in this section of scripture had been with Jesus for a while and were in a lonely place, late in the day. (Verse 35) Jesus told the disciples to give them something to eat for he did not want to send them away hungry. Naturally the disciples were at a loss as to how they could possibly feed such a multitude, but to God nothing is impossible. What we see then is that Jesus provides for his people. Even when there was little or nothing, he created abundance from nothing. He took the few morsels of food available and created a feast.

God will not leave his people in want. King David wrote of God saying, “I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25) This is a great promise the Lord has given to his children. We will not suffer want if we are faithful to the Lord. He proved it in the miracles where he fed the multitudes as well as many other places. And we can help the Lord in this work too when we share our surpluses with his people.

Paul also wrote of this principle saying, “…as a matter of equality your abundance at the present time should supply their want, so that their abundance may supply your want, that there may be equality. As it is written, “He who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack.” (2 Corinthians 8:14-15) Jesus will provide for his people and we may be the servants of his generosity. Let us be prepared to share with each other when we have the capacity and capability. We do not need to go into lack ourselves, as Paul shows, the abundance will be enough to meet the needs of all. But we do need to be prepared to offer what we can, knowing that when or if required, God can literally create matter to meet our needs out of thin air.

Need any more proof? Consider Elijah the prophet who was in the wilderness and God ordained that the ravens would bring him food, which they did. (1 Kings 17:1-8) And then there is the case of the widow with whom Elijah lodged during the great drought at that time. All she had was a jar with a little meal in it and a flask of oil, and yet for many days the vessels always had meal and oil in them as the Lord continued to replace what was left. Again creating matter from thin air.

Believe that he can and will do so with his people today. There is nothing impossible to the Lord our God and no promise that he will not fulfil. We should be encouraged by these teachings knowing that he has set it into his purpose for his people that we will be protected and not suffer want.

(Picture sourced from ChristiansUnite.com: https://clipart.christiansunite.com/)

John

Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.