Would you be surprised to know that this particular miracle is most often used as the “best proof” that the Bible must be false, and that the story of Jesus is untrue? Why do you think that is?
The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.” He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone. But many people recognized them and saw them leaving, and people from many towns ran ahead along the shore and got there ahead of them.
Mark 6:30-33 NLT
Who were these people coming to see Jesus?
Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
Late in the afternoon his disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go to the nearby farms and villages and buy something to eat.”
But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “With what?” they asked. “We’d have to work for months to earn enough money to buy food for all these people!”
Mark 6:34-37 NLT
If you had been in charge that afternoon, how would you have planned this out? What would it have taken to accommodate those people?
How is believing in a sign vs. believing in a person different?
How did the disciples respond to Jesus about feeding the crowd?
What does the disciples’ response show about their attitude? Their expectation?
“How much bread do you have?” he asked. “Go and find out.” They came back and reported, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”
Then Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of fifty or a hundred.
Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. He also divided the fish for everyone to share. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftover bread and fish. A total of 5,000 men and their families were fed.
Mark 6:38–44 NLT
How much food was provided for this big crowd?
Read this short story about Elisha…
One day a man from Baal-shalishah brought the man of God a sack of fresh grain and twenty loaves of barley bread made from the first grain of his harvest. Elisha said, “Give it to the people so they can eat.”
“What?” his servant exclaimed. “Feed a hundred people with only this?” But Elisha repeated, “Give it to the people so they can eat, for this is what the LORD says: Everyone will eat, and there will even be some left over!”
And when they gave it to the people, there was plenty for all and some left over, just as the LORD had promised.
2 Kings 4:42-44 NLT
How does this miracle parallel the feeding of the 5000?
What can we infer about God’s character from this sign?
I think Jesus did not just provide, but he provides EXTRAVAGANTLY. Everyone ate until they were full, and there was more than enough left over. God is a lavishly generous God. Haven’t we seen that ourselves?
In John’s telling of this story, we find out how the crowd responded to Jesus’ miracle:
When the people saw him do this miraculous sign, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!” When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.
John 6:14-15 NLT
What was the crowd response?
How did Jesus respond to the crowd? Why do you think he did this?
I think we have a little insight from Jesus’ response in another situation… When Mary wants Jesus to take action at the wedding in Cana, Jesus tells her, “My time has not yet come.”
I believe it is a similar situation here… His time has not yet come. What do you think that means, and how do you expect to see that change?