Mateus 14

Food for 15,000

13 Upon hearing it, Jesus departed from there by boat to a deserted place privately.*From Mark we learn that Jesus and the disciples were under heavy pressure from the crowds—no time even to eat. So when He hears of John’s death, and under such ignominious circumstances, Jesus wants to get away so He can grieve and assimilate the news. But when the crowds heard it, they followed Him on foot from the towns. 14 So when Jesus disembarked He saw a large crowd, and He had compassion on them and healed their sick.*In Mark it is even clearer that the people ran along the shore and got to the destination first, before the boat (please see the note at Mark 6:34). Naturally the faster runners were there first, but others kept arriving so that in the end there were thousands of people. In the town there was not space for everybody to get to Jesus, but out in the open—so when the news got around people came from all over.

15 Now with evening coming on His disciples approached Him saying: "The place is uninhabited and the hour is already late. Dismiss the crowds, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food." 16 But Jesus said to them: "They do not need to go away. You give them to eat."*Really now, with what? Although Jesus had to take the initiative, the disciples did participate in the miracle. 17 But they say to Him, "We have nothing here except five loaves and two fish." 18 So He said, "Bring them here to me." 19 Then He commanded the crowds to recline on the grass. And taking the five loaves and two fish and looking up to heaven, He blessed; and breaking the loaves He gave to the disciples, and the disciples to the crowds. 20 So they all ate and were filled; and they took up the fragments that remained, twelve baskets full. 21 Now those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.*Since any large crowd is likely to have more women and children than men, there were probably at least 15,000 people there. "They were filled"—how much food does it take to ‘fill’ 15,000 hungry people? Notice the care not to waste anything—the fragments were collected.