We saw in the previous post that people dropped everything and joined the throng rapidly moving along the shore of the Sea of Galilee to meet Jesus when He and the disciples landed on the northeastern shore. The crowd didn’t have time to gather provisions. As the evening approached, the disciples urged Jesus to send the crowds away that they might go buy food for themselves while they still could. Jesus responds “You give them something to eat.” (Matthew 14:15-16)
Earlier (when Jesus had seen the crown coming), he asked Phillip, “Where can we buy food for these people.” Phillip, along with Simon and Andrew were from Bethsaida, the largest nearby village and would know the local diner, drive-ins, and dives. Phillip responded that they didn’t have enough money to begin to feed this crowd (two hundred silver coins would be about eight month’s wages for the average laborer). Nor was there likely that amount of food readily available nearby. Jesus was a pragmatic host, but more importantly he was planning to use the occasion as a teaching moment, for John adds that Jesus already knew what he was going to do before he inquired of Phillip (John 6:5-7). Jesus would use the miracle He was about to perform as the backdrop for a very important dialog about His identity.
Of the five thousand (and some commentators suggest that the number excluded the women and children), only one had any food – a young boy had brought with him five barley loaves and two fish. Miracle of miracles, the boy had not continue reading…
