The Miracle of the Five Loaves and Two Fish

The Miracle of the Five Loaves and Two Fish

 

 

 

 

 

 

“As the day was drawing to a close, the Twelve came to Him and said, ‘Send the crowd away, so that they may go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and get food, for we are here in a desolate place.’  But He said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’  They said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.’  For there were about five thousand men.  And He said to His disciples, ‘Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.’  And they did so, and had them all sit down.  And taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and blessed them and broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.  And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces” (Luke 9:12–17).

 

 

 

(1)    Today, while meditating on the passage of Luke 9:12–17, I wish to receive the lessons given by comparing it with John 6:1–15, Matthew 14:15–21, and Mark 6:35–44.

 

(a)    The miracle of the “Five Loaves and Two Fish,” recorded in all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), is one of Jesus’ most famous miracles. It refers to the miraculous event in which Jesus fed about 5,000 men with five loaves of bread and two fish.

 

(i)                 “This miracle goes beyond merely feeding hungry people; it symbolizes the divinity of Jesus Christ and His word, and ultimately carries profound theological meaning connected to the Eucharist (the Holy Communion).

 

Key meanings

 

Proof of Jesus’ divinity: By feeding many people with a limited amount of food, Jesus demonstrated that He is the Son of God.

 

The Bread of Life: Jesus describes Himself as the ‘Bread of Life,’ emphasizing through this event not only physical nourishment but also spiritual nourishment—namely, the importance of His teaching.

 

A foreshadowing of the Eucharist (Holy Communion): Early Christianity viewed this event as the origin of the Eucharist, containing the meaning of sharing bread and wine.

 

Sharing and community: It shows that a small act of devotion (the boy’s lunch) can produce a great miracle, emphasizing the importance of sharing and sacrifice within the community” (Internet).

 

(b)    First, when the day was drawing to a close and evening had come, the Twelve apostles came to Jesus and said, “Send the large crowd away so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, find lodging, and buy food, for we are here in a desolate place” (Lk. 9:12; Mt. 14:15; Mk. 6:35–36; Jn. 6:1–3).

 

(i)                 First of all, the reason the large crowd followed Jesus was that they had seen the signs He performed on the sick—that is, “the miracles by which He healed the sick” (Jn. 6:2).

 

(ii)               The time was evening, as the day was drawing to a close (Lk. 9:12; Mt. 14:15; Mk. 6:35).  It was also near the Jewish festival of the Passover (Jn. 6:3).  The place was a “desolate place” (Lk. 9:12; Mt. 14:15; Mk. 6:35), or a “mountain” across the Sea of Galilee (Jn. 6:1, 3) [This location is understood to be a desolate area (wilderness) near Bethsaida on the northern side of the Sea of Galilee, which at the same time could be considered a mountain, since in Judean geography the wilderness often contains wide, open plains (Internet)].

 

(iii)             The reason the Twelve disciples came to Jesus and said, “Send the large crowd away so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside and find lodging and buy food, for we are here in a desolate place,” was that they wanted to address the very practical problems of food and lodging for such a large number of people—“about five thousand men, not counting women and children” (Mt. 14:21)—given the time and the place (cf. Internet).

 

(iv)              Here, the expression “food” corresponds to the Greek word ἐπισιτισμόν (episitismón), a word that appears only once in the New Testament, here in Luke 9:12 (Internet).  It is derived from the verb ἐπιστίζομαι (epis­tízomai), meaning “to supply oneself with provisions,” which in turn comes from σῖτον (siton), meaning “grain.”  In particular, in ancient Greek usage, it was often used to mean “provisions for a journey” (Hochma) [It refers to food prepared or supplied for travel, military marches, or emergency situations (Internet)].

 

(v)                The narrative context in Luke: The request for provisions appears immediately before the miracle of feeding the five thousand (Lk. 9:10–17).  By emphasizing the ordinary human need for supplies—“find provisions and lodging”—Luke heightens the contrast between human limitation and Jesus’ boundless capacity to provide.  The subsequent multiplication of the loaves and fish transforms an ordinary logistical problem into a revelation of divine sufficiency (Internet).

 

(c)    Secondly, when Jesus said to the disciples, “There is no need for them to go away.  You give them something to eat,” the disciples replied, “All we have are five loaves and two fish.  Unless we go and buy food for all these people, we cannot do it. Are you telling us to go and spend as much as two hundred denarii to buy bread and feed them?” (Lk. 9:13; Mt. 14:16–17; Mk. 6:37).

