Just after Jesus learned John the Baptizer was beheaded by Herod (Matthew 14:10-13), he crossed over to the east side of the Sea of Galilee to a deserted area near the city of Bethsaida (John 6:1; Luke 9:10). The Twelve had also just returned from their preaching mission around Galilee, and Jesus suggested they come apart from the other folks and rest (Mark 6:30-31). There was much ado going on that the Gospel of John doesn’t mention, which the Synoptic records allude to. However, we are told in John that the Passover was near, which puts these events in the spring of 29 AD. It would be the only Passover in Jesus’ public ministry that he did not celebrate in Jerusalem.
A great multitude of folks were gathering together at Capernaum, hoping to see a miracle (John 6:2). This particular gathering was possibly due to the commotion in Galilee caused by the preaching and healing ministry of the Apostles. Their recent labor among the people had just ended (Mark 6:12-13), so at least part of the great crowd could be due to folks following the Apostles back to Jesus (Mark 6:30-31). Nevertheless, the greater number was probably due to the recent slaying of John the Baptizer. He had pointed to Jesus as the Messiah, so would Jesus at this time avenge John’s death?
Nevertheless, Jesus’ ministry wasn’t political. The Kingdom of God is not a competing kingdom that might rise up against the existing governments of this world (cp. John 18:36). Therefore, Jesus simply defused the increasingly volatile situation by simply sailing off with his disciples to be alone with them on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. With Jesus gone, the unpredictable crowd had no one to lead them and appease their sadness and outrage over John’s death. Nevertheless, some, who knew Jesus, anticipated his destination and ran along the shore faster than the boat’s speed and assembled themselves waiting for him to disembark the boat near the city of Bethsaida. When Jesus saw it, he was moved with compassion for them, knowing how they loved John, so he healed their sick and went up one of the mountains and began teaching them (Matthew 14:14; Mark 6:33-34; John 6:3).
The feeding of the 5000 is one of the few events recorded in all four Gospel narratives. Knowing how and why the multitude gathered together, at some point in the day they began to get hungry. Who thought to bring food, as they raced along the sea to Bethsaida? The point is, much energy had been spent, and now the people were hungry, so Jesus asked Philip, who was from Bethsaida (John 1:44), where they might buy food to feed the great crowd of folks with them (John 6:5), but both he and the rest of the Twelve thought Jesus’ question was ridiculous. All they had on hand was 200 pennyworth (Mark 6:37) or just under $300 American dollars,[1] and five loaves and two fish. How could so many eat and be satisfied with so little (John 6:7-9)?
Then, Jesus told the Twelve to have the folks sit in groups of 50s and 100s (John 6:10; Mark 6:39-40).[2] While they did so, Jesus gave thanks and blessed the five loaves and two fish, then told his disciples to give the people as much as they desired (John 6:11). Afterward, Jesus had his disciples gather up what was left, and they filled twelve baskets (John 6:12-13).
We need to consider two things at this point. First, how is the feeding of the 5000 different from Jesus’ temptation to change rocks into bread to feed the people (Matthew 4:2; Luke 4:2)? Secondly, how did the multitude react when they witnessed the miracle (John 6:14)?
First of all, one of the expectations the Jews had, as this pertained to the Messiah, was that he would feed them and satisfy all their physical needs (Isaiah 40:9-11). Thus, during the first weeks of his ministry the Jewish authorities and others tempted Jesus to satisfy the physical needs of the nation (cp. Mark 1:12-13).[3] Jesus was often tempted by folks who wanted to characterize his ministry for him, telling the King what he needed to do! Nevertheless, Jesus wouldn’t permit others to so define what his Father had sent him to do (cp. John 5:17, 19). While Jesus did have compassion on folks, the Gospel of the Kingdom was never meant to satisfy the physical needs of men (Romans 14:17). Such things are for us to do for one another, as a sign of our being followers of Christ (1John 3:17).
Secondly, consider the reaction of the multitude to Jesus feeding the 5000. They recognized one of the then current notions that defined the office of the Messiah, and they wanted to crown Jesus as their king (John 6:14-15). Nevertheless, as I already mentioned above, this is not how Jesus characterized his mission. This was a political motivation, making the Messiah into a worldly king who would conquer Israel’s enemies and make them a world power. Had Jesus permitted this to occur in Capernaum, the already curious Herod Antipas may have immediately seized Jesus and slain him and his disciples. Nevertheless, Jesus defused that politically volatile event by leaving the crowd of people and sailing off to Bethsaida. Then, when political motivations arose again, Jesus once more defused the situation, sending his disciples away by boat, so they couldn’t be caught up in the error of the moment. Then, he dismissed the crowd and went further up the mountain to pray (John 6:15; Matthew 14:22-23).
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[1] See here for the value of 200 pennyworth.
[2] Hence knowing the number of the men in the multitude
[3] See my earlier study in the Gospel of Luke: Led Into the Wilderness, which wasn’t a desert, but a wilderness of people.
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