The feeding of the five thousand is one of those pinnacle stories of Jesus. Mark’s account is found in Mark 6:32-43. The crowd followed Jesus and the disciples as they were seeking some quiet time. Jesus had compassion on them and saw they were like sheep without a shepherd. So, Jesus taught those five thousand men and an uncounted number of women and children until it was getting late.
“So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late. Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.” “You give them something to eat,” he responded. They said to him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” When they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” Then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. Everyone ate and was satisfied. They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish.” (Mark 6:32–43, CSB)
I’ve heard that story since I was a young lad in Sunday School. With five loaves and two fish, Jesus fed the multitude with plenty left over. Many threads can be explored in this story. And many sermons, articles, and books have pulled on those threads. Jesus compassion. His teaching moment with the disciples. How Jesus takes our little and multiplies it. The willingness of a small boy to give up what he had (from John’s account). I want to pull on a thread that is often glossed over.
All four of the gospels record in this story that “Everyone ate and was satisfied.” (Mark 6:42, CSB) No one was left out. Whether they consumed the loaves and fish like Joey Chestnut at a hot dog eating contest (his record is 76 in ten minutes) or nibbled at the edges, everyone ate and was satisfied.
There is an economic principle called the scarcity of resources. There is never enough of anything to satisfy the demand for a resource. The economic philosophies of capitalism, socialism, and communism all seek to manage that scarcity in different ways. The disciples first approached the problem as one of scarcity. How much money would they need to buy a meager meal for everyone? They came up with 200 denarii, about $24,000 today. Barely enough to purchase a couple of small loaves for everyone. But the principle of scarcity didn’t apply on that day and in that place. With just enough to feed 1 or 2, Jesus fed the entire crowd.
Neither did Jesus leave anyone out. In that large crowd, there were more than just Jesus’ fan club. Perhaps some of the religious leaders who often watched Jesus for mistakes also ate and were satisfied. Surely there were some outcasts, sinners, and skeptics in the crowd that day. There’s a good chance that there were Gentiles (non-Jewish) in the crowd. No one was denied or left out of the distribution. Everyone ate, and all were satisfied.
Later, Jesus will recall this day to His disciples. He will remind them that He is the bread of life and the living water. As we partake in Him, we are satisfied. Everyone is invited to “taste and see that the Lord is good.” The deep longings and hungers of our soul are completely satisfied in and through Christ. No one is left out; all are invited.
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