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Luke 9:10–17
“Taking the five loaves and the two fish, [Jesus] looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces” (vv. 16–17).
After a brief interlude in which Luke references the execution of John the Baptist (Luke 9:7–9; see Mark 6:14–29), the Evangelist begins to recount one of the most famous of all of Jesus’ miracles. Today’s passage records our Lord’s feeding of the five thousand with only five loaves of bread and two fish.
The miracle took place near Bethsaida, a town on the northeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus and the disciples went there after the Twelve had returned from their preaching mission that our Savior sent them on in Luke 9:1–6. Probably they journeyed there for a time of rest and for some private instruction from Jesus. If they were seeking a respite from ministry, however, they did not enjoy one for long, for once the crowds realized that Jesus was in Bethsaida, they flocked to Him. Our Lord did not turn them away but taught them about the kingdom of God and cured several who needed to be healed (Luke 9:10–11).
Apparently, Jesus taught the people for several hours, because verse 12 indicates that His instruction lasted into the evening (“the day began to wear away”). This posed a problem, the disciples noted, because they were in a “desolate place,” where there was no food or lodging. So the disciples told Jesus that they should send the people away to local villages to find food and shelter. Instead of following the disciples’ suggestion, Jesus says that the disciples should feed the people (Luke 9:13).
The disciples’ failure to fully understand who He was or the extent of His power at this point during His earthly ministry is evident in today’s passage, for the disciples responded that they did not have enough food to feed the people unless they were to go and buy some. The task seemed impossible because they had no more than five loaves of bread and two fish to feed the five thousand men (plus their wives and children; see Matt. 14:13–21), and as one commentator notes, it would have cost seven months’ daily wages to buy enough food to satisfy everyone’s hunger (Luke 9:13–14; see Luke 8:22–56). They should have known that Jesus could overcome these real obstacles because they had seen Him do miracles, but note that they did not ask Him to.
The disciples’ lack of faith, however, did not prevent Jesus from miraculously multiplying the five loaves and two fish into enough to feed everyone, with much left over (Luke 9:15–17). He gave them bread in the wilderness, echoing God’s provision of bread to the Israelites many centuries before (Ex. 16), showing that He meets every need.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Christ will supply what we need to accomplish His will. That is good news indeed, because we often find ourselves lacking in resources and doubting that God will provide. When we have a need, let us bring it to the Lord in prayer, remembering that He can multiply resources to us far beyond what we can imagine.
for further study
- Deuteronomy 28:1–14
- Ecclesiastes 5:19
- Mark 6:30–44
- Philippians 4:19
the bible in a year
- 1 Kings 4–5
- Luke 23:1–25