When Jesus heard about John, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. When the crowds learned this, they followed him on foot from the cities. When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion for them and healed those who were sick. That evening his disciples came and said to him, “This is an isolated place and it’s getting late. Send the crowds away so they can go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” But Jesus said to them, “There’s no need to send them away. You give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here except five loaves of bread and two fish.” He said, “Bring them here to me.” He ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them and broke the loaves apart and gave them to his disciples. Then the disciples gave them to the crowds. Everyone ate until they were full, and they filled twelve baskets with the leftovers. About five thousand men plus women and children had eaten. (Matthew 14:13-21, CEB)
The feeding of the five thousand is the name most of us know this story by, but is that the right number?
At the end, it says, “About five thousand men plus women and children had eaten.”
So five thousand men, plus women and children. If we say seventy-five percent of the men were married that is another three thousand seven hundred and fifty women, assuming they only had one wife. and if fifty percent of them had two children, that is another three thousand seven hundred and fifty. That is a total of twelve thousand five hundred people. From 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.
Feeding five thousand people from 5 loaves and 2 fish is a huge miracle. Something people have obviously talked about for centuries, but when you sit for a moment and actually ponder the total number of people that were present and fed, it becomes even greater. And the twelve thousand five hundred isn’t all either. Were the disciples and Jesus included in the number of men? If not that is at least 13 more, plus the people that were with them.
We get hung up on things and don’t really see the immensity of what God is doing.
Don’t lose the miracle for the details, but realize how big God is and how much God will do for you.
Loving People. Loving God.
aSacredRebel 