 

(i)                 Here, when the disciples asked Jesus, “Are you telling us to go and spend as much as two hundred denarii to buy bread and feed them?” (Mk. 6:37), the background to this question is recorded in John 6:5–7: “Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward Him, and He said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’  He said this to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, ‘Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.’”

 

·            Even though Jesus already knew exactly what He was going to do, He asked Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” in order to test him.  Philip replied, “Even if each person were to receive a little, two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough.”

 

-          Here, two hundred denarii represented about two hundred days’ wages for a laborer at that time (roughly equivalent to about 20–30 million won).  This amount signifies an enormous quantity of bread—still insufficient even for more than five thousand people to eat a small portion each.  It highlights the massive cost of food that the disciples could never have provided at the time of the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, emphasizing a sum far beyond what the disciples’ finances could bear (Internet).

 

n   Philip answered, “…two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough” [“not enough” (NIV) / “not sufficient” (NASB)].  Philip was calculating a realistic “insufficiency” based on rational thinking in light of the actual situation (cf. Internet).

 

#    When I think about Philip’s answer, I am particularly drawn to the phrase “not enough.”   The reason is probably that when I try to solve the Lord’s many test questions with my own calculating mindset, I have answered countless times in the manner of, “Lord, it is not enough.”  Even though the Lord has the power to fill that lack, I have failed to trust that fact and, in doubt and unbelief, have said to myself and prayed to the Lord, “Lord, it is not enough,” so many times that I can hardly remember them all.

 

#    Moreover, when I think about my physical family and my spiritual family—the church members—whom the Lord has entrusted to me to nurture, I know that the Word of God is never insufficient and is fully sufficient (the sufficiency of the Word of God), yet I feel deeply that I myself am insufficient, again and again (indeed, it would be more accurate to say that I always feel this way) (cf. “Lord, I cannot do it”).

 

#    Proverbs 3:5–7 came to mind: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.”

 

n   However, if we look at John 14:8, during the Last Supper Philip says to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.”

 

#    Is that not interesting? The Philip who said “not enough” (John 6:7) later said “that will be enough” (John 14:8) to Jesus. The same Philip who said, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough, even for each person to receive a little” (6:7) in order to feed five thousand men, said, when Jesus declared, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him” (14:6–7), “Lord, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us” (v. 8). Through these two passages, we gain some insight into what kind of person Philip, one of Jesus’ disciples, was (cf. “The Lord who Himself knows what He will do,” John 6:6).

 

(ii)               Here, the disciples answered Jesus, “All we have are five loaves and two fish” (Matthew 14:17). The background to this statement is recorded in John 6:8–9: “One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?’”

 

·         Philip relied on his own understanding and calculated the situation in his head, but at least Andrew went into the crowd, found a boy who had five barley loaves and two fish, and brought him before Jesus (v. 9).  Yet Andrew still said to Jesus, “But what are they for so many?” [Korean Modern Bible: “But how can we feed so many people with this?”].  In short, like Philip, Andrew also believed that they could not feed such a large crowd. Thus, the basis of their faith was the situation they were facing, and the object of their faith was not the almighty Lord but their own powerlessness.

 

-             Is this not a picture of ourselves?  If the basis of our faith is the difficult situation we are facing, and the object of our faith is ourselves—who feel powerless—then we cannot help but say to the Lord, “Lord, I cannot do it.”  But if the basis of our faith is God’s promised Word, and the object of our faith is the almighty God, then we cannot help but confess to the Lord, “Lord, You can do it through me.”

 

(iii)             When we put all these passages together, the question with which Jesus tested the disciples was, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” (Jn. 6:5).  Philip, who submitted his answer to that test question, replied, “Even if each person were to receive a little, two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough” (v. 7) [In Mark 6:38 it says, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?” whereas Matthew and Luke do not record this statement].  Andrew’s answer was, “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish; but what are they for so many?” (Jn. 6:9).

 

·            The answer sheet of all the disciples amounted to this: “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish; how can we feed all these people without going to buy food?” (Lk. 9:13).  In other words, the disciples’ answer to Jesus’ test question was that it was impossible to feed about five thousand men with just five barley loaves and two fish.

 

-          Mark 10:27 in the Korean New Translation says: “Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.’”  Luke 1:37 in the Korean New Translation says: “For nothing will be impossible with God.”  What the disciples missed in Jesus’ test question was the word “we” (Jn. 6:5).  The “we” included Jesus Himself, who is God, for whom nothing is impossible and for whom all things are possible.  Yet the disciples did not “fix their eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith” (Heb. 12:2).  They did not realize that the One who gave the test question was Himself the answer [cf. “Jesus’ ‘Five Loaves and Two Fish’ miracle (comparison of the four Gospels)”].

