InChristianity,feeding the multitude comprises two separatemiracles of Jesus, reported in theGospels, in which Jesus used modest resources to feed thousands of followers who had gathered to see him heal the sick.
The first miracle, the "Feeding of the 5,000", is the only miracle—aside fromthe resurrection—recorded in all four gospels[1] (Matthew 14:13–21;[2]Mark 6:31–44;[3]Luke 9:12–17;[4]John 6:1–14).[5]
The second miracle, the "Feeding of the 4,000", with seven loaves of bread and a few small fish, is reported inMatthew 15:32–39[6] andMark 8:1–9[7] but not in Luke or John.
The Feeding of the 5,000 is also known as the "miracle of the five loaves and two fish"; theGospel of John reports that Jesus used five loaves and two fish supplied by a boy to feed a multitude. According to theGospel of Matthew, when Jesus heard thatJohn the Baptist had been killed, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Luke specifies that the place was nearBethsaida. The crowds followed Jesus on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. As evening approached, the 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 villages and buy themselves some food."[2]
Jesus said that they did not need to go away, and therefore the disciples were to give them something to eat. They said that they only had five loaves and two fish, which Jesus asked to be brought to him. In John's gospel,Andrew asked, "what is that among so many?".[8] Jesus directed the people to sit down in groups on the grass. In the Gospel of Mark, the crowds sat in groups of 50 and 100,[9] and in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus's instructions were to seat the crowd in groups of 50,[10] implying that there were 100 such groups.
Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, Jesus gave thanks and broke them. Then he gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve baskets full of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.
In the Gospel of John, the multitude was attracted to Jesus because of the healing works he performed, and the feeding of the multitude was taken as a further sign that Jesus was theMessiah.
This story, which appears only in Mark and Matthew, is also known as the miracle of the seven loaves of bread and few little fishes because the Gospel of Matthew refers to seven loaves and a few small fish used by Jesus to feed a multitude.[11] According to the Gospels, a large crowd had gathered and was following Jesus. Jesus called his disciples to him and said:
I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat. I do not want to send them away hungry, or they may collapse on the way.
His disciples answered:
"Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd?"
"How many loaves do you have?" Jesus asked.
"Seven," they replied, "and a few small fish."
Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves and the fish, and when he had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and they in turn gave to the people. They all ate and were satisfied. Afterward, the disciples picked up seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were leftover. The number of those who ate was four thousand men, besides women and children. After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan (orMagdala).
Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer notes the differences between some of the details of the accounts as a means of emphasizing that there were two distinct miracles: for example, the baskets used for collecting the food that remained were twelveκόφινοιkófinoi ('hand baskets') in Mark 6:43[12] but sevenσπυρίδεςspyrídes ('large baskets') in Mark 8:8.[13]Cornelius a Lapide stated that aσπυρίςspyrís or 'large basket' was double the size of aκόφινοςkófinos.[14] An indication of the size of aspyrís is thatthe apostle Paul was let out of a building through a gap in theDamascus city wall in one in order to avert a plot to kill him (Acts 9:25).[14]
Meyer also comments that in the Gospel of John, the feeding of the multitude is taken as a further sign (Biblical Greek:σημεῖονsémeion) that Jesus is theMessiah, the prophet who (according to the promise in theBook of Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 18:15))[15] is to "come into the world" (John 6:14).[16][17]
German bishopJustus Knecht draws some moral lessons from the miracle, stating that it shows:
Knecht and many other commentators also draw parallels between the miracle and theEucharist.[18]
Pope John XXIII used Andrew's words, "what is that among so many?" to inform the hope underlying his decision in 1959 to convene theSecond Vatican Council despite the spiritual poverty he observed in the church at that time:
With this reference everything is said: as for an increase of energy, of coordination of individual and collective efforts aimed at producing, with the help of the Lord, an intense spiritual cultivation, for a more abundant and happy production of beneficial and holy fruits in the sense ofadveniat regnum tuum, in a fervor of more fruitful parish and diocesan life.[19]
Media related toFeeding the multitude at Wikimedia CommonsFeeding the multitude | ||
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