Matthew 14:13-21 13
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. 14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ 16 Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ 17 They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ 18 And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ 19 Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. 20 And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. 21 And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Feeding the five thousand is mentioned by all four evangelists.
John 6:9 tells how many loaves a young man has, what kind of bread it is and how big they are, "Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish..."
The young man's mother, thinking about her son and other young men, prepared even more than he would need, teaching him and enabling him to share with others. The text hints that the boy belongs to a modest family because they consume barley bread, but to a rich family that shares the little they have with others.
Amazing how Jesus insists upon hospitality, "...give them something to eat." Jesus wants to honor this crowd with some hospitality. The crowd comes to Him and He reminds His disciples that they are hosting these people. The disciples are part of His house, and they have to respect their duty as good hosts normally do.
As in the second miracle of multiplying bread and fish (Matthew 15), the disciples try to find an excuse to avoid the big trouble of caring for this huge crowd. Here in v. 15, they tell the Teacher, "It is too late, the sunset is at hand!" In the other miracle, they tell him, "We don't have enough to feed this crowd!" But Jesus knows what He wants to do and orders them to sit in small groups. He takes the bread, gives thanks, blesses it and gives it to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowd. From the little that this young man has, and the Lord's blessings, every one is satisfied and there is even some left over!
Through sharing and God's blessings, we are rich! Let us remember that sharing is a fruit of faith that God will provide. Sharing regular, spontaneous hospitality is a godly lifestyle. May we avoid creating excuses and be available when the Lord invites us to act with Him and care for others as our guests!