How do you feed 5000 people?
Today we are going to learn how Jesus fed 5000 and left them wanting more. Discover how He can satisfy your hunger.
What are you hungry for? What satisfies you? In a minute we will read in John chapter 6, how Yeshua traveled from town to town and mountain to mountain spreading the Good News. There were believers and unbelievers following to see what He would say. The Pharisees also followed to see if they could have Him arrested for lies. On the day Yeshua fed the 5000, He had numerous teaching points hidden in the story. I love mysteries and I love how He hides messages for His followers to find.
Let me fill you in on the story: Yeshua went over to the far side of Lake Kinneret (that is, Lake Tiberias), and a large crowd followed him, because they had seen the miracles He had performed on the sick. Yeshua went up into the hills and sat down there with His disciples. Now the Judean festival of Passover was coming up; so when Yeshua looked up and saw that a large crowd was approaching, He said to Philip, “Where will we be able to buy bread, so that these people can eat?” Now Yeshua said this to test Philip, for Yeshua himself knew what He was about to do. Philip answered, “Half a year’s wages wouldn’t buy enough bread for them— each one would get only a bite!” One of the disciples said to him, “There’s a young boy here who has five loaves of barley bread and two fish. But how far will they go among so many?” Yeshua said, “Have the people sit down.” There was a lot of grass there, so they sat down. The number of men was about five thousand. Then Yeshua took the loaves of bread, and, after praying a blessing, gave to all who were sitting there, and likewise with the fish, as much as they wanted.
After they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather the leftover pieces, so that nothing gets wasted.” They gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the miracle he had performed, they said, this has to be ‘the prophet’ who is supposed to come into the world.”
The next day when the crowd awoke, they found that Yeshua and His disciples had already crossed to the other side of the lake. They asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Yeshua answered, I tell you, you’re not looking for me because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the bread and had all you wanted! Don’t work for the food which passes away but for the food that stays on into eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For this is the one on whom God the Father has put his seal.” So they said to him, “What should we do in order to perform the works of God?” Yeshua answered, “Here’s what the work of God is: to trust in the one he sent!” They said to him, “what miracle will you do for us, so that we may see it and trust you? What work can you perform? Our fathers ate manna in the desert—as it says in the Tanakh, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Yeshua said to them, “I tell you it wasn’t Moshe who gave you the bread from heaven. But my Father is giving you the genuine bread from heaven; for God’s bread is the one who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.”
They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread from now on.” Yeshua answered, “I am the bread which is life! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty. I told you that you have seen but still don’t trust.
Yeshua is the bread, He is the bread of life, He is the Word, His word is our bread, our manna, He feeds us through His word.
Reading His word fills us up. It quenches our thirst. He has performed miracles they have witnessed. They are looking for the Messiah. They are looking for Him but don’t believe anything He says. What they were looking for was right in front of their eyes and they couldn’t see Him. But, don’t judge, He is right in front of our eyes today. He is waiting for us to repent He is waiting for us to turn to Him He is waiting to feed us and quench our thirst He is just a breathe of repentance away.
What a delightful thought!
I invite you to search the Truth yourself. Test it. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
Please go to your Bible and study the entire story. See firsthand what His word says and what He wants to show you. I always check several versions to allow the Spirit to show me the difference and truth. I recommend you do the same.
Enjoy pondering that thought today!
God bless you