 

(d)    Thirdly, when Jesus told the disciples to have the people—about five thousand men—sit down on the green grass in groups of about fifty, the disciples did as Jesus instructed, and the people sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties (Lk. 9:14–15; Mt. 14:19; Mk. 6:39–40; Jn. 6:10).

 

(i)                 Luke records, “For there were about five thousand men” (Lk. 9:14).  Here, the word translated “about” is the Greek modifier ὡσεὶ (hōsei).  As a physician and historian, Luke shows considerable caution and care with numbers (Hochma).

 

·            This Greek word ὡσεὶ (hōsei) appears twenty-one times in the Greek New Testament and is mainly used in two ways: (1) to present a vivid analogy that makes an unseen or unfamiliar truth easier to understand, or (2) to indicate an approximate number, age, time, or distance (Internet).  In today’s passage, Luke 9:14, it is used in the second sense, to indicate an approximate number.

 

-             Both of these uses serve two purposes at the same time: clarity and credibility.  They lend authority to eyewitness testimony, stimulate the reader’s imagination, and evoke a moral response, while also strengthening trust in the accuracy of the biblical record (Internet).

 

(ii)               The reason Jesus instructed the disciples, at the time of the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, to have the crowd sit down in groups of fifty and one hundred was to distribute food efficiently to a very large number of people—well over ten thousand, if women and children are included along with the approximately five thousand men—maintain order, and clearly demonstrate the miracle through the process (Internet).

 

·            “Efficient distribution and order: By dividing the thousands of people into groups of fifty and one hundred, food could be distributed without confusion, ensuring that everyone received food without exception” (Internet).

 

(e)    Fourthly, Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, gave thanks (offered a prayer of thanksgiving), broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the crowd as much as they wanted.  After all the people had eaten and were satisfied, Jesus said to the disciples, “Gather up the leftover pieces, so that nothing is wasted.”  When they gathered them, they filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish (Lk. 9:16–17; Mt. 14:19–20; Mk. 6:41–43; Jn. 6:11–13).

 

(i)                 Below is a short devotional reflection that I wrote on November 27, 2021, under the title “Let Us Lift Our Eyes to Heaven and Offer a Prayer of Thanksgiving in Faith”:

 

“Before performing the miracle of the five loaves and two fish, Jesus lifted His eyes to heaven and offered a prayer of thanksgiving.  Likewise, before raising Lazarus from the dead, Jesus also lifted His eyes to heaven and prayed, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me’ (Mt. 14:19; Jn. 11:41).  God’s amazing works take place when we lift our eyes to heaven and offer prayers of thanksgiving to God in faith.”

 

·         The following is a portion of another short devotional reflection that I wrote on January 24, 2025, under the title “Jesus’ ‘Five Loaves and Two Fish’ Miracle (Comparison of the Four Gospels)”:

 

“Mark 6:41 says that Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, gave thanks [‘after offering a prayer of thanksgiving’ (Korean Modern Bible)], broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people, and He also divided the two fish among them all.  Matthew 14:19, Luke 9:16, and John 6:11 say similar things.  One interesting detail appears in the latter part of John 6:11, where it says, ‘…He gave it to those who were seated, as much as they wanted.’  This is interesting because when Jesus offered a prayer of thanksgiving to God the Father in heaven and then broke the bread and fish and gave them to the disciples so that they could distribute them to about five thousand men, the fact that the disciples gave the people as much as they wanted was something impossible without faith.

 

For example, how could Philip—the calculating person who had answered, ‘Even if each person received a little, two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough’ (Jn. 6:7)—have distributed bread and fish to about five thousand men [and perhaps as many as ten thousand people if women and children are included (Mt. 14:21)] according to what they wanted? This action by Philip would have been utterly impossible without faith.

 

Philippians 4:13 came to mind: ‘I can do all things through Him who gives me strength.’  Another interesting point is that Jesus ‘took the five loaves and the two fish and looked up to heaven and offered a prayer of thanksgiving’ (Mk. 6:41).  How could Jesus offer a prayer of thanksgiving to God the Father in such a situation?  Through this passage, I learn that no matter what situation we are in, instead of being led by circumstances into complaint or resentment, we should offer prayers of thanksgiving to God in faith, in accordance with God’s will to ‘give thanks in all circumstances’ (1 Thess. 5:18).  When we do so, God’s amazing miracles take place.

