Jesus Feeds Four Thousand

Take Every Passage to Prayer - Volume 2, The Gospels
^{Monday July 29, 2024}

Matthew 15:32-39, Mark 8:1-10

Father, please give me a heart that desires to minister to the basic needs of the people around me. Give me a heart that longs to make sure people who cross paths with me are ok before I depart from them. Please give me a heart that not only anticipates You performing a miracle but also plans for it. Please remove from me my inclination to forget the miracles You've already performed in my life. Amen.

Father, Jesus had been healing people from the crowd for several days. Filled with the compassion of the Holy Spirit, Jesus knew that the people were hungry, and they needed something to eat. He made it known to His disciples that He didn’t want the people to leave from His presence without their basic needs being met. He knew that many of them would collapse on their journey back to their homes faraway.

Father, it is clear from this text that Christian ministry must include making sure people have what they need for survival. Putting aside more abstract concepts like personal freedom and opportunity that others would say people must have, people need the basics of food and shelter. While many people have honored You throughout history when they were deprived of freedom and opportunity, no one can honor You if they die from lack of food. No one can honor You if they die from catching a disease while sleeping outside on cold and damp nights. Few can honor You by serving Your Kingdom in ministry when they can barely think or get around because they are starving. Father, while a man lives on every word that comes from Your mouth (Matthew 4:4), a man also dies from lack of bread and sustenance. Therefore, Jesus cares about people’s basic needs and so must we.

Father, the following slogan would be good for a t-shirt or a mug. It would also be good for believers to consider when they encounter various people.

“You can’t go before I know you are okay.”

I can only imagine what this world would be like if every Christian showed that kind of compassion towards the people who cross their path.

The disciples asked Jesus where they could find food to feed the 4,000 men, as well as the women and children.

Father, this is quite confusing. We read in Matthew 14 and in Mark 6 that Jesus fed 5,000 men, not including the women and children who were also fed, with five loaves of bread and two fish. The disciples had witnessed one of the greatest miracles Jesus’ had performed. Once more they are confronted with the same challenge. However, the disciples act like they have amnesia. They act like the feeding of the 5,000 never occurred. They act like they had no awareness whatsoever that Jesus could miraculously feed 4,000 men, as well as the women and children who were with them.

His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd? (NIV)”

How can this be?

Father, I can think of several possibilities:

1. The reason why the disciples didn’t think that Jesus could feed this large crowd miraculously is because they never saw Him do it before. Matthew and Mark have confused 21st century readers by describing the same event twice, altering the details the second time. However, that cannot be. In Mark 8:19-20, Jesus Himself declared there were two different feedings of a large crowd. The evidence presented by Matthew and Mark affirms Jesus’ statement:

I do not believe the explanation for the disciples’ response to Jesus is that there was only one feeding of a large crowd.

1. Each one of the disciples are foolish men, unable to remember a miraculous feeding of 5,000 people just a short time before this event. I have two problems with this explanation. First, would Jesus choose men who lack intelligence to build His church after His death, resurrection, and ascension? Second, how is it that Matthew and John were able to remember enormous details of Jesus’ life years after He ascended into heaven but could not remember the feeding of the 5,000 just a short time before this event? I do not believe the explanation is that the disciples were dimwits.
   
2. The disciples, in their rebellious sinful nature, chose to disbelieve that Jesus could feed the 4,000 men. They didn’t think He could do it, or they didn’t think He could do it again, because the reality of Jesus’ deity put demands upon their lives and souls that they didn’t want. Father, we still do this today. We doubt Jesus’ deity so that we won’t have to answer to Him one day. The Old Testament presents us with the poster children of disbelief, the Israelites who, despite enjoying miraculous deliverance over and over, chose to reject Your faithfulness and power. Father, I believe this explanation has a lot of merit. However, I don’t believe it explains the disciples’ response to Jesus in this passage.
   
3. The disciples knew full well that Jesus was able to feed the 4,000 men, plus women and children. In fact, the disciples wanted to relive the feeding of the 5,000 all over again. This is a new crowd of people who didn’t see the last “performance”. It may not be an accident at all that they just happened to have seven loaves of bread and a few fish, similar to the last time. These men had strong faith that, once more, Jesus would feed a crowd of nearly 10,000 with just a few loaves of bread and some fish. The disciples are acting out the “script”, so to speak, of what happened at the feeding of the 5,000. Perhaps with a wink and a nod, they went through their lines:
   
   His disciples answered, “Where could we get enough bread in this remote place to feed such a crowd? (NIV)”
   
   Father, I believe this is the explanation as to why the disciples expressed uncertainty as to how the large crowd could be fed.

Jesus asked the disciples how many loaves they had. He once more asked that the people sit down. He gave thanks to You, broke the bread, and then asked the disciples to distribute the bread to the 4,000 men and the women and children with them. The people ate and were satisfied. There were seven basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over.

After the people ate, Jesus sent the crowd on their way. He got into a boat and went to the vicinity of Magadan (Matthew 15:39) in the region of Dalmanutha (Mark 8:10). Amen.