 

When Jesus raised Lazarus, who had already been dead for four days and laid in the tomb, He first had the stone taken away.  Then He lifted His eyes to heaven and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  I know that You always hear Me, but I said this for the sake of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me.’  After saying this, He cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’  And the man who had been dead came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips (Jn. 11:41–44).  In this way, prayers of thanksgiving offered to God the Father in faith are exceedingly powerful!”

 

(ii)               Why did Jesus say to the disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing is wasted”?

 

·            “Jesus’ command to gather the leftover pieces after the miracle of the five loaves and two fish was meant to teach that God’s provision and blessing are precious, to prevent waste, and to testify to the abundance of the miracle.  It emphasizes that spiritual nourishment (Jesus himself) must fill our lives completely, leaving nothing lacking, and it reveals the Lord’s heart, who cares attentively even for a single small fragment.

 

The specific reasons are as follows:

 

Confirmation of the abundance of God’s grace and provision: By feeding five thousand people and still leaving twelve baskets full, Jesus demonstrated that he, as the ‘bread of life,’ supplies without lack.

 

Stewardship that avoids waste: Even what is obtained through a miracle should not be discarded carelessly; rather, it should be handled with care. Jesus taught the disciples this attitude of stewardship.

 

Preservation of the evidence of the miracle: Through the leftover pieces, both the disciples and the crowd could directly confirm the miracle and later testify to it.

 

In conclusion, this command was intended to help us realize the Lord’s meticulous care—even for a single piece of bread—and his grace in abundantly providing both spiritual and physical nourishment” (Internet).

 

(f)     Fifth, when the people saw the sign that Jesus had performed with the five loaves and two fish, they cried out, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world,” and they tried to seize him and make him king by force. Knowing this, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself (Jn. 6:14–15).

 

(i)                 Why did the people try to make Jesus king?  The reason is that they held a misguided messianic expectation.

 

·            Here, the Jews’ misguided messianic expectations consisted of: (1) political freedom, (2) economic prosperity, and (3) social justice (Se-yoon Kim).  The Jews believed, expected, and eagerly awaited that when the Messiah came, he would free them from the Roman government that ruled over them, bring them economic prosperity, and establish social justice [“The people were waiting expectantly for the Messiah …” (Lk. 3:15)].

 

-             When the people saw that Jesus performed the miracle of feeding about five thousand men with five loaves of bread and two fish, they cried out, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world,” and tried to seize him and make him king by force.

 

n   Here, “the Prophet who is to come into the world” refers to Jesus Christ, the prophet like Moses spoken of in Deuteronomy 18:15–18. God’s promise to raise up a unique mediator (prophet) like Moses from among the brothers of the people of Israel was fulfilled through Jesus, who completed the Law of the Old Testament and became the true mediator between God and humanity.

 

#   However, although the Jews identified Jesus—who performed the miracle of the five loaves and two fish—as the long-awaited Messiah, “the Prophet who is to come into the world,” and sought to make him their king, they understood the Messiah, the prophet like Moses, only as one who would free them from Roman rule, grant them economic prosperity, and carry out social justice.

 

(ii)               Below is a portion of a short devotional reflection I wrote on October 25, 2025, under the title “What We Hope for and Wait for Is the Second Coming of Jesus!”:

 

“Was the reason the Jews so eagerly awaited the coming of the Messiah biblically sound?  Absolutely not!  The purpose for which Jesus Christ (the Messiah) came into this world was to set us free from sin, to save us from the kingdom of Satan and transfer us into the kingdom of God, so that we might enjoy eternal life and blessing.  He did not come merely for worldly political liberation, economic prosperity, or social justice.

 

As I reflect on these Jewish messianic expectations, I realize that we must have biblical, Christ-centered expectations grounded in truth.  Such biblical Christian expectation means responding in faith when Jesus says, ‘Surely I am coming soon’ (Rev. 22:20), by saying, ‘Amen. Come, Lord Jesus’ (v. 20), and preparing with eager hope for the second coming of Jesus.  As we prepare, we must get ready for the return of Jesus, the Bridegroom, like the five wise virgins—preparing for his coming with faith and fullness of the Holy Spirit (cf. Mt. 25:1–10).

 

May the Lord, who is the head of the church, present us to himself as a glorious church, holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:27), and may we meet the Lord in the air when he comes again and be with him forever in heaven (cf. 1 Thess. 4:17).”